I recently had guests requesting to shorten the stay from 6 to 3 days. The request came 8 days before check-in, and it was entirely due to the guests' own arrangements.
We have a strict cancellation policy, so cancellations occuring 8 days before check-in would normally trigger a 50% cancellation fee. The reduced days are basically a partial cancellation - this would logically also be the case for any change in the booking except an extension that includes the entire original booking. I understand that many hosts a flexible cancellation policy but that is not the issue here, we have our reasons.
I'd like to accomodate the request, and I also did, however AirBnB does not calculate any cancellation fee and only gives hosts the option to accept or deny the request. So what am I supposed to do? Denying the request would obviously be unfair to the guest, who would then only have the option to cancel altoghether or to pay the full price. At the same time it's not fair to hosts that they can only choose "yes" or "no" to the change request, with "yes" also entailing a waiver of the cancellation fee for the days cut short.
I guess I could have asked the guest to cancel the original booking and make a special offer for the remaining days (as I would get a cancellation fee for those days), or requested money from the guest. In either case I would have to explain to the guest why I chose to bill them for something that AirBnB does not calculate, and I figure it could lead to a bad review.
My view is that this is effectively a loophole for guests, and a trap for hosts. There should have been an option to either request or wave the cancellation fee together with the change request, and the cancellation fee should also show when the guest requests a change in cases where the changed booking triggers the cancellation policy.
I have adressed this issue with AirBnB support, and they have so far only claimed that "this is how Airbnb's Cancellation Policy works" without further documentation or reference. They also did not seem interestred in changing this, despite the obviously flawed logic in their position.
My view is that AirBnB are portraying what is really error in their software as a "feature", and that they in any event should change this if it indeed is how the cancellation policy works as it does not make sense.
Any other hosts had similar experences? Or have an elegant solution to these situations that includes getting the agreed cancellation fee?
PS: I know that many hosts apply flexible cancellation policies, and that's fine. We have our reasons for choosing the strict policy, and the guests agree on that when booking. And as long as that applies there is no logic to not seeing these situations as a partial cancellation.
