cancellation policy

[Kim866]

We have been hosting 6 years now--we have done well and have a flexible cancellation policy in place.  We recently had a guest who reserved, then amended the reservation 24 hours before arrival to the next weekend, then canceled the reservation.  She has done this TWICE-- a few months apart. This of course blocks the calendar making it difficult to rebook those dates, so we are potentially losing revenue.

My question is--how much do you feel the cancellation policy influences bookings and which one do you use?

Thanks,

Kim

[Shelley159 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Kim866 

It's hard to know how much free cancellation influences guests when they choose between listings, but it also influences your ranking in search results. 

I typed Puryear and 7 guests (no dates) and your listing came up in the very first spot for me, so it presently has a great position. You can test this on your side too (be sure to use private mode).

Then you can remove free cancelation and see whether and how your listing moves in the search results.

[Kim866]

@Shelley159 

Thank you so much Shelley--that is good to know!  I think I am just frustrated this morning as she had done that before--lol. 

Kim

[Shelley159]

Hi @Kim866 

If you want to keep free cancellation, maybe you could consider blocking the specific guest.

Airbnb says:

If you block someone, they won’t be able to send you messages, book your listing, or accept a reservation request from you.

I don't know if this is what you want to do, but here's the full article:

Report and block a host or guest’s messages - Airbnb Help Center

[Joelle43]

Hello @Shelley159 @Kim866 

Great advice from Shelley and I would definitely block this guest from booking with me ever again by flagging her!  

Unfortunately there's a common scam known by unscrupulous guests to get their money back by asking hosts to push out the dates of a  reservation so that the new dates fall within the hosts cancellation window.  This wasn't the case for you as you were on flexible anyway but frustrating nevertheless Kim I agree. 

There is a moderate cancellation option which allows guests to cancel within 5 days of the arrival date only.  Might be worth considering?

All the best
Joëlle