Return money from a cancelled reservation

[Luis14]

Hi to all, 

How long does the return of a payment made to a canceled reservation by VIsa? How many days??? Please

Thanks,

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Luis14,

Did you cancel on the guest or did the guest cancel?

If you cancel on a guest, your guest will have a credit on their account.  They can either rebook or they can request a refund.  I would share this document with your guest: https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/170/what-to-do-if-your-host-cancels

If the guest cancels, they should be refunded immediately after cancelling: "At the time of cancellation, your guest is automatically refunded according to your cancellation policy." - Airbnb : https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/43/what-happens-if-my-guest-cancels-a-reservation

I hope this helps!

Dave

[Luis14]

Hello Dave & Deb,

None of the above answers. Airbnb canceled my reservation because there was a confusion of dates. The reservation was for within 2 month (april) but my payment was made by my bank...

[Clare0]

@Luis14, I've seen Airbnb reply on twitter to questions about cancellation refunds that it may take 5 - 7 days for a refund to appear on a credit card. 

[Debbie10]

My guest cancelled their booking but I don't seemed to have got my refund from the cancellation policy we have? How do I go about doing this?   I still have the email saying that she wanted to change her reservation from 3 nights to one, but the payout we got was only for the one night -  and did not include the 50% from the other two.  Can I contact AirBB? Can't seem to find any info on how to do that.

[Clare0]

@Debbie10 Let's see if I understand the sequence of events with this reservation.  First the guest books for 3 nights then made a request to change to 1 night.  Did you accept that reservation change request?  If so, then the new reservation was for 1 night, correct?  Then she cancelled that one night reservation.   How far in advance did she cancel? Seems to me if you accepted the change from 3 nights to 1 night, your cancellation policy would have only applied to the new 1 night reservation.   You can double check my assumptions by contacting Airbnb:

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Contact-Airbnb-A-How-To-Guide/m-p/16165/highlight/false#...

Let me know what they say!

[Dave-and-Deb0]

I see it the same way you do @Clare0!

Dave

[Debbie10]

Hi Claire

Yes I did accept the reservation request - this was the night before they were due to arrive - this was activated by her.  They requested a change from 3 nights to 1 night, which I could either accept or decline.  I accepted as I thought this was the thing to do so that there was vacancy on our calender.  They did turn up for the one night.  This question is also more so I understand the system better so that we do get the cancellation policy as we had assumed that this would automatically happen since it was only the night before her reservation.  We were surprised that AirBB didn't pay us for the moderate cancellation policy. 

[Clare0]

@Debbie10 From what you have described, there was no cancellation.  The fact that the guest altered their reservation , with your approval, from 3 days to 1 day does not constitute a cancellation.  It's an amended reservation.  Your guest stayed that one night and that was that. 

If the guest had arrived, say, and spent 1 night and then cancelled the remaining days, then you would have been compensated under your cancellation policy.  But that's not what happened.  They changed (not cancelled) their reservation.  If you had declined the change in the reservation and the guest then cancelled then you would have been compensated. 

I can certainly understand why you think that the change in the number of days from 3 to 1 meant the guest cancelled 2 days.  But they didn't in so far as Airbnb is concerned.  They amended the reservation to 1 day which you agreed to so it was a new contract between you and the guest.  Can you see the difference?  

In the future, if you want to be compensated for a reduction in the number of days of an original reservation, don't agree to a lessor number of days as that changes the terms of the reservation.  

[Debbie10]

Thanks Claire - that clarifies it in our mind what has happened.  Thanks again for all your help.  Kind Regards  Debbie

[Clare0]

@Debbie10 Any time! I know you are disappointed in the outcome.  I noticed your comment about "supposed to do".  Keep in mind that hosting on Airbnb is a business venture and you have to look out for #1...You!  I don't know how far in advance the change in the terms of the reservation happened, but assuming it was close to check in date and the 2 days were freed up on your calendar,  your chances for rebooking with another guest was probably next to nil.  Another reason to not to have accepted the change.  Now, with this experience you'll know for next time!

[Clare0]

@Debbie10 Just thought of an analogy which might be helpful  Suppose you are selling a car for $5,000 and I tell you that I would like to buy it at that price.  Later, I tell you I only have $3,000 and ask if you would be willing to sell the car for less.  You agree so I pay you $3,000 and drive off.  Had you not agreed, I would still owe you the $2,000.  Having agreed to the $3,000 is essentially what you did with the change in the reservation from 3 days to 1.  You can't retroactively ask me for the additional $2,000.  Make sense?

[Petya5]

How long does it take to receive a refund on my cancellation as a guest. I booked and cancelled on one and same day and I need the money.

[Matthew285]

@Petya5 it can take quite a few days, but it depends on what your method of payment was.

Please note that this discussion board is not Airbnb. Here you will find other guests and hosts, and we just help answer questions to each other. We do not know anything about your specific reservation or situation.

If you contact Airbnb support, they might be able to give you a better estimate.

[Kei19]

Hi if i made a reservation half of the total amount due, will I get a refund for the reservation if I cancelled?