Strict cancellation policy - Make guest cancel not change reservation

[Magic3]

Your a great host. You've delivered a high quality home with great service. Still, you have a guest who, for whatever reasons beyond your control, wants to cancel early during their stay. This will leave an unexpected hole in your calendar that you may have trouble filling as a result. Here's what I recommend you do based on my experience. 

1. Stay calm. Remind them you have a no-cancellation policy and your policy is to enforce all terms and rules consistently. 

2. If you decide to offer a refund, inform them any refund will be calculated and issued about 3 weeks after checkout. 

3. Make the guest CANCEL. DO NOT accept a "Reservation Change". See below...

4. Use the "Send or Request Money" feature to send the refund amount that you deem appropriate and after the review period has ended.

5. Leave an honest review to politely give future hosts a "heads up". See below...

My Experience:

We where thrilled when we received a corporate booking for 12 days in January. The booker has over 30 reviews, so clearly they are familiar with the various Air BNB cancellation policies and chose our home with our Strict Cancellation policy (no refunds).

On the second day of their stay I was told they "may" finish 7 days early, and if so, asked if we would give them a refund.  2 days later I was told they would in fact check out on day 5 and they requested a refund again. I told them I would "consider" a refund only if we are able to re-book this last minute hole in the calendar. 

So, they submitted a "Reservation CHANGE". I started to accept their change. While doing so I noticed that there was no option for me accept the change without issuing a 100% refund for the cancelled dates! So, I DECLINED the change request. Instead, I required that they actually CANCEL their stay. By doing so, I was able to keep the money and free up my calendar for more bookings. I can then send a refund for any amount I deem appropriate. 

They continued to pressure me to issue a refund. They said they've done cancelled early on more than on occasion and NEVER had anyone say they would only refund if they could re-book the dates. Clearly they have a habit of intentionally over-booking a property, cancelling early, leaving the host with a hole in the calendar, and getting refunded anyway. So, now here I am, a super host who works hard to provide high quality accommodations now being put in a position to "disappoint" my guest by not refunding them. 

They subsequently sent a follow-up message listing the reasons why they felt I should issue a refund including: You would not have booked those days anyway, and, we cancelled with sufficient notice for you to re-book. Clearly these statements are ridiculous. If you don't think we would have booked those dates a week in advance, what makes you think we'll book them now that you cancelled and we have even less time to re-book?  And in what universe is cancelling mid-stay "sufficient notice"? Sufficient for what? My argument - an experienced booker like you knew what you were doing when you booked my home with a no-refunds policy. You knew your schedule was subject to change and you booked a home with a strict cancellation policy anyway.  We both agreed to the same thing. I held up my part of the deal. You need to hold up yours.

I informed them that I would issue some kind of refund about 21 days after they check-out. This gives me time to reflect on how well they treated the property, whether I was able to book any of the days they cancelled and for how much, and factor in how fairly they treated us throughout the entire process.

I left a fair review that alerts future hosts about this issue in a way that is a nice and fair as possible, given the circumstance. Reviews are for the hosts benefit. We can't let habitual overbookers like this go without any notice to other hosts that they can expect a problem. Hopefully this review will prompt the booker to think twice before trying to get around the no-refund policy. 

My Review

The crew left our home in very good condition and we would host them again. 5-Stars for the guests! XXXX, the booker, was communicative and professional. Hosts Be Advised: the nature of their work schedule is subject to change and they may have to cancel early as much as half of their stay or more. Even if you are a host with a Strict cancellation policy (like we do), be prepared to discuss refunds anyway. 

[Chill-and-Relax0]

Your post confirms that reviews from hosts are useless most of the time, and even those somewhat insightful and seemingly honest should be taken with a grain of salt.

You had a habitual overbooker as per your own words, who apparently know well his ways around ABB cancellation policies, and who could potentially cost you a substantial loss and yet, the first thing you emphasize in your review is that you would host them again (?) and that they are five-star guests.

I thought that coded message for such guests is "the hotel industry would suit their needs better."

[Magic3]

The guests who actually stayed in our home were terrific. So I left 5 stars for the guests, and booker specific feedback. My separate private note to the booker was very direct and constructive. My objective was to post a courteous public notice for hosts to have fair warning and give private feedback that will encourage this person to change their behavior. I believe my approach accomplished those goals. My rule of thumb: Treat people with kindness and respect, especially when things are challenging. 

[Sandra933]

I too have had a guest leave the listing after staying 1 night of a 7 night reservation. I too have a strict reservation cancellation policy. My guests from Colorado left the listing without informing me of their issues. He instead called Airbnb and complained that there was no exhaust fan in one of the bathrooms, the king bed was firm and the window air conditioners let in cold air. Then, he messaged me that he found a hotel room in the area because my place was "unlivable" and wanted a refund for the nights he did not stay. I found this quite upsetting since I was given no reasonable chance to correct his issues which were not deemed Travel Issues, by the way.

So, what seemed to be days of back and forth emails and conversations with Airbnb representatives turned out that I did not have to give him a refund and his issues were not travel issues warranting a refund. Now, the important thing to mention here is that Airbnb representatives continued to ask me to give him some sort a compensation back to make the decision more amenable to both parties. They asked for nights unused back and they asked for half the reservation back. They even wanted to change his reservation to fit the 1 night he stayed. Eventhough, by then it was on the third day of Airbnb support conversations. That meant I would have lost 3 more nights of compensation with no way of securing a last minute reservation.

I asked the representative to enforce the conflict resolution process,  and ask for his hotel receipts and any pictures of the issues, so that I can respond formally. And after researching the policies, I then quoted parts of refund policy back to the representative and explained why I selected and the importance of a strict cancellation policy. I did not issue a refund. But, suffered a negative review which the guest threaten me with in his previous message thread but Airbnb will not remove.

[Mary996]

Wow... well done for sticking to your guns. Sorry about the neg review. What do you think was really going on?

[Sandra933]

@Mary996 

Thank you for your comment. I'm guessing but, I feel he had family in the area and either decided to stay with them or someone else less than he would have paid for my listing. He did not produce a receipt for the hotel he claimed to have spent money on. So, I think it came to what made a more logical proven argument of facts. His statements were exaggerated and were not "Travel Issues" as defined by Airbnb standards. So, I was confident that his complaints were did not fit the Airbnb policy.

I learned that you need to set the guests expectations. So, I now have a statement in my description that mentions something like...You are a guest in my home and I am happy to host you. This is an older home; not a hotel. If you are looking for all modern amenities, pleasures and perfection please book a hotel. Otherwise, you will feel quite at home here.

[Mary996]

@Sandra933Good for you Sandra. Thank you for sharing your experience. Every little bit is of great help to all of us. I think its a great community. I'm still learning and adjusting xx I am sure you will get many more positive reviews .

[Ricardo85]

@Sandra933 

Have you seen this?

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews?_set_bev_on_new_domai...

Ricardo

[Sandra933]

@Ricardo85 

Yes, I did read this. Seems as though it is saying a review (good or bad) can be left. My concern was that within the thread of messages to me the guest used the review as a "weapon" or threat. Stating something like...if you give me money back. I wont leave you a review of this experience.

[Mary996]

Would you possibly copy and paste the review so we can see. I was in a situation where I now regret NOT reviewing a guest. I wanted to say something along the lines that " these guests caused damage... at this point in time I am progressing a claim against them. If the matter is settled then I hope to be able to remove this review". Do you see where I'm coming from?  No-one wants to say negative things unjustifiably. They felt I was asking too much compensation. I invited them to make an offer but eventually had no response except for the threat of a £200,000 claim for 'racism'. In my opinion it would have been racist NOT to have claimed for the damage they caused! I am considering a small claims court action. Has anyone used this route?

[Cormac0]

@Magic3 

I wonder what sort of contract they write for their clients and how much money  they give back if a client backs out 1/3 the way through the contract. 

I wonder does the system recalibrate the discounts given, based on the amended dates?

[Mary996]

Hi Magic

I don't quite understand your point. Can you say this another way possibly please?

[Pamela53]

Well done! How was the review they gave you?

[Magic3]

Great question - thanks for asking: They left a positive review. 5 stars and a couple nice lines of text. 

[Mary996]

Very helpful info. We have a middle way cancellation policy. Am now wondering about going for strict. Does anyone here think it puts Guests off ?

[Ricardo85]

@Mary996 

From the beginning my policy was strict and I had no problem renting because of it.

Ricardo