Refund & Cancellation Policy — Direct

Last updated 24 May 2026.

This page covers two kinds of refunds: (a) guest refunds for cancelled bookings, and (b) host refunds on their platform subscription. Direct itself never holds your money — refunds happen through Razorpay against the original payment.

Part A — Guest refunds for cancelled bookings

Every property has a cancellation policy chosen by the host. The host’s policy applies; we do not override it. The four named policies on Direct are:

Flexible

Full refund up to 1 day before check-in.
Within 24 hours of check-in: first night non-refundable, rest refunded.
No-show or after check-in: no refund.

Moderate

Full refund 5 days before check-in.
50% refund 1-5 days before check-in.
Within 24 hours of check-in: no refund.

Strict

Full refund 14 days before check-in.
50% refund 7-14 days before check-in.
Within 7 days of check-in: no refund.

Super strict (typical for peak-season villas)

Full refund 60 days before check-in.
50% refund 30-60 days before check-in.
Within 30 days of check-in: no refund.

Custom policies

Hosts may write their own policy that replaces the above. When a custom policy is in force for a booking, that text governs — and it is shown on the property page at the time of booking.

How refunds actually flow

Guest emails or WhatsApps the host requesting cancellation.
Host clicks “Issue refund” on the booking detail page in the Direct dashboard (full or partial — partial allowed for adjustments).
Direct calls Razorpay’s Refund API against the original payment.
Razorpay processes the refund. Typical timelines: UPI 1-2 days,cards 5-10 working days, netbanking 5-7 days.
Once refunded, the booking is marked “refunded” or “cancelled.” The corresponding GST invoice gets a credit-note offset.

Disputes between guests and hosts

We are a software facilitator only. We are not a party to your booking contract. If a dispute arises about whether a refund is owed:

Talk to the host directly via WhatsApp or email. The vast majority of issues resolve here.
If unresolved, either party may escalate via Razorpay’s dispute process — Razorpay, as the payment aggregator, has its own resolution flow.
For chargebacks raised through the guest’s card-issuing bank, the host is liable for the chargeback fee plus any reversed amount.

Force majeure

If a stay cannot proceed because of events outside both parties’ control — natural disasters, government orders, etc. — we strongly encourage hosts to offer flexible rescheduling or full refunds even when policy doesn’t require it. We don’t enforce a force-majeure clause across the platform; that’s between host and guest.

Part B — Host platform subscription refunds

Direct charges hosts a monthly per-listing fee. Our refund stance is straightforward:

Cancel any time: click Cancel in billing settings. We stop charging you at the next billing cycle.
First-month guarantee: if your first month with Direct didn’t earn back the ₹499 (or whatever per-listing amount you paid), email us within 30 days of your first invoice and we’ll refund that month. No interrogation.
Mid-month cancellations: we don’t pro-rate. Your account stays active till the end of the paid month.
Refunds for service outages: if Direct has unplanned downtime over 8 cumulative hours in a single month, we’ll automatically credit that month.

How to request

Email hello@makestays.com from the email address on your host account. Include your tenant slug and a brief reason. We respond within 2 business days, usually faster.

This is a plain-English draft. Before launch, have a lawyer review the legally binding version. We’ll point a real lawyer at this same text.

The small print, written plainly.