Host Cancellation

[Amanda545]

I had to cancel a booking it was only for 1 night and it’s 2 whole weeks away. 

My husband had booked to take me away for mother’s day and I have only just found out.

I explained this immediately to the guest and cancelled the booking. 

Airbnb want to charge me for this, I’m furious! 

The guest doesn’t get charged if they cancel 

and sometimes that’s cost me money, buying in breakfast etc. 

This has cost my guest nothing at all. 

Do I have to pay this, if so I’m coming off AIrbnb altogether. 

[Amanda545]

Woah there! 

I’m an excellent host. 

I have never cancelled before or let anyone down, really it should be done on a strike system, 3 strikes and out. I have had excellent reviews and long before this when I had a young family I hosted as a parent family for overseas students who still keep in touch so I’m going to say I’m exactly the sort of person to do Airbnb, I expect a high quality of service and that’s exactly what my guests got. 

Sadly no more. 

So no trolling please! 

[Sandra856]

@Amanda545 I didn't mean to be rude to you. It is just my opinion. And I'm not trolling. Most hosts in this community would not cancel on a guest because of a holiday gettaway. 

Cancelling on a guest would be because of illness, damage to house etc. That is  why the hosts are reacting like they do to your question about getting penalised because you choose to cancel because of a holiday gettaway.

[Amanda545]

I agree, Emelia,  just a shame, it’s made me rethink the whole experience. 

I don’t think the hosts are treated as well as the guests and I have found it incredibly difficult to access information or contact Airbnb It’s not just the penalty which in fact won’t be relevant as I won’t be taking more bookings, I have found accessing information very frustrating. 

[Amanda545]

Sandra, do you really feel I should cancel my surprise weekend away for a 1 night stay? Really, that’s what you are saying? I havnt done this in a blasé manner. There are hundredp in m

[Helen3]

Absolutely not @Amanda545  no-one suggested that.

I think what hosts are suggesting is that co-ordinating calendars would have prevented this. When we run a business ie service in exchange for payment, then part of the responsibility for doing so, is to make sure  we are available for bookings when we say we are.

And if not as hosts, when something like this happens, we have a friend or family member who can keep an eye on things when we are away so the booking can still go ahead.

[Sandra856]

@Amanda545 @ What Ì'm saying is that when I open up my calender it is my responsibility to make sure the guest who books can rely on me. In Copenhagen if I cancel a booking in July/August/September 9 days before check-in a guest would have to pay 3-4 times more than if they booked 2-3 month in advance.

Last year a last minute booking at a 2-3 star hotelroom, 5 kilometers from the city center would take you back around 2200 kroner / 250 gbp. According to the American newspaper "The Economist" Copenhagen is currently the 7th most expensive city to live in in the world. It would mean a lot to my guests if I cancelled on them. A guest needs to know he/she can rely on a booking. It doesn't matter if it is a 1 night stay or a week. Do you expect airbnb to have different policies compared to where a host live?

And also should a guest write to a host before booking asking if the host is just hosting for fun/as a hobby as you do or if the host see it as a business meaning the guest can rely on not being cancelled on? 

I really am not trying to be rude to you but to explain my view and why I think it is fair to penalise a host who cancels. The answer to your question would be yes. If I were unable to find a friend or family member to co-host for me I would ask my boyfriend  to rescheduel the gettaway. 

[Amanda545]

I’m not a business please read the thread 

[Sandra856]

@Amanda545 I'm not a fulltime host either. I have a job and school next to being a host. But I still take responsibility when I choose to open my calender. 

[Susan17]

@Amanda545 

Whether you class yourself as a business or a hobbyist is irrelevant. The point is, you knowingly and willingly entered into an agreement- a contract - to provide accommodation to a guest on a certain date, for which the guest paid good money.

Now you want to break that contract for your own self-serving purposes - regardless of the inconvenience to your guest, or how important/special this trip may have been for her - but you don't want to pay the penalty.  Doesn't work that way, on Airbnb, or anywhere else. 

[Susan17]

The volume and frequency of host cancellations is one of the most damaging and contentious issues that Airbnb is desperately trying to find ways to eradicate (suspension of IB for hosts who cancel, even under extenuating circumstances; rumoured abolition of 3 free IB cancellations per year etc)

Yet in all searches, Airbnb continues to favour and promote those most  likely to cancel - newbies and commercials - over and above those least  likely to cancel - experienced, highly rated hosts with a proven track record. 

Typical Airbnb logic. 

[Amanda545]

Ah well, as I said not for me. 

[Ann72]

@Amanda545 You have seven excellent reviews and you're ready to pack it in over a few bucks?  That's too bad.  If you enjoyed it, why don't you just take the hit, incorporate some suggestions like @Helen3's about a family calendar, and carry on?  

You say Airbnb has changed from its so-called original idea.  It hasn't changed that much since you began hosting last year.  Every successful host, whether in-home or remote, whether with one listing or several, understands that the guests' needs have to come at least slightly before the needs of the host, and they organize their lives and listings accordingly.  Like @Sandra856 I have a full-time job in addition to hosting three listings remotely.  But I don't regard something that brings in over sixty grand a year as a hobby.  If people are paying good money to stay at my places, after they've taken the time to find them and book them, I'm going to make sure they are 100% taken care of, whether it's convenient for me or not.

[Amanda545]

Well for me it’s just a bit of fun not for livelihood for pleasure. So it’s really not for me you’re only confirming my thoughts!