Host Cancellation question - Quebec, Canada

[Hélène266]

Hello AIRBNB host community - I'm in a similar situation - and sorry if this is not the right place to post this - just signed up in this community. I'm superhost / guest favourite (with this latest new label).  5 star reviews since  started renting top of my home in August (2023). I'm in Quebec and there are pretty strict laws for AIRBNB in a residential neighborhood so I’m always onsite when I host ( I have a studio downstairs with private entrance outside); have instant book with both options set (only good reviews + tell me who’s joining you). Have had only 'crème de la crème' guests who had 1 to more 5 star reviews when vetted.

And now, grrr: I just accepted a booking request (yes I had the option to decline!) taking place in 8 months - end of June 2024, 4 nights 2 people. Now regret it because when I dug into past reviews for this guest - 2 hosts mentioned she asked lots of questions and this could be disruptive to other hosts; also dug into her past reviews of previous hosts noticing she only gave 4 star ratings to otherwise 5 star ‘gold’ hosts - likely busting their perfect score. Is that thing? Maybe.

I have a feeling this guest is likely going to hit me with a 4 star review (no matter what) and is already letting me know that she is sparing me with her questions now but to expect lots of questions next spring from her and her guest – although I have a pretty detailed and descriptive listing.

Adding to this, my brother just announced he's getting married on the day of this guests arrival which will have me out of town for 2 days - and as mentioned above - I never host when I am not on premises.

So, while waiting for AIRBNB to respond on if or how cancelling this booking will impact my SH or GF status - I'm pondering:

-option 1 - cancel this booking and get a consequence from AIRBNB that hopefully doesn't touch my 5 star rating, SH or GF status and inform the guest there are plenty of similar bookings in my area for the same dates and let her know I'm now have to be away for family reasons.

-option 2 - request date change due to my brother's wedding; and if she agrees
--ask her to send me her questions now as my listing is fairly detailed and I prefer to get questions now to make sure this is the right place for her and her guest; if she is reluctant to do so indicate it makes me extremely uncomfortable hosting her and yadiya; and
--geewiz live with the consequence of a probable 4 star review or lower with the date change request and me asking for questions in advance.

Feels like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any words of wisdoms aside from 'lessons learned' - as yes I know I should have checked this guest past reviews more thoroughly before accepting. 

Just another story in the world of AIRBNB hosting

[Title updated by Community Manager for relevancy]

[Danlee1]

@Hélène266 I’m curious how you can tell how your guests have rated other Airbnb stays? I did not know that was possible and love to know how to do that. 

I’m sorry that this guest appears to be difficult. 

[Helen3]

@Danlee1  You look at your guests profile and you can see their reviews  - 

[Danlee1]

Oh, yes…I thought you meant that you could see the reviews that they gave other hosts. Thanks for responding. 

[Hélène266]

Yes you can see reviews they gave to other hosts - here's how but not sure instructions will be clear without screen shots - so here's one way

1. in your host inbox, click on the guest's name on the left to view their message then click on their photo in any message they sent you 

2. to view the review that this guest left for their last host, still in the guest's profile, click on the first host review which should be the last host who reviewed the guest and check the date the review was completed i.e. July 2023'

3. You're now in the host's profile page - from here, click on ,Show all XX reviews'. Look for reviews for that host that were made at the date your guest went, i.e. July 2023 - look for your guest's name - and voilà - you can read the review that upcoming guests have made in the past

I do this all the time and also check places they've been at to make sure that they will like mine. 

only twist is when a host is a multi-airbnb host - this means you'll need to click on each of their properties to find reviews completed by your upcoming guests - I normally skip checking those out when they have 3 or more listings. 

Let me  know if that worked for you 

[Danlee1]

Thank you! 

[Hélène266 · Accepted solution]

So I am replying to my own blurb just above - I contacted an AIRBNB superhost contact by phone and explained the situation - since I have never cancelled before and my superhost cancellation rate was at 0% the rep indicated that neither my superhost or guest favourite status would be impacted - but of course don't do it too many times - which I won't.

I also learned that when you select the requirement for good guest reviews with instant book airbnb does not let anyone without a 5 star rating auto-book - they have to send a request which was my case with the above situation.

So I cancelled and prepared a lovely note for my guest - but had to keep it at 240 characters and I only have a cancellation fee of 10% of the total reservation that will be deducted from the next booking - which I'm fine with. 

Because my note exceeded 240 characters I added additional details to the guest in a personal msg - 

There - I will sleep much better this evening !

[Bhumika]

Hi @Hélène266 ! Thank you so much for coming back and sharing these updates with us and marking it as a best answer. It is so much appreciated. I am sure this will be a helpful insight for many Hosts. Also tagging @Danlee1 as I am sure this is a useful update for all of us!

[Hélène266]

UPDATE - well no it looks like my cancellation rate is now at 4% - and not below 1% as the superhost rep confirmed. Grr...  I noticed that this is how the calculation is done - I started in August and currently have in my stats 25 reservations (17 completed, 1 coming in 2023, 3 in 2024, 3 past reservations cancelled by guests and 1 future reservation cancelled by me). 

So 24 'confirmed' reservations, completed, upcoming or cancelled by guests divided by 25 = 96%. So AIRBNB calculates on percentage and the difference between 96 and 100 = 4%. 

sigh.... looks like I'll lose superhost and likely guest favorite status on Jan 1st. 

Sorry for getting your hopes high.

[Hélène266]

wow, wouldn't you know ? I called AIRBNB support after not hearing from their support team online; explained my situation; how hard I worked to gain superhost status and how I should have declined the request I received - 

AIRBNB will wave the cancellation this time - and although I didn't care about paying the cancellation fee - but more about Guest Favourite and superhost status - they removed all cancellation penalties. 

So hope this does come in handy for superhosts who experience same. 

Cheers, H.