What Airbnb's rules say
These are Airbnb's published rules for homes as we read them in October 2026. Policies change, so open the current pages listed under Sources before you reply, and if your listing is on another booking site, check that site's policy instead.
- Airbnb's Rebooking and Refund Policy covers what it calls Reservation Issues: you cancel before check-in, the guest can't get in, the home isn't habitable at check-in (not reasonably clean, or a safety or health hazard), or the home is significantly different from the listing, such as the wrong room count or an advertised amenity that is missing or broken.
- The guest must report a Reservation Issue 72 hours or less after discovering it, with evidence such as photos or video. Airbnb can accept a later report if the guest shows reporting on time wasn't feasible.
- Where feasible, the guest is expected to tell you first and try to sort it out with you.
- Airbnb says it will usually try to confirm the problem with you. If it refunds the guest, your payout is reduced by the amount refunded, and you can dispute the claim by contacting Airbnb.
- Problems the guest, their companions or their pets caused are not covered.
- For personal reasons, such as leaving early because plans changed, your cancellation policy applies. Anything beyond it is at your discretion.
- Guests can open a Resolution Center request up to 60 days after checkout, so a request can arrive well after the stay.
None of this is legal advice. If a guest raises consumer law or a chargeback, or the amount is large, ask a licensed professional where you live.
Questions to answer before you reply
- Did the guest tell you about the problem during the stay? If not, why not, and did you have a chance to fix it?
- Is there evidence: photos, video, messages? Does it match your cleaner's photos from that turnover?
- Does the complaint match something in your listing, such as an amenity you advertise?
- Is it a covered Reservation Issue, or a preference, such as the neighborhood being louder than they hoped?
- Is a review being used as leverage? Look for wording like “or I'll leave a review that says…”.
A request that arrives days after checkout, about a problem never mentioned during the stay, with no photos, is the weakest kind. A broken heater the guest reported on night one that you couldn't fix is the strongest. Many requests sit somewhere in between, and your answer can too.
Your three options
- Decline, politely and with the facts, when the issue wasn't real, wasn't reported, or was caused by the guest.
- Offer a partial refund when something genuinely went wrong for part of the stay. Tie the amount to the impact, such as the nights without hot water, not to how upset the message sounds.
- Offer a full refund only when the stay failed: the guest couldn't get in, or the home wasn't usable.
If you send money, do it in the Resolution Center (Request or send money), not by bank transfer or a payment app. It keeps a record attached to the reservation, and Airbnb can take what you already gave into account if the guest also asks Airbnb for help.
How to say it
Reply in Airbnb messages, stay factual and keep it short. Adjust these examples:
Thank you for letting me know, and I'm sorry the stay wasn't what you hoped. I checked our messages, and this is the first I've heard about the noise. If you had told me during the stay, I would have tried to help. Because it wasn't raised then, I'm not able to offer a refund, but I've added a note about street noise to the listing for future guests.
Thank you for the photos, and I'm sorry the hot water was out for your second and third nights. That shouldn't have happened. I'm sending a partial refund for those two nights through the Airbnb Resolution Center now, and the water heater has since been repaired.
I understand you're unhappy, and I want to look at this fairly. A refund isn't something I can link to a review. Please send any photos of the problem here and I'll respond based on what happened.
When the refund request comes with a review threat
Airbnb's Reviews Policy treats threatening a negative review to get unwarranted compensation as extortion, and it also bans giving or withholding a review in exchange for a refund. Don't pay for a review, and don't promise anything about one. Keep the conversation in Airbnb messages, take screenshots, and contact Airbnb if the threat continues. If the review is posted anyway, see how to respond to a bad Airbnb review.
Mistakes to avoid
- Ignoring the request. Silence leaves Airbnb to decide without your side.
- Refunding off Airbnb. You lose the record, and the guest can still open a request.
- Arguing about tone instead of facts. Answer the specific problem.
- Paying to avoid a review. It breaks the Reviews Policy and invites the next guest to try it.
- Not fixing the cause. If the complaint was real, fix it and add it to your cleaning checklist or house manual.
Write your refund rule down once, then follow these steps for each request.
- 1Acknowledge the message in Airbnb messages the same day. Thank the guest and say you are looking into it. Don't promise anything yet.
- 2Read the current Airbnb refund and Resolution Center pages. Check that the reporting window and covered issues still match this SOP.
- 3Pull the facts. Messages during the stay, the guest's photos, your cleaner's turnover photos, the listing text.
- 4Decide whether it is a covered Reservation Issue, a fair complaint or a preference.
- 5Choose: decline, partial refund or full refund. Base a partial amount on the nights or features affected.
- 6Reply with the matching script, adjusted to the facts.
- 7Send any money only through the Resolution Center.
- 8If the guest threatens a review, screenshot it and contact Airbnb.
- 9If Airbnb contacts you about the claim, reply with your evidence. You can dispute a Reservation Issue you don't agree with.
- 10Fix the cause and log the request and the outcome.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center: Rebooking and refund policy for homes (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Request or send money in the Resolution Center (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Request a partial or full refund from your home host (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Reviews Policy (authentic and trustworthy reviews) (opens in a new tab)
- Hometime: Airbnb refund policy, what to do when a guest requests a refund (opens in a new tab)