Guest has messaged me to say he won't be coming but hasn't cancelled?

[Chris2003]

Basically a guest has messaged me 24 hours before check-in to say he won't be coming, because he has been advised to get a Covid test because of 'symptoms'. Personally I think he is just looking for a way to get his money back last minute.. but I have no evidence to say what he is saying is untrue. 

The thing is - he hasn't actually cancelled the reservation. He has just messaged me to say he is not coming. So obviously I can't get a last minute booking at the moment.. which would be nice if he does then go crying to AirBnB wanting all his money back!

Shall I contact AirBnB to say he has messaged me to say he isn't coming? It has been a tough year for us hosts so I wouldn't mind the extra money from a last minute booking 😉

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Chris2003 It might be worth a try asking Airbnb but they will surely automatically refund the guest if they open up your dates. If you have a high chance of quickly filling the dates then fine but if not perhaps ride out the covid cancellation risk.

Sorry can't be more helpful than that.

[Helen3]

Did you follow up with the guest on Airbnb messaging asking them to cancel?  @Chris2003 

I would do this if you haven’t already.

Also call Airbnb they will be able to see the guests want to cancel.

[Chris2003]

I didn't ask the guest to cancel because I thought it was unlikely i'd get another reservation at that short notice and I didn't want it to look like I was encouraging him to cancel. I thought the best course of action was to just wait it out and report as a no show.

But even though he has told me he isn't coming and hasn't cancelled... it seems he may be eligible for extenuating circumstances 🙄

Surely it's on the guest to cancel the reservation and take things up with AirBnB? He can't say after the payment has been sent day after check-in - "oh I said I wasn't coming because of Covid.. I want my money back?"

[Heidi588]

Realistically, I think you have to take responsibility for your own well-being and not rely on the guest to, since he's already demonstrated that's not a priority for him. Even if it's highly unlikely you'll get a last minute reservation, you still might, so it's up to you now to try to make that opportunity for yourself as there's abundant evidence that it's far more likely he'll be able to claim Covid issues and get a full refund. 

[Sam397]

@Chris2003 I had the exact same thing happen to me not long ago, I told the guest I would refund him for any days the house was rebooked but he needed to cancel before it could get rebooked. He never would cancel. I contacted customer service about it but they never got back with me and when I tried to do it myself I was told it was to close to the start of the stay to cancel and that I had to call CS. So I just ended up acting as if the stay was going as planned. And after the stay ended CS finally got back with me and I told them that the person never arrived and that I was worried he would give me a bad review since I refused to refund him any money and they told me they would monitor it and if he gave me a review it wouldnt count. He never did and I was paid in full. Wasnt able to re book it but I used the time to do a spring cleaning so it worked out. The important thing is to let CS know he didnt stay so they cant give you a bad review.

[Russell49]

Just wait until it is past check in time and mark them as a no show.

[Laura2592]

@Chris2003I would just follow up and say "I am unable to cancel your reservation on my end, and I know that you had said that you weren't able to stay. Can I walk you through how to cancel on your end? Had you changed your mind about staying? We look forward to hosting you if you are able to come. Please let me know what I can do to help."

I had guests from Europe who couldn't come when our state was still shut down and they said they were going to cancel, but didn't. It turns out they were just confused about how to do it. I helped them figure it out and they did it, no problem. As a host of course you shouldn't cancel because you will get dinged and your dates will be blocked.

[Ian_Janice0]

@Ian_Janice 0 - I have had this experience more than once and walked them through cancelling. One person could not figure it out and I called Airbnb and they could see the email chain and cancelled for me. Of course that was before Covid and response was quicker. In one instance a guest got charged one night and another they were refunded. I have a very liberal cancellation policy of 24 hrs. It did help me because I did get other bookings which picked up most of the days.