Loss of superhost status due to a cancellation by a guest

[Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0]

How do other super hosts feel about losing their superhost status as a result of a guest canceling their reservation? No reason was given for the cancellation.

[Helen744]

@Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 You lose superhost through reviews and low stars . which is awful generally and hard to get back . i have always thought that this sytem does not function the way it should . If your guest had already commencec their stay and cancelled because of some reason in your home then loss of stars should be checked and the reason why ascerained but if they cancelled before staying then ask for the review to be removed as they cannot judge somewhere they did not stay H

[Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0]

I would understand if I got poor reviews but my reviews are consistently excellent, ranging from 4.8 to usually  five stars. This guest had made a reservation and then for no stated reason canceled. That was enough to lose my super host status.

[Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0]

Just to be clear, the guest did not stay at my home as they canceled their reservation a week before their reservation date. I have a no penalty for cancellation policy. It seems to me that Airbnb is punishing me for having a no cancellation policy. I was told by Airbnb Support that if I had a no cancellation policy and this same guest had canceled, that I would not have lost my super host status.

[Helen744]

@Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 this does not make sense . Sorry . You do need to have a cancellation policy . Flexible is the bare minimum but these guests have not reviewed you so it cannot affect your stars . Ring the rep becuase somethings screwy here . H

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 this should only happen if the guest complained about the listing and the customer ambassador decided to put it through as a 'host caused' cancellation.

What happened in your case?

[Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0]

Thanks for your reply. The guest cancelled a month before his reservation, giving no explanation. This cancellation was said to have put my cancellation rate over the 1 percent allowed. I’ve not cancelled any reservations myself this year, my ratings are excellent, and I’ve had a near record number of reservations in the last 3 months.

[Helen3]

what did airbnb say when you queried this with them? @Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 

[Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0]

The Airbnb ambassador said that due to the one guest cancellation and because this represented more than 1% of my cancellation rate, that my super ho6 status was removed. I have not cancelled any reservations myself this year.

[Emilia42]

@Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 Ask customer service to be more specific ... exactly which reservation do they have you down for canceling?

[Sandra856]

@Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0  I don’t understand it - because if you cancelled out on a guest it would say so on your profile in the review section. And it doesn’t. As a host you are not punished if a guest decides to cancel. You won’t loose your superhost status. What does your stats say?

These are the requirements:

[Emilia42]

@Sandra856 

"because if you cancelled out on a guest it would say so on your profile in the review section."

Airbnb stopped the "canceled penalty review" at the beginning of Covid. I haven't seen one of those reviews in 2.5 years. 

[Sandra856]

@Emilia42 Oh okay, thank you for telling me - I didn’t know that. Then @Susanhyatt705-Comcast-Net0 must have accepted “a request to cancel” from the guest - otherwise I don’t see why she is penalised? 

Airbnb CS should be able to see that in the message feed. That it was the guest that wished to cancel not the host. 

[Emilia42]

@Sandra856 That's what I'm thinking ... she was tricked into canceling, which is unfortunate. And it's ridiculous that CS can't be more specific in helping to understand the reasoning. 

P.S. It is good for the host that the cancelation reviews are no longer showing (especially when there was a massive wave of cancellations in Spring 2020) but not great for guests. As a guest, I like to know when a host has a history of canceling. I'm surprised Airbnb is still operating this way. All the help pages still say that when a host cancels one of the penalties is the cancelation review but I know for a fact this has not been the case over the last 2 years.