Cancellations

[Alison219]

My cottage is advertised for 2 people and is an old, small, 3 storey house with steep stairs.  A couple booked to stay with their baby and I suggested they cancel as I didn't feel it was safe.  They have cancelled and the system now shows 'host cancelled'.  Has anyone had this experience before?  This now blocks the weekend from anyone else booking too which is annoying.

[Alexandra316]

@Alison219 It sounds like either the guest sent you a cancellation request that you accepted, or the guest called the Airbnb customer services and they wrongly did a host-intiated cancellation for them. 

If this was an instant booking, you can cancel penalty-free if your guest discloses that they are going to break your rules - in your case you have selected that your property isn't suitable for anyone under the age of 12. In future, I would suggest you just use that option rather than involving Airbnb so mistakes don't happen. In this case, I would contact Airbnb service as soon as possible and ask for the penalties to be removed, as you didn't do anything wrong here. 

I might add a note to your other things to note and rules section stating why your place isn't suitable for infants, and that you only host a maximum of 2 people, and that includes guests of all ages. 

[Alison219]

Thanks, I will contact Airbnb to see if they can change it from being a host cancellation and ensure my 'other things to note' section includes guests of all ages.

[Alison219]

The website seems to have changed and I can't now find out how to contact the Airbnb Superhost service.  Help!

[Alexandra316]

@Alison219 Re: Contact Airbnb: A Community Help Guide [UPDATE... - Page 8 - Airbnb Community (withairbnb.com) Here's a bunch of ways to contact them. I prefer Twitter @airbnbhelp.