Refund after cancellation?

1

Last week some guests left after claiming the apartment was not as expected. They said window was broken… its not you just slide it down and it closes. And other small reasons to leave.
They messaged me with their complains 20mins after arrival (self checkin) and before I got the chance to respond and even go there they cancelled and left (that was 10mins after initial message)

Now… they’re not allowed to write a review because they cancelled. They requested a full refund. What should I do? By the way that was a saturday that is the most expensive night and nobody else booked after them since they left at 5pm.

Refund, partial refund or no refund?

2

And your cancellation policy is?

3

@Debthecat I have a strict policy

4

Then apply your policy

3 Likes
5

@Debthecat but they opened a case with airbnb so I’m thinking airbnb will make me refund them?

6

Then you tell them NO - there were no issues, so no refund

2 Likes
7

Definitely no! They gave you no chance to remedy things.

1 Like
8

The guests are supposed to notify you in writing of the issue within 24 hours of their arrival. You’re supposed to have time to respond to those issues. The guest didn’t follow the process, so they should receive no refund.

You may get a customer service agent that pressures you to refund more. Refer them back to your strict cancellation policy and their Guest refund policy (read this thoroughly). Reiterate that there was no issue with the window.

https://www.airbnb.com/terms/guest_refund_policy

3 Likes
9

They always try to request the refund from YOU. Mainly because they don’t know what they are doing.

I simply decline with a note that says, “I cannot issue refunds sorry. Please contact Airbnb for any further assistance.”

Don’t waste too much time on them. They are not your customer anymore.

3 Likes
10

No refund
I’m pretty sure as they have officially checked in they can leave a review

11

Thank you everyone for the responses. @HumptyDumpty not if they cancel. Theres no option for me to leave them a review so there wouldnt be an option for them either :slight_smile:

12

Well it could take a while, but you will both eventually get the notification to leave a review. Also… if they complain to Air hard enough, they might still get a refund. So unfair, but be ready for it. Anything can happen these days, as Air is heavily guest centric these days.

1 Like
13

@HumptyDumpty & @konacoconutz you are right I can actually review now. Is there any way to stall without being too obvious? An excuse why is taking long to reply and then decline the refund request when the review period is over?

14

Air will ASK you to refund… they did that to me recently over someone who cancelled hours before their scheduled arrival.

I told the CS Rep “No. I will not refund this person, she has already caused more than enough trouble. I have the Strict Refund policy for a reason. A reason like this.” The Rep said thank you, and we hung up… End of story. At the end of the period, I got to review the non-guest, but she did not get to review me.

1 Like
15

They might not dare leave a review. If they do use your right to reply wisely. With a fair wind you’ll be able to leave them the stealth review they deserve!

16

How do you know that the guest wasn’t able to review you?

17

The time has passed, and no review from that guest appeared in my list of reviews.

18

yes as someone else mentioned, airbnb talk to you and try to convince you to refund but just say no

19

Ken, if you were able to review, so was your guest. They choose to not review you and probably you did the same.

1 Like