Guest wants to change Reservation to 55 weeks From now

[Jeff-And-Sue0]

I have an airbnb in Canada. I have a guest from the USA that insisted on booking a vacation right before Christmas 2020, even though I adamantly insisted his travel would not be allowed due to covid.  He booked November 2020.

Today is Dec 12, 2020. His reservation is Dec 20-23 2020.

He wants to Move his vacation to the exact dates in Dec 2021.

I have a hunch he is going to cancel anyway. My policy is Strict, he was clearly made aware of it within hours of his initial booking.

And I now believe it will be too late to rebook guests during that time and recoup my losses. 

Any guidance or help is appreciated.

Thanks 

[Vivian860]

I don't think you will lose anything because he could potentially meet your refund policy... did you set that up? I manually set up my return policy within 7 days because I get very quick bookings AND made sure that they do not get a full refund if they cancel within 3 days. Take a look into this, it could help you out. 

It seems to me like this person is only staying for 3 nights?? I would accommodate this stay because it is for a short stay. I could understand if it was for 30 days + but it is only for a short time. 

Hope this helps, Good Luck!

[Jeff-And-Sue0]

Our stays are always 2-3 days.  I cannot afford to Miss the income From this booking.

I am concerned he will change the booking it will be considered a new booking, then he will cancel.  He gets all his money back, I get none and am also out the 3 days bc it's too late to fill those days up now. 

[Colleen253]

@Jeff-And-Sue0 I do believe Airbnb closed the loophole that allowed guests to move a booking forward to wiggle out of the cancellation policy, but I still wouldn't grant this change request. It's rather a ridiculous request and I suspect your hunch is right. Just politely inform the guest that he can keep to the original booking or cancel and that the cancellation policy he agreed to when he booked will apply if he cancels.

[Jeff-And-Sue0]

Thanks.  I too believe my hunch is accurate. I've had so many bad experiences since this spring, I am extremely clear about my listing and am constantly tired of irresponsible guests who agree to my rules, but don't read them. 

[Ute42]

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@Jeff-And-Sue0 

Don't agree to the datechange, You're not obliged to.

We have a very simple and basic overall rule in german jurisdiction:

"Contracts have to be kept"