When the host cancels a booking: what happens to the deposit

A cancellation by the property is the worst thing that can happen to a guest: they have already paid and counted on that particular place. There is one rule here: the deposit goes back to the guest regardless of the property cancellation terms. Here is what happens at each stage.

A request you have not confirmed yet

No money exists at this stage: the guest pays only after confirmation. You can decline the request, and if you do not answer it closes by itself after 6 hours. Declining straight away is better than leaving the guest waiting — while the request hangs, they are not looking for an alternative.

Confirmed but not paid

Confirming does not hold the dates: only payment does. Several guests can hold confirmed but unpaid bookings for the same dates at once, and that is normal — nothing forbids it. As soon as one of them pays the deposit, their booking takes the dates, and the remaining requests and unpaid bookings for those dates are cancelled automatically.

The guest has 2 hours to pay. If they do not, the booking is cancelled by itself and there is nothing for you to do.

The booking is already paid

Cancelling a paid booking goes through Meiman: the request comes to us, we return the deposit to the guest and free up the dates. Your property cancellation terms do not apply here — they protect you from a guest cancelling, not the other way around.

How to avoid this

Nearly every cancellation by a property comes from dates sold twice. One thing helps: keeping the calendar current and closing dates as soon as they are taken, including when you rent the same place somewhere else. How it works is described in How the host calendar works.

If you do have to cancel

Message the guest in the chat before cancelling and explain why — a guest who got an explanation comes back to the platform and books another place. And tell us: the sooner we know, the sooner we refund the money and help the guest find a replacement.

Need to cancel a booking or sort out a refund? Phone and WhatsApp: +996 550 993 993, calls: +996 503 993 993, email: partners@meiman.kg.