guest keep wanting to leave early for cheaper short term lets

[Sarah4703]

I'm in the city centre and I've only had a few guests, as I started hosting this summer, However I keep having guests that book for several weeks and then want to leave earlier as they find something cheaper as a short term let on Spareroom. They're mainly people working in London. 

Getting let down at short notice is tricky as I'm counting on the money and can't take on more guests in the short term to repay Airbnb.

 Should I let them leave early in case they might leave a bad review? The current guest is on a flexible status (She booked before I realised you could change the status to moderate etc) so I just get a day extra payment. 

What's the best way to prevent this from happening in the future when I let out the place next summer?

Many thanks for all your advice 🙂

[Pat271]

Changing your policy to Strict should make a difference. Guests may still try to leave early and get refunded, but their chances are reduced if they have to contrive falsehoods or otherwise try to get the policy revoked using some sort of extenuating circumstance.

I know it’s difficult especially when you first start out and have few reviews, but you MUST strive to be honest and forthright in your experiences with each guest so that other hosts will be more informed when making booking decisions, and also so that good guest behavior will be more obvious. The more difficult and consequential bad guest behavior becomes, the better future guests will learn what constitutes good guest behavior. Guests don’t like getting bad reviews, and they also read these forums. 

[Sarah4703]

Thanks, that's very helpful

[Sudsrung0]

Personally, we have always had the cancellation set to strict, Im in business to make money and if you had you calendar blocked for a couple months the chances of you getting another booking are pretty slim to nothing. especially if it's last minute.

As for cancelling half way through their stay they have no chance, They want to leave early thats their problem, not mine.

They will try it on, 

Fortunately we have not had many cancellations, 

One I remember some years ago tried to cancel on the day of arrival, was not on airbnb another platform, he made a song and dance I dont know what he said to paypal but they withheld my money for 2 weeks, but I didn't give in and eventually got paid.

[Sarah4703]

Thank you. I've changed my setting now. I appreciate your advice.

[Sudsrung0]

@Sarah4703 

Maybe you should sit down on a laptop or computer and spend some time studying airbnb's web site there are things you miss and could catch you out where is could cost you money,

Also on you tube there is loads of video's about how to run an airbnb maybe useful 

[Sarah4703]

Thanks, I hadn't thought of youtube videos. I've looked at the Airbnb website and TBH its quite difficult to find all the information as it's not necessarily obviously linked. I also didn't realise it  would be such an issue with people wanting to change dates. I'll give the youtube videos a go. Many thanks for the tip.

[Sarah4703]

I found Airbnb's site quite hard to navigate so couldn't always find the information I've needed. I've often had to google questions to go back into the right part of Airbnb's website! Many thanks, I hadn't thought of the youtube videos but I will give them a go. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah4703 

Yes, you are right. It's not that easy to navigate nor to find what you are looking for. I just automatically google the question to find the appropriate link, otherwise it takes forever. 

Here you will find details of the different cancellation policies:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/475/cancellation-policies-for-your-listing

and here more detail on the long term ones:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1361/cancellations-of-longer-stays

where you will also find the 'loopholes' where guests might be able to override the policy by shortening their stay. 

[Sarah4703]

I'm impressed how generous and supportive you and others in the community are. Thank you!

[Huma0]

@Sarah4703 

I'm confused. You said that guests are booking for weeks and then want to leave earlier. If a guest books a stay that is 28 days or longer, the long term cancellation policy applies. There are two different options for long term cancellation policy that you can choose from (flexible and strict) but they are not the same as the flexible and strict policies for stays under 28 days. Also, there is no 'moderate' policy option for long stays.

Do make sure you acquaint yourself with the different policies as there are a few and some vary depending on length of stay.

Personally, I set both my short term and long term policies to Strict, but bear in mind there are loopholes where long term guests can shorten their stay without penalties. Always read the fine print as I've had some nasty surprises due to this!

[Sarah4703]

Many thanks for your advice. I've put them both to strict now! I've found information quite difficult to find on the site, but I'll do some more reading there as well. It's a shame that Airbnb isn't more supportive of hosts and closes the loopholes you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah4703  It's possible that changing the cancellation policy is all you need to do to prevent this in the future - some people deliberately search for Flexible cancellation stays with little intention of actually using or committing to them. But then again, plenty more people don't pay attention to the policy at all and still believe they're entitled to refunds when plans change.

You might find that people staying in London for work are not your best target guests. But you're in a fantastic location for tourists too, so if you have the time to do frequent changeovers, you could set a shorter maximum stay and focus on the leisure market. Since your listing is a shared home, I suggest putting out more information about the household - how many people live there, and how much interactivity guests can expect in the shared spaces. A complete host profile with a picture of your face would make the listing feel more like a fun and approachable homestay rather than just a spare room.

[Sarah4703]

Hi Andrew, wow, that's really fantastic advice. I'll definitely put those into action 😉 

Yes the tourists definitely seem a better bet. They spend more time outside, and I'll take your advice about the photo, that sounds like a good idea. Many thanks!