Cancellations

[Wendy478]

Hi everyone, I have a real problem! I had a request from someone who needed to book for two months in between selling a house and buying one. They said they were waiting for their money to come through from the sale so they couldn;t pay the 3500 up front that AirBNB would need so I did them a favour and allowed them to book for 2 night to open up communcation between us, phone numbers etc and blocked the 2 month space for them. Two weeks passed, we were supposed to have a converstaion and I treid messaging her and then I called her and she is cancelling!! She said they had a health scare, need to be closer to the hospital. (I don't belive that. Thing is she didn;t casll to let me know, I had to track her down, I actually don;t belive her and they want to go ahead and come for the two nights they have paid for. Trouble is I feel trust has been broken and I don;t feel comfortable having them here. What do I do? 

[Letti0]

@Wendy478   You need to get rid of the Flexible policy, use at least a Moderate one or people are going to abuse the cancellation policy. They have nothing to lose and you are blocked from booking opportunities when they don't cancel until the last minute. Also as a new host I would recommend against long term rentals until you've got some hosting experience. They an be a nightmare to get out of if the guests are horrible.  

[Wendy478]

Very good advice! Thank you again Letti. I will cahnge my policy right now. I did call her back and tell her I was now uncomfortable with the whole situation. She asked me if I would prefer they not come even for the two nights and I said yes I would prefer they did not. She said she understood and that they didn;t want any money back. That I could keep the whole booking fee. That it was the least they could do. That made me feel a bit more trusting so we are meeting for a coffee. If I feel comfortable they will come for the two nights and she said maybe even book a few stays over the next few months to get out of town. I believe now that he did have a stroke and that they are in fact staying closer to the hospital. Lesson learned however. I won;t do that for someone again.

[Wendy478]

I moved the policy to moderate. Although strict seems totally fair too.

[Letti0]

@Wendy478  I have a strict policy and this works well for us. 

[Wendy478]

Maybe I should just do that. Its fair .... have you had it all along> Since you began?

[Letti0]

@Wendy478  Yes from the beginning. At HA/VRBO I have a NO refund policy period. If I can rebook I usually refund in most cases unless the guest that's cancelling is giving me grief then I just won't refund on principle. 

[Wendy478]

I changed it to strict .... see how it goes.  Its good that you can makes ecseptions if you so choose. 

[Wendy478]

Wow good for you! Hey ... its a business ... a good one .. sounds like you have figured a lot of stuff out. Thanks again for the help. I needed it 🙂 You're listing looks fabulous!

[Letti0]

@Wendy478  Thanks, my Cottage for 8-10 goes up in a few weeks. They finishing up the final things on it now. 

[Wendy478]

Where is that?

[Letti0]

@Wendy478  I have the listing ready to list as soon as I get the photo's when they are done. I have a 6+ acre property in the San Antonio area that has a wedding/event venue and the 2 rentals. The Honeymoon Suite should be ready around Christmas. There's a 4th building we use for storage. 

[Wendy478]

The site is only allowing me to choose Moderate cancellation. Its not giving me a save option for strict do you know why? I though I had changed it and another guest cancelled 4 days before they werte to arrive and they were given a full refund. Im confused.