Cancelling a booking so it's under the minimum night's setting

[Laurence160]

Hi Guys,

Ive had a guest book two nights , which is my minimum setting, then contact me to cancel one night five days before they arrive. I've tried to contact them to rebook a single night...changing my settings, and cancellation policy so they aren't penalised, and they don't respond to my messages...I have even left a voicemail with no response.

What do you do when someone abuses your minimum night policy? ...and how do you deal with unresponsive guests?

Thanks

Laurence

[Emiel1]

@Laurence160 

There is no need to cancel the booking and rebook. You can change the confirmed reservation to 1 night and if needed also adjust the price (click in price field to change) to compensate the fact you do not rent for 1 night.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/50/as-a-host-how-do-i-make-a-change-to-a-confirmed-reservation

Best regards,

Emiel

[Laurence160]

Thanks Emiel,

I'd had some previous issues with air b n b bookings so I asked the guest to change it as I seemed to be penalised cancelling bookings myself. I realized that I could do it myself after the fact, but had worried that this would cause more problems.

Thanks for the advice though, much appreciated.

...so you have any advice on how to get a response from guests?

Many thanks

Laurence

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Hi @Laurence160 

Why would you want to abuse your own minimum night policy? Just tell your guest that your minimum stay is two nights... sorry.

If you didn't go ahead and change all your settings expecting them to rebook or even confirm, their lack of correspondence wouldn't be an issue.

They want to side step your two night minimum booking, why would you want to aid them in that and change all your settings making you vulnerable to any other booking in this time frame? 

[Laurence160]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your comments.

So how would you deal with her cancelling a night, just cancel the whole booking?

Many thanks

Laurence

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Laurence160 

I wouldn't cancel, and she wouldn't be able to. If my minimum booking was two nights I'd stick to that (Ours is a minimum of 3 nights). If she was unhappy about the 2 night booking SHE could cancel in line with your cancellation policy and any refund would be returned to her based on your cancellation policy settings.

She might have wanted to cancel one night, but your settings wouldn't allow her to. Your minimum night reservation setting must have been put in place be to to hit a target income to offset the laundry, cleaning and maintenance costs and then return you some income, so why after establishing that you require 2 nights minimum, would you then allow only one night ? 

[Jennifer1421]

Hi @Laurence160 

I've had guests try this on. When they contacted me to cancel one night of their two night minimum, I told them (apologetically, of course) that I am only able to accept 2-night bookings. I gave them their options, which were: 1. Pay for 2 nights and stay only 1; or 2. Cancel the reservation entirely.

[Laurence160]

Thanks Jennifer,

I've cancelled their booking... I'll know how to handle it straight away next time.

Thanks for everyone's help folks.

Cheers

Laurence

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Laurence160 

why you canceled their booking?   You didn't read what @Jennifer1421 @Emiel1 and @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  wrote? Don't you know you are now penalized for doing that?

1. you will not be eligible for super host status for the next 12 months
2. you will be fined with 100$ fee
3. your search ranking will drop
4. your instant booking option will be turned off and affect your search ranking
5. you got automated review " host canceled this reservation 2 days before arrival"

NEVER EVER cancel the reservation by yourself. Guest should have canceled it, not you. You can cancel in some circumstances like you get sick or your home needs some repairs or you don't feel comfortable hosting a guest because he is rude or has bad reviews etc... but in all these cases you should contact Airbnb and make them cancel for you without any penalties.

As others have said you should decline your guest's request for alteration and let them decide if they want to pay for 2 nights but spend just 1 night or they want to cancel their reservation on their behalf.

[Laurence160]

Hi Branka,

Thanks for the advice.

What action would you take if after the initial email , they don't respond to any communication? Just wait for them to arrive? Have you been in this situation?

Many thanks

Laurence

[Jeff158]

@Laurence160 

You have to reply to the cancellation notice on your listing asap, explain why you cancelled, guests don't like booking a host that cancels.

[Laurence160]

Thanks Jeff, I havnt cancelled before, where is the cancellation notice , I can't see anything related to it.

[Jeff158]

@Laurence160 

Its on your listing and profile. To respond to it go to "Progress" and "Ratings", should be a reply to this review button below the cancellation review.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/users/show/17819152

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/14941489

[Cormac0]

@Laurence160 

Why on earth did you do that? are you that desperate for bookings you’d change your whole raison d'être just to suit a stranger who does not care the inconvenience he’s causing you.

Explain to him in a text message that your terms and conditions only allow a minimum two-night stay and that he’s welcome to cancel his booking if he so wishes, explaining that depending on you cancelation policy it might incur a penalty.

Forget about his review if it a vindictive one, when you write your review of him explain the circumstance etc.

PS

As host what ever you do, do not cancel his booking for him, otherwise you incur punitive penalties.

[Laurence160]

Hi Cormac,

Thanks for your response.

Air b n b has very little to do with my raison d'etre, but I take your point.

So I should have left it hanging with no response, and let them stay having to pay for two nights. I didn't feel comfortable doing that, having to wait three days and then meet them would have felt weird....but in the future I'll do just that.

Incidentally I've never cancelled a guest in the five years I've been hosting so I wasn't penalised.

Many thanks

Laurence