Long Term Refund

[Camila68]

I booked a place in France for 30 nights on Sunday around 9:30pm, however something important came up and I won't be able to stay for the month in the apartment and I sent my host a message around 10:30pm on the same day to cancel my reservation.

I didn't know I about the non refundable long term policy but still my host kindly agreed to give me the money back (except for the airbnb fee of course).

Can my host send the refund money back to me through the Airbnb website? If the host agreed to give me the refund back, can the host simply change this on the reservation as an exception? How would be the best way to get the money back?

Thank you!

[Maria-Lurdes0]

@Camila68  You're lucky that your host is being so accommodating.  It's super important to read all of the terms of booking BEFORE hitting "book it", especially when you're booking a long term stay.   The host isn't paid until the day after you arrive, so the host doesn't actually have the funds yet - so they money is coming from Airbnb after the refund is approved by the host.  It's a very easy process from the side of the host, it's simply a button that says "refund guest" or something like that.

[Kate392]

Hm. i replied then it disappeared. hopefully it went to you @Maria-Lurdes0. let me know if you didn't get it and I will email it again. Thank you!
Kate

[Kate392]

argh I think it did disappear. My question for you @Maria-Lurdes0 is about my long term. I thought it was a moderate cancellation bc that is what it said onthe site, but no i didn't see how it said i'm automatically long term with 28 days. argh! Well, I emailed my host to see if we could change it to 2 weeks instead of 4 weeks and he sent back a confusing message: "Reservation is still all right.
Please consult about payment once by a site of Airbnb. A schedule of your request blocks so as not to receive person's other reservation by my schedule. Reservation from a site of Airbnb, please. Please." Google translate did no favors!

My reservation is for April, 2019 and it's a super popular time to travel to Okinawa so I figured I am giving him plenty of time to rebook the two weeks. When i go to change the reservation online, it says I'd get $0.23 cents back instead of $1000.00. ouch 😞

If he agrees to change the reservation, will I only get 23 cents back or can he refund the $1000 and then relist those two weeks?

Thank you!

Kate

[Matthew285]

@Kate392, yes, as you have discovered, if your stay is 28 days or longer, it is automatically under the long-term stay cancellation policy, no matter what the cancellation policy of the host is.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1361/how-do-changes-and-cancellations-work-for-long-term-reserva...

I would contact AirBnB directly and ask them what your options are. I think the host will have to agree to anything also, but having AirBnB involved in the transaction should help make things clear to everyone.

[Kate392]

thank you @Matthew285! i've talked to airbnb thru messages and then they called to say they couldn't really do anything. Today I looked thru the community and found the phone number to the US office and explained everything. She initiated the alteration for me and contacted the host, too.

I just wanted to check on the community too and see what other hosts had to say about it. If my host agrees, will i just get the 23 cents back or the $1000? That's what i'm wondering, mostly.

Thank you

[Matthew285]

@Kate392, if the host agrees, I think they can send you almost any appropriate amount.

One time, one of our guests missed the deadline to cancel by mere minutes. They had called me ahead of time about it, but didn't get to push the button until it was too late. By the rules, they should have had to pay the money. But since AirBnB knew that we (the host) and the guest both wanted the guest to get back their money, AirBnB refunded them completely.

This is not to say that AirBnB can do this in your situation, or that the host will agree to do anything specific. I am just letting you know things can be very flexible if everyone agrees.

[Kate392]

ok thank you so much @Matthew285 that's what i was looking for. hopefully he will have pity on me 😕 heh

[Helen3]

It is entirely up to the host whether he accepts your request to change the booking. There is no certainty that the listing will be rebooked however popular you feel the destination is.

It actually tells you before you book when you go through the booking process that long term bookings are non refundable.

Moderate would have been for short term bookings.

Why don't you ask the host if you can cancel two weeks of the booking and then if he is able to rebook, he can consider a refund. In this way he won't be out of pocket if he can't rebook. However I am not sure if you can do this.

Why not give Airbnb a call and discuss your options before contacting the host.

[Kate392]

hello,

thank you. I understand it's up to the host, which is why i asked him.  i emailed "Greetings!!

We are about one year and 3 months from our reservation. We are only going to be there the last two weeks of our reservation: We will be in Okinawa from April 12 until April 27.
Because we are giving you a year's notice, is there any way we can change the reservation and get the first two weeks refunded?

Thank you so much for your consideration,
Kate"

 and he replied back:
"Reservation is still all right.
Please consult about payment once by a site of Airbnb. A schedule of your request blocks so as not to receive person's other reservation by my schedule. Reservation from a site of Airbnb, please. Please."

which doesn't make sense to me. (google translate)

So i've reached out to airbnb.

Kate