Every listing on Koobo carries a cancellation policy, and that policy is chosen by you as the host. It is the single most important expectation-setter on your listing, because it determines what happens to the guest's money if plans change.
Where guests see it
The policy is shown to a guest in three places before and after they commit:
- On the listing page, before they book
- At checkout, before they pay
- Inside their booking details and confirmation email
A guest cannot book without having had the chance to read it, which is what makes it enforceable.
What a policy actually controls
A cancellation policy sets a deadline. Cancel before it and the guest receives the refund your policy specifies, usually in full. Cancel after it and the booking is non-refundable, and you keep the payout.
A no-show, where the guest simply does not arrive and never cancelled, is treated the same as a cancellation after the deadline.
Choosing sensibly
A flexible policy converts better. Guests book more readily when the downside of changing plans is small, particularly for activities and rentals that are often booked close to the date.
A strict policy protects you against last-minute gaps you cannot refill, which matters more for multi-night accommodation in peak season than it does for a morning surf lesson.
Most disputes come from a mismatch between what the host assumed and what the guest understood. A clear policy prevents nearly all of them.
What overrides your policy
Two situations sit outside the policy you set. If you cancel a confirmed booking, the guest receives a full refund regardless. And in genuine force majeure situations, such as a super typhoon closing the airport, Koobo may approve a refund even where your policy would not normally allow one. In those cases you are not charged commission on the cancelled booking.