Guest decided to stay longer, so I have to cancel others

[Alain3]

Hi everyone,

A guest asked whether she could rent the room for one month, renewable. As she is a nice person, I said yes. Anyway, I had only two requests for this month (August), and these only for one and two nights. So a whole month is preferable.

I warned the two persons and "sent them a new offer" with a price of zero. Will this enable them to get a refund? I hope so, and, if not, how can I do it? I mean through the airbnb web site, I could always call them, get their home address and send them a check...

I tried to find the relevant procedure, but there does not seem to be one. Surely, I'm not supposed to turn out someone I already know on behalf of total strangers?

Also, can you please tell me the procedure for blocking the calendar, or something similar, to make sure nobody else tries to book during this month?

I saw something like "automatic approval" but I can't find it anymore...

BTW, please speak English 🙂

[Alain3]

I agree it is not very ethical for these guests, but then there are other considerations to take into account when you discuss ethics... 

For example, it should be possible to delay payment. I had a guest who came because he had just found a job in the region, but he could not pay right away. I was ready to wait but it was difficult to organise via airbnb. We eventually managed, though, but through a work around.

To be ethical, I think you should consider why people are travelling. There should be ways to give priority to job seekers over tourists, jobs are so hard to come by nowadays... There are also young trainees, students, etc...

There is a minimum rent of 9 euros per night, I have only just discovered that. It's another thing which I don't consider to be ethical. If someone contacts you and explains he is really stuck, why can't we say "OK, you can stay for free for a few nights"?

In France, when winters are cold, homeless people die in the streets. There are also many refugees who live in appaling conditions, including pregant women, young kids, sick people... Makeshift tents on muddy ground...

I have not had any requests from refugees (yet?), but in the past I have lent my spare room to homeless persons during the winter. (Through another site of course, called "le 115 du particulier"). I started by adapting my "home rules" to include "no heavy drinking", and it went well, they were no trouble at all.

If I ever receive a request from a refugee with a young kid, I will give them absolute priority, and if this means I have to cancel the stay of some tourists, I will do so without a second thought. I consider that acting in any other way would be deeply unethical.

[Reno0]

Your p.o.v. is definitely not how American capitalism works, mon ami, but - right on!

[David126]

Suggest you make this clear in your listing that you will not be able to guarantee that you will be able to uphold any bookings and cancellations are always possible, even at very short notice.

Just wondering if any mainstream booking system is right for you?

[Melanie58]

I think in such hypothetical situations it is possible to use airbnb customer service to find an appropriate solution for one party or the other.  For example, there may be other hosts willing to host refugees that have a room open, or if not your scheduled guest may be willing to go to a comparable location elsewhere - you or Airbnb could work to find either.  Airbnb is also not exclusive - meaning you do not have to exclusively book with airbnb - that is nowhere in the agreement.  So as long as you block out dates where you have made other arrangements, you will be fine.  It may be preferable in some cases, such as if someone shows up on your doorstep and you decide to take them, there is no point in running them through the airbnb system and charging them an airbnb service fee unless you adamantly want to use airbnb as your third party payment provider for the customer.  (You could use pay pal instead.  Or cash, like the olden days).  

[Alain3]

Thanks to all of you. I found I could block bookings earlier than 3 months before the date and I did so. It's the first time I have to ask someone to cancel, I hope in the future it won't happen again... I have already refused an early booking manually, telling the person "I cannot tell you now whether the room will be available or not, please contact me again later if you have not found a room". I think this is more efficient than writing in my listing, because many people just look at the price and the location and don't read the listing. I made it very clear in the listing that we have dogs, but we still have people coming and saying they didn't know...

David said: "Just wondering if any mainstream booking system is right for you?"

AFAIK, none. I have to use several at the same time and it complicates matters. Please keep me posted if ever you hear about one.

[David126]

If you can not honour a booking you are the one that cancels.

[Babs0]

Your "I cannot tell you now whether the room will be available or not, please contact me again later...." is really weird from a guest's perspective: it shows as available, you request to book and then you tell them you can't give them confirmation it will be available at the time?! I would be offended: "Why does this guy want to keep his options open? Doesn't he want to host me?! Why?"

Just pointing out that Airbnb is big on anti-discrimination these days, for a guest it can feel like just that. 

It's important that you choose an option that suits you and your wishes or expectations as a host, I'm not sure if Airbnb is the right platform for you. But either way, I hope you keep on enjoying engaging with travellers and sharing your amazing hospitality!

[Ken-and-Ger0]

Hi Melanie,

I have an even more extreme situation - although similar.

I have a guest requesting to stay for 9 months, afer just finishing a 1 week stay.

I had planned to handle it as you were suggesting - blocking my calendar for them and getting them to book monthly.

However, I have two bookings I must cancel (the long termer is not willing to move out temporarily), one for just a weekend in 6 weeks time, and another for two weeks in february next.

I am unhappy that I will have to pay the cancel penalty and be unable to book these cancelled periods, but there seems no alternative - am I correct?

Of course, I could just withdraw from Air BnB and handle the whole situation myself, but I do like working throufg Air BnB.

Any comments / suggestions very welcome.

Cheers, Ken

[David126]

Tell your prospective guest that you have existing commitments which you have to honour.

Up to him what he then does.

[C-C0]

@Alain0, you hurt the brand of Airbnb. The way you want to do it is NOT the way it works. Even Airbnb has a $10 minimum. This ain't the Union Mission. That doesn't mean you can't be compassionate. But this is bidness.

[Alain0]

Bonjour,

Je ne comprends pas ce message; je suppose que c'est une erreur et que ça ne me concerne pas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pouvez-vous me le confirmer. Merci

Alain

[Alain3]

Thanks, Babs. I'll keep that in mind and I'll make sure the guest knows it's nothing personal. Airbnb itself offers the option of disallowing bookings more than 3 months in advance (I saw that somewhere on the site but please don't ask me where).

Alain from Nice: I think there was some confusion due to the fact that we have the same first name. Please accept my deepest sympathies for the horrible things that happened in your home town.

[Alain0]

Alain from Choisel : Thank you very much for your support.