Request for refund after cancellation

We make a similar offer, but make it a little more explicit that we are under no actual obligation to do so. This is designed to prevent guests with an entitled mindset from coming back and saying that it’s “not fair” they have to wait.

We say something like – "… Although our agreement with you does not require us to do so, as a goodwill gesture we are prepared to voluntarily reimburse your cancellation penalty if we receive “replacement income” for any of your cancelled nights which are booked and paid for by another guest. Although there is no guarantee, this voluntary refund could provide you with a partial or full reimbursement of the accommodation portion of your payment to Airbnb, depending on how many of your cancelled nights are booked by someone else. If you do receive a refund it will be sent to you by Airbnb after we have been paid by the replacement guests some time after we have been paid at the beginning of their stay in <“month” or “next week” or whatever best describes the timing>

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I know. Me too.

Exactly. I had different details but the same situation, there was no chance of rebooking the guest’s dates but CS insisted that I let them tell the guest that “I would try”. Ok.

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I may be in the minority here but I have a lenient cancellation policy. I’ve had approximately 4 cancellations in the 2 years I’ve been hosting. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or if it just seems to happen this way, but within 24 hrs of the cancellation I get a booking for similar dates or other dates, it’s as if it puts you higher in the algorithm at least temporarily.

I like things as simple as possible so there is no way I’d remember to refund later, lol.

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I don’t think it’s because of a cancellation per se, but because previously blocked dates suddenly open up. The same thing might happen if you had blocked dates yourself for some reason, then opened them back up. The algorithm likes to see blocked dates open up.

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In my particular situation, I can get a booking anytime of the day or night, I normally book out only a couple of weeks and and since I have very short stays, it’s very possible that I cancel the booking at 10 AM and would get a rebooking at 10:02 AM. When Airbnb blocks my listing for 12 hours, for example, because the guest isn’t set up correctly, every one of those 12 hours could have a booking. And those of you who booked six or nine months in advance are still at the mercy of the moment. Someone looking for a cabin on a Friday afternoon isn’t gonna say oh I’ll just look another day just in case I imagine. So I’m sorry to make everybody more nervous about all this but yes, a booking could happen the moment after you open up the room.

No nervousness here. I require one day’s advance notice and have a one night prep time block. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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You really think everyone knows that they might have something arise that means they would have to cancel? Of course you don’t. People don’t normally make reservations anticipating cancelling them.
What they have a responsibility for is to make sure they have read the cancellation policy and are prepared to abide by it without whining or demanding a refund.

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I’ve always heard that getting a cancelation boosts you in the algorithm. And I’ve had the same experience. After a cancelation, my listing is always pushed right to the top.

Of course. We are saying the same thing. That’s what I meant. They have a responsibility for the cancelation policy.

What do you mean? I don’t understand.

I didn’t understand his comment. What’s the nervousness about? Is it about not getting a booking or about getting a booking?

Yes, but I was saying that it’s likely not specifically related to a cancellation, but to previously blocked dates opening up. Of course I don’t know for sure, but the algorithm might not make a distinction between why blocked dates open up, just that they have. When I have blocked dates myself for some reason, but then opened them back up, my search ranking also goes up. The algorithm likes to see availability. No point putting a listing on page one if the dates are all blocked for the next 2 months unless all the similar listings in that area also have no availability.

I understand. It’s only anecdotal evidence, of course, but I estimate the jump from a cancelation to be 10x that of just opening up blocked dates. And you know I keep up on it cause I nerd like that, lol.

I have enough evidence for it that I almost always applaud a cancelation. The first thing I do is raise my prices after I get one and I’ve always gotten a better booking than the one that was canceled (ones that are canceled more than 5 days ahead of time anyway).

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I didn’t really understand what Rolf was referring to either.

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Ok, thank you! I even scrolled up and re-read the other posts to try to figure out what I’m missing. Maybe he’ll pop back in and let us know :grin:

I mentioned ‘nervousness’ because most of the time (for ME anyway) I am nervous that when my schedule is blocked that I am anxious - I’m ‘sure’ that someone is out there who would book the dates blocked but does not see them on the page. I am not ok with being comfortable that access to my listings is dependent on airbnb or a guest releasing the holds.

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Oh, maybe you meant to direct your comment to Muddy then. That makes me feel better because I had no idea what you were talking about. I think she said something about that but I didn’t understand the connection to rebooking for refunds so I didn’t address it or mention it or anything.

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Thanks for the clarification. Definitely has happened to me with that stupid 24 hrs. to pay that Airbnb allows. Lost a booking for those dates from an inquirer, who needed to ask a few questions before committing (that’s fine with me- I’d much rather a guest makes sure it’ll be a good fit for them if there are things they need to know that aren’t mentioned in my listing ad). Only to have that request sit there with “Awaiting payment” for 23 hours, then withdrawn.

I think in the future, if I get a request from a newbie guest, or one who shows no recent bookings, when I have been dialoguing with an inquiry that seems serious about booking once things are clarified, I’ll let the inquirer know that I have a request blocking their dates and ask them if they want to book for sure, in which case I would decline the request and take the Acceptance rate hit.

I find that experienced guests with lots of good reviews, especially recent ones, have their payment info in place and an accepted booking is immediately charged and confirmed, so I wouldn’t decline a booking from those guests over an inquiry. It’s those newbies who try to book before they’ve had their payment info verified who end up causing “Awaiting payment” blocks.

You can’t decline the request once Airbnb is holding your calendar for Awaiting Payment. You just have to wait it out. That’s what is frustrating about the situation. You’re just stuck.

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The calendar doesn’t get blocked awaiting payment on a request unless the host accepts the request. Airbnb only tries to charge a guest if the request is accepted. If you decline the request, the dates open. Maybe you are referring to an IB booking?

No, I’ve never had an IB get weird like that, that’s one of the many reasons I prefer them. It’s been a couple of years but I had two different requests come in one summer that I could not respond to at all because it said, “Awaiting Payment”. I couldn’t decline it, I couldn’t accept it, I couldn’t even message the guest. I was very pissed off at the time because my calendar was locked up. And I’m not afraid to decline a request so I would have if I could have.

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That’s weird. That request I had the other day, which it took me a couple hours to respond to because I was out in a noisy place and didn’t hear my phone alert didn’t say “awaiting payment” until after I had exchanged a message with the guest and clicked on “accept”. That you couldn’t either accept or decline or message the guests sounds like some kind of Airbnb glitch.