Guest cancellation history should appear on their profile - LIKE if you agree!

[Susan1188]

As a host, if you cancel, an indelible mark appears on your reviews and in your statistics.

As a guest, you can block a host's dates and cancel as many times as you want, it does not appear on your profile.

I have had several guests hold my calendar for months, only to cancel at the very last minute, despite knowing full well in advance they were not coming.  In the hopes of getting out of the cancellation policy that was stated when they booked.  Or trying to get out of paying the service fees. Or pressuring me for a refund.  I recently had a guest who booked months ahead and admitted, they would hold the dates until close to arrival when they would shop around and try to find a better deal and cancel if they did.

Do you think a guest's cancellation habits/history should be visible to hosts, just like his host reviews and star rating?

Like if you agree!

And make a feedback request asking for it!: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

All the best everyone!

[Sergei67]

"Then let the guest justify his 5 previous cancellations!"

That one made me laugh

[Susan1188]

No host sets up a listing, accepts reservations, gets 10 five star reviews, only to have the "pleasure" (?) of wantonly cancelling willy nilly on unsuspecting travellers.
There is absolutely no way any host could "profit" from this. Besides being kicked down to page 66 of the search results, penalized iwth a monetary penalty, and receiving multiple warnings of listing removal, why, just why? would hosts do this on a repeated basis?  

[Ryan2352]

I would like to see this, as well as additional information about guests, as part of my decision making process.

[Jennifer2682]

Every property is different, but for me, having a Strict cancellation policy is the way to go.     

[Susan1188]

Yes but the guest can claim anyone in their group has covid, and despite your strict policy they can cancel day of arrival for a full refund. 
That is why I stopped offering "non refundable".  People were using it to get 10% discount then asking for refunds anyway when they couldn"t travel, even when I specifically reached out to them and told them "no refund any reason".

[Barbara88]

I changed my policy to strict, and I have no fewer requests and I'm paid in full if they cancel close to check in. AND I can re-rent it if there's enough time.

[Susan1188]

If they are smart, have gone on guest forums, know to  claim someone in their group  has covid last minute they can cancel for free, airbnb will fully refund without asking you.  I had "non refundable" which is even stricter than "strict" and still guest can escalate and try to get refunded from Airbnb and sometimes it works (Airbnb does not share with you the reason just refunds your money)

[BenkaandKeith0]

EXCELLENT IDEA @Susan1188  But, of course, do not expect it to happen as Airbnb is on the mission to protect, not disclose, hide, ..... as much as possible. Just like we are all thrilled with all kind of surprises showing on our doorsteps 😛

[Basha0]

I’ve had more cancellations this year than any of the previous 12 years. For next week alone there were 4 bookings and cancellations for the same few days. So fed up with making arrangements for cleanings  and then canceling that I just blocked the dates to give myself a break. Guests who cancel multiple times should be flagged somehow. 

[Susan1188]

@Basha0 
Thanks for this!
Yes I'm not tallking about a one off, but multiple recidivist cancellations.

Had a guest insinuate they were holding the dates "to be sure" for themselves, and looking for a better deal, would maybe cancel later if they got a last minute promo somewhere else.  That should not be allowed.

[Max144]

I have moderate cancellation policy, and with many covid lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne have lost many bookings but always give full refunds as out of guests control and once open up again they will come back, other cancellations are usually always good reason and guests have came back, i know if i had to cancel when travelling and got refunded i would be more than happy to rebook.

[Joann1315]

I am quite new to Airbnb, haven’t taken many statistics on these guests, but I have found exactly same trend for some guests. They tend to book early lock down a good price without even look at the major descriptions of the listing, and then when approaching to the date still within the policy range, they cancel for different reasons, for the most part I feel they are just looking for a better deal or just start to take the booking seriously. There was a time a month all booked full, but due to different cancellations only 5 days booked several days before the month. Fortunately, it was summer, I got other bookings quickly and filled the month. 

Reasonable cancellation from the guest is perfectly fine, but I do annoyed by the potential chance given to the unserious guests for abusing of the policy. So tracking the guest cancellation is a certainly a great add on, would vote it for sure.

[Susan1188]

@Joann1315  Absolutely!  This is maybe less than 10% of my guests, but it is a profile!
And I think only normal we should see the statistics!
Most people do not do this!  But some do - and those that do, don't do it once - it is their modus operandi!

BdC has a new system where they actually intervene as a true 3rd party buffer: they let the guest cancel and the BOOST your listing so almost 99% sure you will book with another guest for those dates.  Why can't airbnb do the same?  Of course, replacement guest might not be good quality or within house rules, that's another story, but the system was a good idea.  I thought.

[Mauricio467]

GREAT IDEA¡¡¡

[Hal3292]

I think you have a great idea here. If it seems too onerous, then a guest could be flagged only if they have a pattern of cancellations. When I first started in Airbnb a year ago, I let guests cancel any time. I've since instituted a five-day policy, so I feel somewhat protected.