Cancellation & Refunds

1. Borrower cancellations

If you cancel a booking as a borrower, your refund depends on how far out your rental start time is at the moment you cancel:

These windows are measured against your rental's scheduled start time, and refunds are calculated automatically the moment you cancel. Frequent cancellations can affect your borrower rating.

2. Owner cancellations

If an owner cancels a confirmed booking, the borrower always receives a full refund of everything paid, regardless of timing. Owner cancellations are recorded on the owner's profile and can affect their rating.

3. Unanswered booking requests

For listings that require owner approval, you are not charged until the owner approves your request. If an owner doesn't respond within 24 hours, the request expires automatically and you are never charged.

4. Item not as described or not working

If an item doesn't match its listing or doesn't function properly, notify the owner and momentarily support within 6 hours of receiving it to be eligible for a refund. It's a good idea to check the item together with the owner at pickup so any issues are caught immediately.

5. Late returns and back-to-back bookings

Every rental day includes a built-in 21-hour handoff window, which gives some natural buffer between back-to-back bookings. Returning an item late can result in a late fee. If a late return still forces an owner to cancel a following booking, contact momentarily support — we'll make sure it doesn't count against the owner's rating and that they're compensated for the lost day.

6. Security deposits

Listings with a security deposit place an authorization hold on your saved card at pickup — the moment the item changes hands, not at checkout. If the item is returned on time and in the condition it was rented in, the hold is released in full at completion and you are never actually charged. If a late fee applies or the owner files a damage claim, the corresponding amount is captured from the hold (or charged to your saved card if the hold has expired); any remaining balance is released.

7. Damage claims

If an item comes back damaged, the owner can file a claim against the security deposit with photos and a description of the damage. Claims are capped at the listing's deposit amount and are reviewed by momentarily.

8. How refunds are paid

All payments and refunds are processed through Stripe, our payment processor. Refunds are issued back to your original payment method and typically appear within your bank or card issuer's normal processing time.

9. Questions

More booking and fee questions are answered in our FAQ. For anything specific to a booking, reach out at hello@momentarily.com.