Superhost and Guest Cancellations

[Ron7619]

Why does it count against my Superhost status when a guest cancels on me? It’s like throwing salt on the wound. Am I understanding this correctly?

[Sarah977]

@Ron7619  Where do you see it counting against your Superhost status?

Superhost is only lost if the host cancels, not the guest.

[Ron7619]

Hi Sarah, 

I received notification that criteria for Superhost is returning to pre covid standards and that I was only out of criteria in cancellations. We had to cancel once this year due to flood damage. We have rented 177 days. 

[Sarah977]

@Ron7619  So I don't understand what you mean about guest cancellations. You just said you cancelled the reservation, which makes it a host cancellation. And you lose Superhost status if you cancel more than 1% of reservations in a year. 

If you have an emergency situation, like flooding, rendering the place uninhabitable, you shouldn't cancel yourself, you should contact Airbnb to do a neutral cancellation with no penalties to you.

[Ron7619]

I only mentioned the one cancellation we were responsible for to make a point. Several guests cancelled out of our control.  I will follow up with AirBnB. Just need to budget the time to get through to a representative. Thanks for the conversation, Sarah. 

[Sarah977]

@Ron7619  Getting through to a CS rep will likely be a waste of your time. Most of them are untrained, totally clueless, and know almost nothing about Airbnb policy. They routinely give out incorrect info.

I'm still trying to understand why you think the guest cancellations counted against you. Where did you read this specifically?  

[Ron7619]

I described the notification I received from AirBnB. It says we are at 4.1% cancellations and the criteria for Superhost is less than 1%. Since we only cancelled the 1 time but guests cancelled 5 times, I deduced they must be counting guest cancellations. I agree about the reps. My experience is they are untrained. You can’t rely on what they say. Sigh. I’m still Superhost, just curious how they computed the percentage. I’ll get to the bottom of this. Just need to brace for the inconvenience. Hopefully I’ve made myself clear to you?I 

[Colleen253]

@Ron7619 “Since we only cancelled the 1 time but guests cancelled 5 times, I deduced they must be counting guest cancellations.”

If the guest sends you a ‘request’ to cancel and you accept it, it counts as a host cancel. Is that what happened in the ‘guest’ cancellations that you had count against you? Never cancel for a guest. There is never a need or a reason to do that. 

[Ron7619]

Thanks Colleen that is important to know. I might have done that. I appreciate the insight. 

[Mariela71]

Hi, last year, i NEVER cancelled for a guest. I made a point of telling my guests that. Nevertheless i Got the same notivication Ron got and Airbnb tells counted that against me.  I wrote to Airbnb asking the same question Ron asked and I got no reply... I still believe they are counting guests cancellations.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ron7619 The 4.1% cancellation rate would be calculated if you cancelled 1 stay out of 25. I suspect that is what has happened with you. It is nothing to do with guest cancellations.

[Sarah977]

@Ron7619  Yes, clear now. Thanks for further explanation.

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Ron7619 

The thing is, there is no posting at all on Ron's review page that says "Host cancelled this reservation", which would be the case if he had a bunch of host cancellations, right? 

Is Airbnb now perhaps counting guest cancellations when calculating for Superhost, although there are no other host penalties attached to them?

[Ron7619]

Important question which I will address/try to address with a rep if/when I can get through to someone who is trained well enough to provide accurate information. I will get to the bottom of this because that status is valuable as you know, and I have maintained it ever since we begin with AirBnB - 2.5 years.

[Mariela71]

 I have the same concern as you. thank you for insisting on this very important matter. Regards,