Leaving airbnb after new host cancellation policy announced - should be allowed to cancel completely penality free within the first few hours of a guest booking

[Damien133]

The new host cancellation policies and general treatment of hosts have left me feeling a bit sick of airbnb and I've decided to switch to another platform from October 2023 as a result.  Occasionally you're sure that you have blocked a day off the calendar or updated a price but it appears that either you forgot to press the 'Save' button or something has gone wrong with the airbnb app (which also happens fairly regularly).  If this happens you should be able to cancel the reservation completely penalty free as long as it's within x amount of time.  It's happened that I have literally realised the instant a guest has booked and wanted to cancel immediately but I can't without it counting towards my 3 cancellations per year quota or paying a cancellation fee that is actually more than the cost of the guests booking itself for some of my listings.  This isn't reasonable at all.  I've also recently had booking cancelled by airbnb without payment with absolutely no explanation whatsever, it's happened twice in the last month and they seem to just hope you won't notice!  It's really deceitful and makes them look slippery and untrustworthy.  The first time I questioned it and then they did pay me and now it's just happened again so I'm contacing them again!  The original promise of airbnb if you turned on instant book was that you could always cancel a booking.  It's then slowly changed to what we have now which is just too much.  Time to ditch the platform for one that has a bit more respect for it's hosts and anyone who is staying I'd recommend turning off instant book for your listings and as long as you're fairly on the ball, you can just approve bookings as they come through

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Damien133 The trouble with this idea is that you would get the benefits of offering Instant Booking but actually the guest, whilst thinking they had a confirmed place to stay, could then have their stay cancelled. Simple answer is to either keep your calendar 100% up to date and, if synchronisation is risky switch off instant book.

[Damien133]

Unfortunately that answer isn't that helpful.  What exactly are the benefits of instant book now?  Haven't they been slowly eroded away?  Many booking sites have something similar, you book and then maybe within an hour you get the final confirmation.  This is fairly typical with 3rd party flight booking websites as well as some accommodation sites.  Why should the guest be able to cancel free of charge even with the strictest cancellation policy on right up until a couple of weeks before arrival but the host gets penalised even if they cancel within a minute of a guest booking when the check-in is a year away?  It seems to be the general consensus that Airbnb air the worst abusers of their hosts compared to other platforms and it just seems they've pushed it a bit too far now, time to ditch and switch..

[Helen3]

Hi @Damien133 

Sorry to hear of your experiences .

You say Airbnb is the worst abusers of hosts compared to other platforms . Can you explain more about what you mean by this.

I was also confused by your comment that guests cancel free of charge even with strict cancellation policies . I've have eight guests cancel this year and in all cases I've been paid out under my strict cancellation policies .

looking at your listings you seem to have attracted quite low ratings for quite a few of your properties so whichever platform you use it's worth you looking at the issues that have led to these lower Ratings .

[Damien133]

Sure, if you google about the problems with airbnb treatment of hosts you'll get tons of pages and forum posts, you really don't have to look hard, airbnb has a pretty bad reputation for hosts.  I've read the other major platforms tend to be fairer and airbnb is basically the bottom of the pile.  I've read their reasoning is supposedly  that if they keep the guests happy they will multiply and the hosts will then follow whatever.  Don’t take my word for it have a look on google!

How were you confused about the cancellation policy comment, it's really not complicated?  Guests can cancel and get a full refund right up until 2 weeks before the check-in date even with the strictest cancellation policies but even if a host cancels 1 minute after a guest books they will be penalised even if the check-in date is a year away.  Clearly some slight leeway on this isn't really going to affect the guest, would make it a bit fairer for hosts but airbnb wouldn't be clawing as many unreasonable cancellation fees out of hosts.  It does astound me how they are able to charge you as a host for not allowing someone to stay in your own property and the cancellation charge is actually more than the room itself costs the guest for the cheaper rooms!?

So you consider a 4.6 average rating low??  Is that a joke??  Anything between 4 and 5 is great and don’t let Airbnb brainwash you into thinking otherwise. Many guests would never leave a 5 star review because this signifies perfection which of course doesn't exist.  The older generation are particularly like that.  Generally I get a majority of 5 star reviews anyway but occasionally I get a lower one which is usually when guests make problems for other guests with shared facilities (bathroom, kitchen etc) and noise.  No matter how clear you make it that facilities are shared and that you can't be on 24/7 cleaning watch for someone that's paid for a very cheap room they still come and complain that a shared bathroom is, well... shared and expect it to be as if it's their own personal bathroom while paying half the price they would for an en-suite, then leave a 2 star review because of it...  There's not a huge amount you can do unless you stop offering shared accommodation and only rent the flat out as a whole but on weekdays you don’t get many bookings like that so, depending on the location and type of property you need to diversify

[Helen3]

I have been hosting eight years and have a 4.97 ratings so it's absolutely possible to have high ratings in shared accommodation. @Damien133  I have only had one guest in three years that has left me lower than a five star review. Many of my guests are older.

I mention your ratings as you seem to have had quite a few guests mentioning ongoing concerns about cleanliness/check in etc which has brought your listing to ratings Airbnb consider low.  Having an average of 4.44 across your listing is considered low by Airbnb.  Now every host can occasionally have unreasonable guests, but if you are regularly having guests that mention issues to do with the quality of your listing, cleanliness etc as a host I would be concerned and would look to address the issues raised. 

Of course if you Google complaints about Airbnb they are likely to come up as it's the largest STR global brand.

I was confused about your comment that Airbnb wasn't honouring your strict cancellation policy as they have always honoured mine.

Out of interest why don't you offered whole listings rather than multiple rooms in a house, they are much easier to maintain and as you say get positive reviews for.

[Damien133]

Hi Helen I've checked your listing and it appears that you only have one room in your own home that you host. I have 5 rental units spread over 3 different parts of the city so rather than just 2 people at my home, I have up to 30 people per day spread across the city, and it only takes 1 or those to have an issue or cause an issue for others for a potential lower review. I run this operation single handedly (communication, cleaning and general maintenence) so I effectively have 15 times as much work to do, 7 days per week but still generally manage to maintain around a 4.6 average although it's dropped about 0.15 this month because as I'm leaving and  putting less effort in. Your property looks a better standard than my lowest scoring one too so it's probably  easier to get a 5 star review if you start with a 4 star property, than if you start with a 3 star property as mine probably is. It's also a lot easier to get a better rating if you meet the guests and are living there so can keep an eye on the shared bathroom etc. Although I like to meet my guests it's obviously not possible to be in 5 places at once. Check-in is generally flawless with a lockbox per room and detailed photographic instructions of how to find your key and where to go. You do occasionally have someone that somehow still can't manage it or doesn't know how to use a lockbox (I twice had so go and show people how to open a standard lockbox after they couldn't even work it out after I sent them a YouTube video!). Everything generally runs like a well oiled machine, it has to be well organised to run that many bookings single handedly. I also mentioned before that I only rent individual rooms during the week rather than the whole property. I do this because there's not much demand for group bookings in the week so I just do it for groups at the weekends. There's also less chance of disturbing neighbours on work days like this because individuals are more considerate of noise. So anyway my slightly lower scores for that one property are generally down to a slightly lower standard of property to begin with and the guests  leaving the shared facilities a mess occasionally. There's no reason to adhere to Airbnbs nonsensical view that a 3 star property should be 5 stars, 4.5ish is just fine!

I'm not sure where you're getting that Airbnb don't honor the cancellation policy. They do honor it, it's just completely unbalanced and hugely favors the guest for the reasons I've stated a number of times. You clearly haven't read what I've said.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Damien133 Instant Book is a benefit to the guest not the host. Clearly hosts benefit indirectly by getting bookings but hosts are just suppliers of space and guests are the customers here. As a customer, when I click to buy something I want to know I have bought it and not that the provider can cancel on me within an hour or a day or whatever. BUT I accept not all hosts are happy to accept customers on this basis so they should just switch off IB and everyone is happy.

I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

[Damien133]

Exactly, it now only really benefits the guest.  You used to be promised that you could always cancel an instant book penalty free but then this was chaged to 3 cancellations per year and now airbnb actually charge you for not having someone stay at your own property.  I understand cancelling on a guest messes up their plans but obviously it messes things up for a host too even with the strictest cancellation policies in place, if a guest cancels just outside the deadlines then they get a full refund but your place is unlikley to be rebooked in the 2 week (or whatever cancellation policy you have) timeframe especially if you're catering for groups.  If a guest can cancel within 2 weeks (or less) of the check-in date penalty free, why can't the host at least have some option to cancel free if the booking is a long way away?  It's all fine to mess the hosts around but not the guests

[Stephanie2802]

I’m not a fan of the new policy either but I also don’t like instant booking. That, I’ll admit, is entirely bc I live on the property and I want some safety measures in place to review who’s booking before I agree. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephanie2802 For homeshares I would hope all guests would be keen to communicate with the host prior to booking and it is entirely sensible for you not to use Instant Book.