Review for a guest that cancelled at the last minute

[Ceanna0]

I'm not sure how to do a review for a guest who had to cancel at the last minute. How can you rate them, if they never checked in? Thanks for any input:)

[Emiel1]

@Ceanna0 

Do not review them.

[Ceanna0]

I thought a review was required since AirBnB prompts for a review. I didn't want to get a "bad grade" for not leaving a review. Thanks for your reply:)

[Helen350]

@Ceanna0 Many hosts lament the craziness of not being able to leave star categories of cleanliness & house rules blank. We used to be able to do this but Airbnb changed it so we have to check the stars to proceed...

What I do, is give a 'communication' rating based on whether they explained they couldn't stay in a timely, polite & respectful fashion. Those who fail to turn up & don't bother to tell me, neither before nor after, get a 1* communication from me! - I give 5* for cleanliness & house rules, because their non-arrival means they could not create mess & dirt, nor break rules! (Unless your rules include 'let me know if you decide not to stay'!)

So my written review says either

1) "X had a family emergency/change of plan  on day of arrival & was unfortunately unable to stay. I appreciated him phoning/messaging to let me know. He would be welcome to try again!" 

or

2) "X booked xx nights at my place one week before check in date. He then never arrived, nor did he offer any explanation, nor respond to any of my messages. I do hope no accident befell him!"

[Ceanna0]

Thank you. I'm learning as I go, and the best teachers are other AirBnB hosts!

[Sarah977]

I've ever had this happe, but if I did, I think I'd send the guest a brief message saying something like "Sorry you couldn't make it to your booking with us. When a guest cancels day-of check-in, both hosts and guests get an automatic notice to review, because the Airbnb algorithm has no way of knowing whether the guest cancelled because there was some issue with the place, or for personal reasons. Obviously we have no basis on which to rate or review you, since you never stayed, so we just wanted to let you know we're not planning on leaving a review, and assume you'll ignore those prompts as well."

@Ceanna0 

[Ceanna0]

Got it! Thanks so much:)

[Anonymous]

@Ceanna0   There is no such thing as a "bad grade" for not leaving a review. That has no penalty.

However, it does happen sometimes that a guest cancels last-minute but demands an exemption from your cancellation policy, and posts a revenge review if you don't acquiesce. When that happens, it looks better for you if you've indicated the outcome of the cancellation in your review while clarifying that the guest never arrived at your property.

In my experience, this is seldom necessary - most of the time, these last-minute cancellations don't ask for refunds and don't review, so in turn I don't review them.

[Ceanna0]

Andrew, thank you!! This was most helpful, and appreciated:)

[Inna22]

@Ceanna0 if the guest followed your policy the guest did nothing wrong. While a polite explanation for the reason is a nice human thing to do, it is not required. I do not understand though why you are able to review them. Did they cancel after the stay was scheduled to begin? Did you get paid?

[Ceanna0]

Hi Inna! Yes, they cancelled several hours after our 1 PM check-in time, so AirBnB assumed they were checked in, and therefore prompted me to do a review after what would have been their check out day. I did communicate to the guests that if they choose to reschedule, I would be happy to host them. I did a review to the best of my ability, explaining the situation, so future hosts would understand situation.