Its me again! Guest booked my unit for a month for a college rotation about 2 weeks ago, 6 hours AFTER check-in I get a message from him saying the college changed his schedule and he will not be in town and he wants a refund. As you know on moderate if the guest cancels 48 hours prior he can get a full refund. I have given full refunds before for similar situations when I was on flexible cancellation mode. I realize I am not required to give full refund back but also don’t want to be a hard-nose, just curious how much this happens to others and how you handle it? Has anyone ever felt so pissed and annoyed that you denied the request. I thought of asking him to get a letter from the college saying they changed the schedule at the last minute but have not done that yet and he has not cancelled the reservation yet --this is just the 2nd day of reservation. Thanks again.
YOU do not give refunds!!! Have the guest contact Airbnb; refunds are their job, not yours. Air handles ALL monetary matters.
I try really hard not to let emotion get in the way of doing the right thing for my psyche or business.
As long as they stay, they pay, for sure. What is he waiting on?
I’d say "you’ve blocked off all my days this month for two weeks and possibly cost me money. " Only refund what gets rebooked. That’s at most. You might also deduct some for your inconvenience.
No way would I refund. If you want to be nice you can just say if you rebook you will refund up to the amount of the rebooking less fees.
Really? My bet is he’s found another place to stay, for less money. I would ask him for documentation - or rather, I would refer him to Air CS, and let him know that they may require documentation before they will issue a refund.
Absolutely not. He has to tell his employer that he now has costs he cant avoid and let them pay him.
You cant get new guests now covering your loss, so you cant refund him. It’s his problem, created by his college, he needs to settle it with them, not your problem.
yes, they’ve almost definitely found a spare room or nice settee somewhere, for free. If you ask for proof, and they produce a letter, could you be 100% confidant he hasn’t spent an hour on Word, knocking it up? That would be when the fight starts!
“Sorry, he has to move out,
Signed,
My headmaster”
Take full pay for all the days he stays. Work out the rest, and deduct 15% ‘restocking fee’ (that might only work in shops), and what is left can be refunded for every day you get re-booked. I assume Airb have already sent you the money, it’s up to you what to do. What a big ol’ faff
Your Moderate Cancellation Policy shouldn’t matter here - though it requires 5 days notice, not 48 hours. This will fall under the Long Term Cancellation policy. I believe you will able to keep it all. Keep track of that message stating that his schedule got changed (If it’s not on the messages, get him to say on there) in case he tries to go with an extenuating circumstance excuse later.
" The Long-Term Airbnb cancellation policy is applied to all reservations that are 28 nights or longer. Guests are required to give 30 days notice of cancellation in order to receive a full refund. If the guest cancels within 30 days of the check-in date, then the first month of the reservation is paid to the host."
Hosts don’t get paid for a reservation until 24 hours after check-in. Why would any host even entertain any type of refund before then? Tell the guest to contact Airbnb about cancelling. If Airbnb calls you and asks you if you are willing to circumvent the cancellation policy, then you can make a decision on whether or not to be a “hard-nose”.
As others already pointed out, the most fair thing to do is to refund any days that get re-booked. But even then, don’t issue a refund before you actually get paid for the re-booked days.
Are you running a business, or is AirBnB a hobby? If it’s a business, the business decision is to stick to your rules. He knew what they were when he booked.
If his story is true, he knew about the schedule change in advance of the day of check in. Only consider offering a partial refund if you get a rebooking.
I hadn’t focused on the compulsory Airbnb long term cancellation rules. How are those rules flagged for the guest? Interesting that Airbnb provides for this, considering that in most U.S. jurisdictions, 30 days makes the guest a tenant.
So was this 6 hrs after your agreed checkin time, and he was a n o-show, or did he check in and want a refund after checking in? (In other words, he said he’s not coming to town at all, so I presume the former)?
I obviously would not give a refund back before I received any monies. I think the idea of waiting to see what gets re-booked is a great idea that I hadn’t even thought about, which wouldn’t result in ANY money being refunded until AFTER the 28 days had passed and there is reconciliation of all his days booked.
I’m presuming he was a no show as well, I don’t live on the property but going to check it today, he still has NOT cancelled his reservation.
Yes this is a business
Why do so many business decisions seem unethical? Can’t it be a business and something that the host considers doing within a moral framework? Is it really so black and white? You aren’t the first to state this business vs hobby dichotomy.
Thanks everyone for the comments, that’s a great idea about refunding what gets booked. I’ve reached out to him on the airbnb platform and mentioned how he hasn’t cancelled yet and I can’t do or promise anything yet. I don’t mind guiding someone on how to upload their ID and becoming “verified”, but this is more than a little annoying and I feel like I’m being played even though he’s been very polite in conversation. I was unaware that 28 days makes it a long term rental and five days is the rule for full refund–thanks for the heads up.
Tell him that HE needs to contact ABB and deal with any refund/cancellation. It’s out of your hands. And if ABB says keep the money… KEEP THE MONEY!
Like THAT would ever happen. 
Players are always sweet. It’s not til you get a good taste sometimes before you figure out it’s saccharine.