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We charge extra-person fees (please, let’s not discuss the reasons/wisdom of doing this). An upcoming party of guests has some of their group leaving partway through the stay, so I want to just refund a set amount since I can’t take off partial people.
Do I just modify their reservation amount under “change or cancel reservation” or do I have to go through the Resolution center? If they just reduce the number of guests for the full stay, would I just reduce the number of guests on “change or cancel reservation” or would I have to change the dollar amount, too?
TIA for your help - I don’t want to get this wrong and spend a lot of time cleaning up a mess I create. All the rest of our guests have added people and we just have them pay offline to make it easy, or I waived the fee.
To elaborate on @Debthecat’s feedback, and forgive me if you already know this…but you go into the reservation and select “Send or Request Money” (it is using the Resolution Center, just different ways to get there). They will make you pick something like “Other Trip related issues” , and in the comment you can say it’s an extra guest fee refund. Now, I do not believe this causes a partial refund of hospitality taxes to them, and that can be pretty high depending upon where you are located. If you are concerned about them getting some of their taxes back, you should consider doing what you said and changing the reservation (like you would do with a special offer) so the total comes out to what you want. As I recall, the last time I changed the guest count it did NOT automatically change the price…had to do that manually; BUT I’m on VRBO also so it may have happened there…you’ll see if it does or not, just watch for it.
Good catch @muddy! I was thinking of stays vs nights (confused “guests” with “nights”). My bad. I’ll edit that. So sorry! It’s 2:25 AM and clearly, I need to sign off now.
Well, I can’t use the resolution center to send money prior to a stay starting. The only option it gives me is to change dates or guests as a reason, then when I pick that, it says I have to have the guest change it.
So I’m trying the “change reservation” and there is an option to just change the price. Even though it is a reduction in price with no other changes, it’s still going to the guest for approval.
Ok, that makes sense. I’d think guest approving is a good thing…they’ll be happy to see you kept to your word & have acknowledged the reduction. It’s nice of you to do that. I generally only allow it aligned with my minimum stay because it usually isn’t worth $10-$30, for example, for me to have to launder the extra sheets and towels & sanitize/reset the room.
That was everyone’s first thought but @PitonView pointed out this is before the stay has begun so no resolution center option.
In line with that advice @Ritz3, I was thinking that I’d probably rather use the RS to provide the refund AFTER the stay is over and they’ve kept to the agreement of early departing guests. I tell guests they have it in writing in the app as a guarantee if I say I’ll give a refund.
I always feel better owing them than them owing me because, after all, Air will take what they want from me w/o my permission but won’t charge my guest one single penny more (even if they agreed in writing) w/o their permission unless it’s proven damages.
Good plan. Avoid possible hassle and yet more pricing adjustments.
I used to be someone who just trusted people at their word until they proved not trustworthy. Now I neither trust nor distrust them, but they have to prove themselves trustworthy.
That’s what I’d prefer to do, but this guest asked numerous times already about getting the refund. It’s just $100 out of over $3000 but it seemed to be extremely important to them. I’ve learned to pick my battles in this business.
I’d file this in the same folder as guests asking for a discount or an exception to a rule (“my toddler is really mature”) if they are being so insistent about it. What else are they going to moan about during the stay? What other special treatment are they going to be insistent about? And if they are so hard up for $100 then you are screwed if they damage something because they won’t be able to or won’t want to pay for it.
We also charged per person for a long time, for most of the time we’ve had an Airbnb. This came up a few times when people were going to have an extra guest or two but not for the entire stay. I said yes one time. It was a pain in the ass (as you are realizing). The guests ended up being pains in the ass (not surprisingly) and because there were 4 people instead of 2 people for two of the days, the extra work and cleaning were equal to there being 4 people the entire time. It did not work out for me at all, I got ripped off and also ignored a very big red flag (the guests are ultimately asking for a discount) and ended up with guests that I would not host again.
The reason we charged per person was to give solo travelers and couples a discount so that they could afford the listing instead of paying for 4 people. I also prefer solo travelers and couples over larger groups and so I charged per person so that groups with less than 4 get a discount. So it’s awful stingy to bring 4 people but still want a discount for some of the days. It makes absolutely no sense at all for you as a host. I just started telling people that there wasn’t really a way to set that up so I couldn’t do it (which is relatively true). They said “ok” and booked anyway and I got a fair price with more reasonable guests that didn’t nickel and dime me because part of their group was leaving early.
No matter what you should not refund them anything until their stay is completed. The fact that they are insisting on getting it ahead of time sounds scammy to me. Once you send money through the resolution center it is money in their pocket and nothing you can do to get it back. What if they end up canceling or asking for a refund and you’ve already handed them $100?
The only way to refund them some of the extra guest fee is to do it through the resolution center. Once the reservation starts you can’t change the number of guests without calling Airbnb. And if you have to spend your time and your energy to call into Airbnb then they should pay you more not less.
If you’re not convinced or you feel like you’re stuck with these guests, then you can let them book for two people (or however many is staying the whole time) and then charge them through the resolution center for the extra guest fees. It is easiest for you (assuming they pay) and will give them what they want. But you should consider having a personal policy that says no to this next time someone asks.
When I get booked guests with extras who may or may not stay, or not for the full time, I get them to pay me the extra when they get here. It seems a little risky but has always worked okay.
Good catch 
but still love the biz