Cancellation and refunds

[Pandora0]

Hi there

I would appreciate someone's advice on this matter- a guest checked out unexpectedly after 1 night and is demanding a refund. The reasons for checking out were explained to be due to a noisy neighbour- I have had over 20 guests stay and have received nothing but excellent reviews , 4/5 star ratings, and no one else has ever mentioned such a neighbour. The guest has checked out , I have received the payment for their stay but I don't feel I should have to refund the guest for their last minute decision to leave early. The flat was exactly as was expected and described on air Bnb, and as I understand it, I have done my part by allowing them their dates to work, I prepared everything in advance, even arranged transport for then, and generally went over and beyond to allow them
A wonderful stay in my appt.

Please advise on the refund policies? Do I have to refund anything? Is this obligatory?

Thank you.

[Donna15]

@Pandora0, you have two listings. Are you referring to the flat?

If so, here's what it says about your cancellation policy (flexible).

"If the guest arrives and decides to leave early, the nights not spent 24 hours after the official cancellation are 100% refunded."

For future guests, you might want to change your policy to moderate or strict. 

I'd also urge you to require a Security Deposit (for both listings).

Here's some recommended reading for hosts.

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#U23100

[Elizabeth244]

I have had a guest cancel when they arrived on my doorstep tonight. It was only booked this afternoon and she assumed that "whole house" meant she would have the place to herself. She didn't want me to be living in my own home. She has now accused me of false advertising?? What support do we have from AirBnb? Perhaps I need to alter my listing? All other guests are aware that this is a private home with 3 rooms available, the only way to post more than one room on AirBnb is to indicate whole house?

[Helen3]

Hello @Elizabeth244

If you advertise your place as a 'whole house' then that's what guests expect to get.

 I can absolutely understand why she was upset.

Why do you advertise your place as a whole house if you live on the premises....it's clearly a shared home.

I would apologise to your guest for your misunderstanding of how BNB works and change your listing.

I would also contact BNB and let them know what is happened. Say you would like to contact any future guests to let them know you have made a mistake and offer to work with BNB to find them an alternative whole house accommodation if they don't want a shared home scenario.

By the way your place looks beautiful. I don't know local prices but it looks far too cheap for three bedrooms with access to a pool.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

@Elizabeth244  You will need to list your rooms separately as private rooms. 

You could just have one private room listing for the three rooms together but then you will lose out on larger groups traveling together since they won't know by their search that it is actually three private rooms and might overlook it. Meanwhile, solo or smaller groups of travelers looking for one private room are not going to look at your three room listing because of the cost.

Savvy AirBnb travelers do search for a private room and then look to see if the host has other rooms listed that the rest of their groups could occupy.  Newbies are not going to clue into this.

If you list whole house, you cannot occupy the space while the guests are present.  So you could rent whole house but lock off your bedroom as not part of the listing, and move out to somewhere else while guests were in residence.

You could list all the private rooms separately or as a unit, and prepare another listing for whole house.  Make SURE whole house is not on Instant Book.  Then when requests or inquiries for the whole house come in, review them and if you don't want to move out, and the group seems suitable, decline them but refer them to your private room or rooms listing.

You could even list the three rooms together in one listing, also a listing for each room, and for whole house.  You need to CAREFULLY manage your calendars yourself to prevent a double booking crisis!

AirBnb needs a category for  shared house for your type of listing.

[Holly43]

Ah this is interesting.  Elizabeth's misunderstanding explains why I get a lot of special inquiries just asking "so if we book this, we stay at the apartment alone, not sharing it with anyone at all?" In my mind, I'm like yeah dude, I wouldn't have listed the whole place if not ( but I say so much more affirmingly and politly). I guess this is a subject commonly confused by hosts and guests, I didn't realise.