guest cancellations

[Deanne52]

I have been having quite a few guests book longer stays as they get a lower nightly rate and then cancel their reservation before their stay is complete, finding any reason possible to cancel.  I am inclined to believe that this is a pattern that is being used to get better rental rates.  Has anyone else noticed this?  I am curious.

[Sarah977]

@Deanne52  Yes, lots of guests seem to do this. You don't need to offer discounts, you know. Better to get shorter stays and better guests not looking to scam you.

[Fred13]

What a lowlife move. Really.

[Sarah977]

Other businesses have this down.  You buy something on sale, there's a no return, no refund policy.

[Deanne52]

Yeah honestly the guests I get from VRBO are never a problem but the airbnb ones sometimes are!  Not sure why that is but ???  I have a strict cancellation policy which should take care of this issue but they go to the reconciliation page and use every excuse possible to get out of their reservation and get a refund.  And at least once, after the guest and I agreed on an amount to refund them, apparently they asked for more than I authorized and airbnb gave it to them and just took it from my next reservation!  I was extremely shocked and mad.  I have considered dropping airbnb frankly.  

[Sarah977]

@Deanne52  One thing to be aware of, if you aren't already, is that any guest who asks for a discount, above and beyond any you might offer, is a giant red flag. You should decline those requests.

And the only reason to offer weekly or monthly discounts is if you really want or need to attract those bookings. In my case, and perhaps in yours also, given the location, my guests are coming on vacation- it's a destination beach town.

They aren't just passing through for a night or two, they aren't coming for work, or because they need a place to live, or all the other reasons people book Airbnbs.

So my average length booking, unless it's from a Mexican national, who might just book for a few nights  because they aren't travelling that far, is a week to 2 weeks. There is no need for me to offer a weekly discount, because most guests are coming for that long anyway-  it wouldn't bring me more business, because those guests only have a specific amount of time to be away on holiday. They have jobs and commitments to get back to.

BTW, your listing is lovely.

[Deanne52]

Thanks Sarah,

Yes mine is as well and I dont offer weekly discounts as my minimum is already a week, I dont take nightly except in green low season and then it is a five day minimum.  Maybe we need to go to each others place?  I hear good things about Sayulita.  I have some neighbors here where I live most o the time in Encinitas, that are building a place there.  Yeah this last person was a real duzzy and I did have a bad feeling about him but gave in as during October almost never any clients and he was booking 5 wks.  But boy did he turn bad when I refused to give him a total refund except for the few days he stayed!  I have a strict cancellation policy since it is in a location where people typically plan a long time in advance.  He has tried every excuse he can now with airbnb saying all kinds of things about random people coming to the house, though is was my pool service and gardener that come every week and clients are advised of both in writing and verbal.  So he leaves a bad review oh well, I of course responded.  I will check out your place and maybe we can do an exchange at some point!  

[Sarah977]

@Deanne52  Just read that guy's review. What an entitled piece of  work. Complains about geckos and bugs in the tropics? Calls your workers a "gang"? Gee, I guess they were really scary because they don't have white skin? Kind of person who should never leave home.

You can always tell the BS reviews because they are so dramatic and usually short story length. If a normal, non-scamming guest arrives to find the place not clean, they might write " Many areas could do with a serious deep cleaning and overall cleanliness left a lot to be desired."

The scamming, retaliatory reviewer, making up stuff will say "This place was disgustingly filthy" and then go on to list in detail every hair, dead bug and bit of dust they supposedly found in every room in the house.

Sayulita has become a huge tourist trap. I've lived here 18 years. Used to be the summers were a nice break from the hoards of tourists, now they come all year. So glad I bought a lot out in the countryside- I just almost never go into town anymore. But many  people still find it charming. 

If I ever decide go to Costa Rica with more than just myself, I'll definitely keep you in mind. And if you stayed here, at least I know I wouldn't be getting gecko poop and spider complaints  🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Deanne52tnx for info, good to know the newest trends, that's why I like to visit CC regularly.

I would like to know if the length of stay in your area has changed since Covid?

Bc pre-Covid, here in Zagreb, Croatia, we had an average stay of just 1,75 nights according to official statistics. The longest stay I had in 4 years was one stay of 14 nights. Now everything has changed and bookings for 6 - 14 nights have become the norm. I even got a booking for 45 nights with just a 10% of weekly discount (It really surprised me) We are seeing a totally different type of guests than before.

[Deanne52]

Branka,

I LOVE Croatia!  Was there in 2015 as we have a dear friend, another artist,  who was born and raised in Vela Luca on Korcula.  We crossed on the ferry from Venice and drove down the coast to Dubrovnik and Korcula.  What a gorgeous coastline!  We also went to Zagreb briefly and out to the Kupa river to scatter my boyfriends mother ashes as her maiden name was Kupa and think they were originally from that area.  What I have noticed is that people are looking for longer stays as well and lots of people wanting to work from there since they can work online now.  And of course they are more concerned with internet speed than interest in the beauty and wildlife they will see!   And a lot more interest in the off season there.  

[Brian2036]

@Deanne52 

Yes, we had a couple who booked for 35 nights, came up with an excuse to leave after two weeks, and wanted to be refunded for unused nights at the short-term rate.

Because I was foolish enough to go with Airbnb’s suggested “average long-term discount,” this would have given them a free 2-week stay, which is what they had planned on from the start.

 I negotiated a reasonable refund and immediately revised my listing to discourage a repeat performance.

Airbnb keeps reminding me that the “average long term discount” in my area is 53%. I would like to know where they got that number.

 I have examined the competition and I don’t see anyone offering a discount anywhere near that.

All in all it was a beneficial experience and it won’t happen again. We won’t even consider booking more than 28 days anymore.

[Stephanie1933]

@Brian2036  that is interesting you say that about long term discounts. We were advised to give 53% too but no way! We give 5% for a week and 10% for a month. At the beginning I got ripped off by following their discount rates. Unfortunately, we are stuck with one lady who booked 8 days over Xmas for so cheap 😞  lesson learnt! 

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie1933  It's a ridiculous notion that long term stays should be heavily discounted, as if it is much cheaper to house a guest long term than short term.

When a guest who doesn't clean stays for a month or more, it can take days to get the place back to a rentable state. One host I know had to buy a new stove, the one that was in there so encrusted with layers of grease and burnt on food it was too daunting to tackle.

They usually are in the accommodation a lot more, as they are living there, as opposed to being on holiday, out and about all day enjoying the area and available activities. Therefore, they use far more utilities per day.

Because they are home a lot, they have time to focus on every little detail that guests who are there a short time and busy away from the house would never notice, and make more complaints in their reviews.

And if they aren't careful and respectful, they can do a lot more damage to furnishings than a short term guest has time to do.

[Stephanie1933]

@Sarah977 all very valid points! I agree with you. We live so close to our Airbnb and my husband mows the lawns each week so we keep a very close eye one things. We are lucky the family in there now are just lovely and are treating our place like their own. But that is one out of the box!

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie1933  That's wonderful. For sure all guests who stay long term are not disrepectful advantage takers. It's just the notion that a month long stay should be discounted by half that's ludicrous.

Most hands-on, small time hosts are not making enormous profits, that they can afford to cut their normal price in half and have it still be worthwhile to host.