Hello,
Looking on some guidance from fellow AirBnB'rs on refunds on reservation changes. I have been discussing with AirBnB customer service but not getting anywhere.
The background:
I reserved a place on AirBnB 2 months ago (April 14-May10 for $1547 CAD) and the host informed me about 3 weeks before my check in date that the resevation needs to be changed to a shorter date (April 14-April 30). So, this would be 10 days shorter. The refund proposed was $521 CAD. I reviewed the AirBnB receipt again, and saw that the daily room rate was $52/night...so okay the host is refunding my for the days I will not stay. But I think that is not sufficient...there is still the hefty service fee that I paid which is a percentage of the reservation. The service fee was $157 when I paid the full amount (which is about 10.1% of the total reservation), but I am not being reimbursed for the difference in the new reservation total. My host asked me to contact AirBnB regarding this, as she has nothing to do with the guest service fee. I contacted AirBnB customer service, and was offered a coupon for my troubles, but I would not receive a refund for the adjusted service fee after the reservation change. AirBnB explained that my service fee would be adjusted to $105 as it is a percentage of the total reservation (10.1%). However, they said that the difference of my old service fee of $157 and adjusted service fee of$105 is due to the change in exchange rate, and that all I would receive is the $521 CAD refund. Does this make any sense? Then shouldn't the refund on the room be different? My entire transaction was in CAD btw, though the host's listing is in Japan.
TLDR;
If a guest books a reservation and pays for the full amount before check in date, but the host decides to change/alter the reservation, is the refund amount affected by the exchange rate? And is the guest service fee actually adjusted and supposed to be reflected in the refund?
Hope someone can share their experiences.
Thanks,
