Airbnb guest refund after check-in: how to respond

A guest may ask you directly for a refund, which you can agree to. If Airbnb reviews a covered reservation issue, it can decide a refund under its policy. The rule is Airbnb's Rebooking and Refund Policy, effective since February 2025. When this policy applies, it overrides your cancellation policy; Airbnb may reduce your payout by the covered full or partial refund. The good news is that the same policy includes three safeguards in favor of the host. Accounts from those who have been through this show when these safeguards hold up the case and when they do not.

This guide explains what counts as an issue and why the 72 hours do not start at check-in. Then it shows how the refund scam appears in host accounts, what to do in the first few hours, and how to appeal when the deduction has already arrived. If the complaint has not even arrived yet and you want to screen the guest before booking, the right place is the guide on Airbnb scams against hosts.

Main points

• 72 hours from discovery, not check-in: the guest can complain on the 4th day.
• Policy 2868 overrides strict cancellation: when a covered issue qualifies, Airbnb may reduce your payout for a refund.
• Three safeguards in your favor: the guest must notify you first (whenever possible), issues caused by the guest do not count, and you can appeal.
• Defense starts in the chat, with dated evidence in the first few hours.

What does Airbnb do when a guest asks for a refund after check-in?

If it determines there was an issue covered by the refund policy, Airbnb refunds part or all of the amount to the guest, or helps them find another place. Travel issue is the name the policy gives to the defect that justifies this refund. For those who have already checked in, the three groups that matter are: accommodation uninhabitable at check-in due to lack of cleanliness or health risks, property significantly different from the listing, or an advertised amenity that is missing or broken. The list of amenities cites pools, hot tubs, essential appliances, heating, and air conditioning. The amount depends on the severity, the impact, the portion of the stay affected, whether the guest leaves, and the strength of the evidence. When the policy applies, it overrides the reservation's cancellation policy. And the host receives nothing for that stay, or has the refunded amount deducted from their payments.

This last point catches many people by surprise. In a standard cancellation, Airbnb usually asks if you are willing to make an exception, and you can say no. In a complaint about a travel issue, no one asks for your yes. Those who set up the strict cancellation policy thinking they were protected discover this on their statement.

The deduction follows the normal path of money on Airbnb. If the payout for that reservation has not yet been released, it simply is not released. If it has already landed, the amount returns as a deduction on subsequent payments from any of your listings. How payouts work is covered in the guide on how Airbnb pays hosts.

Do the 72 hours count from check-in?

No. The guest has 72 hours from when they discover the issue, according to the policy and the help article for guests with a travel issue. The 72-hour window is this reporting timeframe, which runs from discovery and not from arrival. In practice, someone who complains on the fourth day and says they just noticed it remains within the rule.

The window was 24 hours until late April 2022. The change was widely reported, with hosts saying the longer timeframe opened the door to fraud, and Airbnb stating the extra time allowed the host to resolve things before the platform stepped in. Among hosts, the reaction was the same. A lot of content from that time, which still appears in searches, teaches the old 24-hour rule.

From the host accounts we gathered for this guide, seven state when the complaint arrived. Three came after 72 hours counted from check-in:

Notice that this deadline is on a different clock than yours. The host must request reimbursement from the responsible guest within 14 days of checkout and involve Airbnb with evidence within 14 days of the damage or loss under Host damage protection, as explained in the guide on how to use AirCover for damage. A host can start a damage request during the stay; the damage-based support deadline may expire before checkout. The two deadlines do not offset each other.

How does the refund scam work, according to accounts?

Start with the unpleasant side: some complaints have a real cause. A leak, an air conditioner that dies on the third reservation, and a shower with a trick no one explained appear in the same public accounts. In these cases, a partial refund is the price of a delayed repair, and fighting with the guest only worsens the review. For cleanliness complaints, the evidence that answers it is the turnover inspection from the room-by-room cleaning checklist.

The scam is something else. The refund scam is when the guest uses the stay and claims a fabricated or non-existent issue to get their money back. We gathered 13 accounts from Brazilian hosts who claim to be victims of it, from 2022 to 2026. The accusation is theirs: none of the 13 accounts includes a decision from Airbnb or a third party recognizing fraud. And it is a sample of those who went public to complain, 13 accounts from 10 hosts, so it serves to see the pattern, not to measure frequency.

The five pest claims are termites that, according to the host, came out of a window opened by the guest, and three ticks that the host says arrived in a plastic bag. Rounding out the list are short videos of an "infestation" two hours after an uncomplaining arrival, roaches after four days of use, and bedbugs on the 15th day of a 31-day reservation. The four equipment claims are two fridges, a gas heater, and a lack of hot water. The smell claims mention a bad odor, dampness in a forest chalet, and sewage in a house with no sewage system, where the host says she found a towel stuffed in the toilet. The minor defect is a cracked glass and a dislodged trapdoor.

The pattern that repeats in the accounts has four signs. Short and fragmented evidence, a seconds-long video, or a tight photo. Refusal of a solution, with the door closed to the technician or the co-host. A complaint that does not appear in the previous or subsequent reservation. And parallel pressure, with a threat of a review or a request for a refund outside the app. No single sign proves bad faith alone, but three together deserve your full attention.

The detail that changes the defense is that the policy itself excludes issues caused by the guest, their companions, invitees, or pets. An insect brought in by the guest is not a travel issue. The host's job is to show this with evidence: a valid pest control report, check-in photos, and reviews from those who stayed before and after.

There is a second point in the text, and this is our reading, not a written rule by Airbnb. The policy speaks of accommodation uninhabitable at the time of check-in due to dirt or health risks. A pest that appears on the 15th day, in a property that was clean upon arrival, pulls the discussion to that date. That is exactly what your report and photos speak to. In the accounts, the case of the bedbugs on the 15th day ended without a refund, although the reason given by Airbnb was the lack of evidence, not the date.

What to do in the first hours after the complaint?

Reply in the Airbnb chat, go to the property or send someone, document everything with a date, and offer a written solution before the case escalates. The policy says that, whenever possible, the guest must notify the host and try to resolve it before asking the platform for help, and that Airbnb, in most cases, tries to confirm the complaint with the host. Both rules only work in your favor if there is a record that you were notified and acted. A quick reply in the app, a technician with a report, and dated photos become the version the agent reads when opening the case. Silence weighs against you, as the case below shows. If the guest refuses the technician's visit, record the refusal in the chat immediately, with the time.

A 2022 account shows the cost: the host took dated photos and wrote her defense but did not send it, because with a strict policy she thought she would not have to refund anything. Two months later, she received an adjustment of BRL 1,843 on her subsequent payouts.

The steps, in order:

1. Reply in the Airbnb chat within minutes, even if just to say you are on your way to fix it. It is the record the agent sees first.
2. Go or send someone, and if possible with a technician. Ask for a written report, a photo of the appliance working, a scanner error code.
3. Document with a date: check-in photos, pest control report, last maintenance invoice.
4. Offer the solution in writing: repair, appliance replacement, or departure with a refund for the remaining nights.
5. Call support yourself and register your version with the reservation number, before the decision.

A tactic experienced hosts describe, by their own choice and unsupported by any rule: upon the first complaint, offer immediate departure with a refund for unused nights. According to them, someone with a real problem accepts and leaves, and someone who wanted a free stay usually stops complaining. The written offer also shows Airbnb that you tried to resolve it.

Some "it doesn't work" complaints stem from usage doubts, like an electric showerhead that has a specific way to heat up. When these instructions arrive before the doubt, the complaint never even arises. Anfitrione answers these questions on WhatsApp at any time, with the manual for each property, leaving your attention free for the complaint that truly needs you. The formal record of the dispute, however, remains the Airbnb chat.

Airbnb refunded without hearing you. Can you appeal?

Yes. Policy 2868 says hosts can contact Airbnb to appeal a travel issue reported by a guest. An appeal is this request for review, made to support with the reservation number and your evidence. The most compelling package combines four things. First, the chat history showing you replied and offered a solution. Then, dated photos and videos of the property's condition and a third-party report (technician, pest control, front desk). Finally, the reviews from the reservations immediately before and after, without the same complaint. Always ask for the case number and keep the name of each agent. Send everything at once, in a single message, so the case does not get lost among closed conversations.

The accounts show that appealing works sometimes and fails often. One host says he reversed about half of ten attempts against him. In the Carnival 2025 case, the same host opened five chat conversations about a single refund and did not reverse it.

In the same 13 accounts, the money left the host in 9 and stayed with them in 3:

The three who avoided the loss have something in common. In one, the host dismantled the sewage story on the spot, because the house does not even have a sewage system, and the guest could not prove anything. Even so, she received a warning from the platform.

In another, the host brought a technician, who found no error code on the fridge, and, according to the account, reversed a cancellation that had already been issued over the phone, after more than one contact. The third is the bedbugs on the 15th day: the host had a video of the clean mattress, and the guests left and complained via WhatsApp without giving a chance to verify. Airbnb closed the case because they presented no proof of the infestation, and there was no refund, although an internal note was left on the listing.

All three had evidence gathered during the stay. Several of those who lost also had it, so evidence helps a lot but still guarantees nothing.

The deduction does not always arrive along with the decision. A payout adjustment is the amount Airbnb deducts from your next payments to cover a refund already issued. In the accounts, it appeared 13 days after the stay in one case and about two months later in another:

Some hosts took the case to local consumer protection agencies after exhausting support. The only one who returned to report said that, as of the date of the account, there had been no effective solution.

What if the guest threatens a bad review?

Keep the message and report it. Reporting helps, but it does not guarantee the removal of a review that has already been published. Airbnb's authentic reviews policy prohibits threatening a negative review to obtain compensation or a refund, and prohibits writing a review to retaliate against someone who enforced a rule. Keep threats in a dated Airbnb message where possible; verifiable evidence from another channel may also support a report. In the accounts, the pressure appears in two ways. One host says the guest asked to stay an extra day for free, in her words "saying it is a way not to leave a review." Another guest returned days later demanding a refund and mentioning a review. Respond to the threat calmly and without negotiating the rating, because any "okay, I will refund you" becomes the kind of exchange the policy prohibits. If the review comes out anyway, the removal path is in the guide on how to remove an unfair review.

The mistakes that hand the case to the guest

Several losses in the accounts involve one of these mistakes, and none of them depend on luck:

Refunding outside the platform deserves an extra line. In a 2025 account, the host refunded the entire stay, paid the difference for another accommodation, and even a park ticket charged at double the official price, all before asking for guidance. Paying outside does not close anything in the system: the agreement is not recorded on the reservation, and nothing stops the guest from opening a request through the platform later.

Can you protect yourself?

Yes, but not the way many people try. The cancellation policy does not hold back this type of refund, and Airbnb will not always hear you before deciding. What changes the outcome is what you do in the first few hours: reply in the app, bring a third party to the property, offer a written solution, and appeal with dated evidence. In 13 accounts from those who claim to be victims, only three hosts avoided the loss, and all three had evidence gathered during the stay. Others had it and lost anyway. Evidence does not guarantee the outcome, but without it, the guest's account sits alone on the agent's desk.