Guest changed booking request after I pointed out her bringing extra guest

Alice595
Level 10
Concord, CA

Guest changed booking request after I pointed out her bringing extra guest

A guest just changed her booking request to check out today instead of three days later after I pointed out her violation of house rules for bringing in an extra person last night. In this case, I definitely will get a retaliatory review. Should I consider to approve her alteration of booking request and suffer a financial loss as well?

 

I have strict cancellation policy. I suggested her to cancel her stay instead. I have sent a message to Airbnb support. I would suggest that Airbnb to have rules for allowing an alteration of request. This should not be enabled in all cases. In this case, the guest booked 8 nights and she wanted to change it today and check it out today. Then it leaves me with no time to have today and next two days booked.

 

What do other hosts think?

30 Replies 30
Alice595
Level 10
Concord, CA

Dear hosts,

 

Any of you encounter this issue and how you handled it?

 

Just bring this post to the Recent post to get hosts attention for any input.

Jeff158
Level 10
Caernarfon, United Kingdom

@Alice595 

Decline the alteration, you're going to get a bad review either way.

@Jeff158 Thanks for your response and having the same thought which came to my mind!

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Alice595 of course you can decline her alteration request, but if she is breaking your house rules do you not want her to leave? Precedent indicates you can't have it both ways; if you evict her Airbnb will most likely refund her unused nights regardless of rule violations. What outcome do you want?

@Lisa723 Thanks for the response. The issue is not that she did not want to leave. She wanted to get refund of three nights by altering the checkout date today. This leaves me with no time for the rest three days to be booked.

 

According to my cancellation policy, I asked her to cancel the booking instead of altering it. I did not decline her alteration either, which may further irritate her. Just wonder if I leave her changing request pending by doing nothing, what kind of result will I get.

 

Just as hosts like to have guests to give chance of correction of any issues after check-in, I also give guests chance to correct their rule breaking behavior instead of cancelling their stay due to their rule breaking. When I pointed out to her about bringing extra guest, she did promise to change and asked her friend to leave before 9pm.

 

As @Jeff158 mentioned that I will get a bad review either ways, my thinking is why I have to take the financial loss while I gain nothing. My previous experience had a guest canceling two hours after check-in by claiming 71F was too hot. I did tell Airbnb to refund him unused night. But I still got 1 star review across all categories.

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Alice595 If the outcome you want is that this unhappy guest retains access to your property for the remainder of her reservation, then sure, decline the request.

@Lisa723 The guest might have booked other place and left today. I don’t have to worry about her staying the rest of three nights.

Beth80
Level 10
State of Roraima, Brazil

@Alice595  You might as well approve her request and take the financial hit and hope it helps with the review. Chances are very good that if she complains to Airbnb they will give her the money  regardless of your cancellation policy.  After months of reading stories on this site I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what rules or policies you have for your listing almost every time Airbnb sides with the guest. 😕

@Beth80 I sent a message to Airbnb support about the guest alteration request and my strict cancellation policy. The CX gave me assurance that it is my right to deny the alteration request and no refund will be given if I deny the alteration request or just ignore the alteration request.

Mike-And-Helen0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Alice595 from reading this forum it seems there is no guarantee that what one CS rep says will be agreed by the next CS rep.

In your shoes I would do what I felt I wanted to do since you will get (and give, I hope) a bad review and you might lose the money anyway.

Alice595
Level 10
Concord, CA

@Mike-And-Helen0 @Beth80 @Lisa723 @Jeff158 

 

Thanks for all your feedback! I will keep you updated about what will happen eventually.

 

Will I get a bad review?

Will I be able to keep the last three night booking fee?

How and what Airbnb will do after I ignore the alteration request?

What will the guest do to fight for the refund which she is not supposed to get according to the cancellation policy.

 

 

@Mike-And-Helen0 @Peter-and-Pearl0 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Lisa723 @Jeff158 

 

One update: the guest canceled the booking this afternoon. I received Airbnb auto reply that no refund will be given according to the cancellation policy.

 

wait and see what is next.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Alice595 

there is not a time limit to respond to the alteration requests so, consequently, there are no penalties if you ignore it until the end of the reservation.

 

Neither you nor her canceled her stay, she left by her own will.... so you should be paid for the entire stay.

 

That's how it should be in theory and in an ideal world. Let us know how it ended.

 

PS

what I would do is to tell her that according to my house rules only registered guests are allowed to use the apartment. I am OK with her friend staying with her for any portion of the day or night but he should be registered and pay extra person fee (if there is any). He would then get towels and sheets like every other guest.

 

 

@Branka-and-Silvia0 You mentioned

 

there is not a time limit to respond to the alteration requests so, consequently, there are no penalties if you ignore it until the end of the reservation.

 

Neither you nor her canceled her stay, she left by her own will.... so you should be paid for the entire stay.

 

I have not had this experience before. I just ignored the email of the Alteration of Request from Airbnb. And hopefully I will not be penalized for anything:-)

 

Next time, I may try to ask the guest to add the additional guest and ask for the additional guest charge.