I've just had one of my oddest guest experiences and possibly my shortest ever stay

[Huma0]

Not 100% sure how to interpret this one. I don't want to seem paranoid, but after the unexpected 3* review I recently received, which will cost me my Superhost status, I'm starting to worry if I'm getting something really wrong.

A young local lady booked one of my rooms quite last minute for the Xmas/New Year period while she was waiting for her new apartment to be available (turns out it was last minute because the Airbnb host she was previously booked with nearby contracted COVID and had to cancel). She was supposed to stay for 2.5 weeks. 

This was the kind of guest I hope to receive. She had no reviews, but her communication was great, she seemed absolutely lovely, checked in early evening yesterday and said the house was beautiful. She went to work early the following day. As I hadn't seen her, I messaged later in the evening to ask if everything was okay or if she needed anything. She told me all was fine, she was visiting friends and would probably stay with them that evening, come back the following evening (today), leave again to visit family for Xmas and then be back.

Shortly after she returned this evening, she told me her plans had changed and that she might be away longer than she originally thought. A few minutes after that, she came back downstairs and told me she would be checking out now and not coming back and that she was sorry and hoped that was okay with me.

I told her that of course, if her plans had changed, that is fine, but I was worried that she was leaving because something was wrong. She assured me that everything was fine, she thought it was the prettiest, coolest house she had ever been in, I was super lovely etc. etc. and then a few minutes later, off she went.

She didn't ask for a refund, but I brought it up because I wasn't sure if she was assuming she would get one. I told her if she wanted to cancel the stay, I would open up the dates for a 10 day stay (don't normally do that as I host long term and 2.5 weeks was already lower than my usual 28 day minimum) and refund her any rebooked nights, although can't guarantee that at this short notice. She was interested, but seemed a bit uncomfortable even talking about that and kid of told me not to worry. I am waiting to see if she cancels or not.

Really not sure what to make of this. Should I be worried?

[John5097]

@Huma0 I think it was a good idea to mention you would issue refund if you could rebook the nights. You have definitely done all you can on your end. Both of you are being gracious to one another. I would have been worried as well as she only stayed one night, but it seems like you handled it perfectly. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

Thank you. Yes, she was very nice about the whole thing. So, I really have no cause to worry about it. I think it's just the recent 3* rating that has shaken me. That guest didn't complain about anything, left a positive review and positive private note, but her ratings means I lose Superhost status for a couple of quarters at least. Not the end of the world, but I guess I panicked when I thought maybe something had gone wrong with another guest and they weren't willing to tell me what it was...

[John5097]

@Huma0 I haven't done that yet but it seems like a good strategy. I think we all have to experience guest that have change of circumstance or just didn't bother to read the listing. I'm good at providing all the necessary info and ok with communication but get to a point where I just have to be satisfied that I've done the best I can for that circumstance. It sounds like she may have been posturing for a refund by mentioning she didn't even take a shower, but you were there and your guest. 

[John5097]

I wouldn't expect or hope for a review from guest who canceled. This one sounds like she may contact CS, learn she isn't entitled to refund and move on with her life. I think everyone gets influenced by other things going on or previous guests. Its challenging to sort these situations out, especially a long term guest who cancels at the start of their stay. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

It's quite possible she didn't want to bring up the refund and was waiting for me to do it. When I explained to her that I could possibly refund her something if I could rebook a few of the nights, but that she needed to cancel them first, she told me not to worry about it. However, she made the cancellation as soon as she got in her Uber! So, clearly she was hoping for one, which is not so strange.

[John5097]

@Huma0 Definitely not strange a guest would be hopeful for a refund. I think there would be more risk not having said anything. This way you communicated and let guest know how things are from the host point of view. If not, espically guest who changes plans that quickly may not have considered that her vacating the reservation would put host at a disadvantage. Guest finds out later and no longer face to face and more likely to leave a low review without even appreciating how it could impact the host. As host we all have to grapple with the review process, accommodating guest as best we can. I think you handled it much better than I could have.  

[Huma0]

Thanks @John5097 .

I think one of the main things to point out is that you can offer a partial refund if some dates get rebooked BUT that there is no guarantee of that with last minute cancellations. 

Another thing for hosts to always consider is that they don't get paid until after the guest checks in, so it's better not to issue the refund until then. The nights could get rebooked, but that doesn't necessarily mean the new guest won't cancel (especially these days) or change their dates.

At the moment, I have a booking for some of the nights previously cancelled by another guest. I am waiting until I have been paid before reimbursing the first guest. However, should I instead wait until the stay is completed? What if the new guest has to suddenly leave early? This seems to be becoming much more common.

[John5097]

@Huma0 I read It can take up to 10 days for guest to get a refund from Airbnb, so wouldn't want to issue a refund through the resolution center and ABB also issue one though a cancelation. But that may not be a concern as she already canceled on her end. I would wait until end of guest stay and could even message other guest about payout time, and guest would also be less inclined to leave a negative review as its up to you if you want to issue a refund and host can change their mind. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

Yes, I think I mentioned to her that I could only refund her after I get paid and that I don't get paid upfront. She seemed a bit uncomfortable even talking about the discount (kept telling me not to worry about it), but obviously she would like one or she wouldn't have immediately cancelled the booking, l mean within two minutes of leaving the house!

In any case, I haven't even been paid for her stay yet. It's still showing as processing on my transaction history.

[Huma0]

@John5097 

I have had a few long term guests who have left early. This was very rare pre-pandemic, but seems to be getting more and more common as people's plans are much more up in the air.

pre-pandemic:

1. Girl who booked for two months, but seemed to think that was flexible (told me to let her know if someone else booked the room!) and just couldn't understand that there was a cancellation policy at all. She left after 2.5 weeks and I refunded the rest of the stay because she would have stayed longer otherwise. She was completely nuts, so I was happy to see her go.

2. Another crazy girl. This one was asked to leave early and I refunded her the remaining nights just to get her out.

pandemic:

1. Guy who left early because he found a long term apartment. He paid for the first month. Should have actually been charged for a month from cancellation, i.e. about six weeks in total, but I agreed to charge him a bit less.

2. Girl who was supposed to stay a few weeks but only stayed for a few days because she was surprised at how busy London was and was scared of catching COVID. She returned to Oxford, where she caught COVID. She was charged the first month and refunded the rest. I was unable to rebook the dates.

3. A guy who left a bit early because his new house share became available sooner than expected. Charged for the first month. Again, I was unable to rebook the dates, but he chased and chased me about that.

4. The girl who left yesterday.

Not one of these guests left a review, which is partly why I got stung so much by that recent 3 stars. Let's see if the last one is the first to leave a review, but I'm not hopeful. I did ask her to as she was leaving, but she didn't say anything in response.

[John5097]

@Huma0 Well those are all just challenging situations, especially for long term rentals. I'm at a loss why some people wouldn't understand the cancellation policy and when they book the space its no longer available, but of course host have to deal with that all the time. 

I've also noticed more peculiar behavior during the covid spikes and surges. I was only hosting a short while pre pandemic, as I started in mid February 2020. My place booked fast for next four months or so without even having gotten a review then a month later had a flood of cancelations, over 90 in the first year. Even now my cancelation rate is over 30%, and only a few in the past year, as my first year I had more cancelations than bookings, all from covid. I managed to rebook all the nights. 

Thats one of the reasons I only allow short term rental. Its harder to rebook the nights but that's just my situation, and would be different if I had another listing depending on so many other factors.  

After covid so many changes as everyone is constantly having to change and adjust their plans and consider things they never had to before. For the first six moths of the pandemic guest would always cancel at least a month in advance. Then became 2 weeks in advance, then a week in advance, then staring getting messages the day before check in "do you have any kayaks or canoes?" Where they are shopping around the day before check in! Or if its rain in the forecast. 

Some guest are just better to let go. Sometimes I wish I lived with guest like sharing a house, as there would be better communication, but other host who have stayed with me assured me I wouldn't like it, as some just don't say hello and just go straight to their rooms. 

I'm sure whatever you decided to say to your guest was the right decision. It sounds like you were proactive and communicated the situation from a host perspective that you need to rent the place and that reviews are also important to your business. The last guest who gave you a 3* yet rave written review must have just been clueless how it affected you the host so I think would have been more risk just leaving it up to chance that guest who changes plans that abruptly would understand things from host side of things. 

I just do the best I can with my skill set. As I recall you have such great reviews I think that's what guest read, the most recent reviews, and understand that maybe there was some issue that was sorted out. Guest are very savvy and you can just tell your listing is accurate and a great option.  

Thanks for sharing. I've only had two guest who canceled a day early and didn't ask for refund. One was a mom and daughter in town for testing and surgery for daughter and surgery got canceled the day before after they stayed a night. She didn't bother to leave a review the first stay even though she requested non scented laundry detergent for the sheets, as daughter had extreme allergies. I did issue a refund for the one night as I happened to not have another free day that month. Of course she appreciated it. But that's a lot different than long term cancelation, and I wasn't worried about a review. 

If I get one who wants to leave early that's more than a night, I'll also just say I'll refund If I can rebook the dates. I try to have a policy and just stick with it and not worry about it as best I can, even though guest who cancel can be stressful situation that require more time and effort. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

Yes, you are right. Hosting long term guests is a riskier business these days. When I did both short and long stays, cancellations didn't bother me unless they were super last minute, as the rooms would get rebooked anyway, but that was pre-pandemic, so who knows if that would still be the case.

What I am noticing is that I am having to reduce my minimum number of nights in order to fill the gaps left by long term guests cancelling. Unless it is far enough in advance, it's almost impossible to get a new long term guest to book that entire period.

You can see from the examples I gave above. With the pre-pandemic ones, the rooms got rebooked anyway, even though it was last minute. Since the pandemic, it has been impossible so far to rebook dates when a long term guest leaves early.

Another thing I've noticed is more instant bookings. It used to be very rare that long term guests IBed. Very, very rare, but now they seem to do it all the time. I find that these guests are more likely to cancel or it's more likely that they are unsuitable and I have to cancel/ask them to. I can't imagine why someone would book a long term stay in a house share without having a conversation with the host first, but people are doing it more and more often.

[John5097]

@Huma0 communication on guest end has been very minimal in my experience. I just turned off IB and it saved me from one potentially risky guest who had canceled his first request to book, I only got a notifaction he canceled and never got the RTB, because there was no message at all. Then a week later got another one from him that just said, "vacation" which I declined. He had one review so he could have IB. I replied there wasn't enough info and didn't want him to be disappointed with his stay. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

I just now turned off IB on this particular room (see my later posts below about the problem I am having right now). The only reason I had it on in the first place is that there are so many listings in London, mine were getting lost without it.

I am going to keep an eye on the searches, but when I did an initial search for the first available dates, the listing did not show up on the first few pages. In the past, guests have told me that my listings came up very high in searches (I guess that a lot of hosts don't do longer stays). 

So, that's not looking too good. However, I have a five month booking for that room from 10th January so, providing that goes well (there are a few red flags now so I am getting nervous about that one), I won't need any more bookings for the room for a while.

Did you find that your bookings went down when you turned off IB?

[Helen744]

Helen@744. did it cross your mind that your guest had just been told that she was covid positive and tested from a previous address ,probably her family home and did not want to tell u ?