New host- guests want to cancel the reservation after check in

[Shuo12]

Hi, everyone, I am a new host, I have a guest booked 50 days stay, after 1 night he checked in, he message me that he want cancel the reservation due to his wife’s mental condition (his wife didn’t expect my suite underground, triggered her depression), I told him you can cancel if you like, but you have to call Airbnb to cancel, and today I got message from Airbnb support asked me to altered the reservation date for the guests that they can get partial refund, I rejected, my cancellation policy is long term strict, I need help that did I do the right thing? Do I need to altered for the guest, also they want to alter the days they stayed (3 nights), and only pay me 3 nights, how come I can get new guests right way, that’s not fair for me, also what if I reject to alter the dates, the guests write bad reviews for me, what should I do? 

[Sudsrung0]

@Shuo12 

I am set to strict cancellation, I dont give refunds but I have never had a guest book that long,

The way I look at it is, how long have you had that booking? your calendar has been blocked for that length of time, you maybe could have got other bookings.

I have had two noticeable ones which were for two weeks, One wanted to cancel on the day of arrival which I refused, I think I had that booking for about 3 months, 

The other one arrived and wanted to cancel without even entering the villa, He said he booked a villa on the beach, we dont say we are on the beach, we say we are 1.5km to the beach and no photo's indicate we are anyway near the beach. Again No Refund.

Not my fault he didnt read.

I also think getting bookings at last minute are pretty slim, 

On Booking dot com I have set it to None Refundable, Thats where BDC is better than airbnb they do not give refunds you cannot even contact CS, 

[Shuo12]

Hi, @Sudsrung0 , thank you so much for your reply, the guest booked my suite since Aug 18, over a month before they came, and now I have almost 0 chance to get other guests in, that’s why I refuse to alter anything, but I am worried if I don’t alter the dates, 1. They write bad reviews after they left. 2. They mess my suite. Is so hard to be a host, feels like Airbnb support team never on the host side. Thanks for your reply again.

[Sudsrung0]

@Shuo12 

Dont worry about the bad review, you have the option to reply to that it's always important you always reply, most guest will see through it, It happened to me not long ago.

Airbnb give you the options on how you want to host and thats what you have, they set the cancellation policy's you just pick which one you want.

I think your calendar remains blocked so you dont have much chance of getting any bookings,

Offer them 50%

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Shuo12 you could offer the guest a refund for those nights that you are able to find a new guest for. That would seem fair to me

[Shuo12]

@Mike-And-Jane0 @Thank you so much for your reply, the guest booked the suite since August 18, 5 weeks before they came, if they left truly lower my chance that have any other guests in, also I only got one month payout not the whole 50 days, and I only start 4 months, those months seem like 25-30 days full in every months, I have no idea that I can find any other guest in these short days. I had a guest canceled a 10 days stay 7 days before they came, that’s why I set my cancellation policy stricter to protect myself, still hard to handle this issue, thanks again 

[Sudsrung0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

How would she get another booking if the calendar is blocked?

My calendars were blocked thats why I stuck to my policy

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sudsrung0 a guest cancellation or a neutral cancellation should get the dates freed up

[Gwen386]

@Shuo12 I looked at your listing and see windows. What does guest mean by underground? Is this a basement apt? If yes, guest may say it’s not advertised as such.  I have a bsmt apt and I say so in my listing. So I suggest changing the wording on your listing to say that. When I read your listing about a suite, it didn’t occur to me it was a bsmt apt. 

Also, and this is me, I would shorten reservation, but ONLY because if guest’s wife really does have a mental condition, let’s say claustrophobia, I would be more worried about a mental breakdown occurring where my rental could be completely destroyed if she experiences an uncontrollable mental episode during their stay. 50 days is a very long time and as you know, a lot of damage can be done by a regular guest, let alone one who has a mental condition. 

So you have to weigh whether it’s worth the money to you to get a bad review or have your place possibly destroyed. 

[Shuo12]

@Gwen386 Thanks for your reply, it is a basement suite, I have guest made a review for my suite, and my instruction told customer that should take downstairs to get into the suite, I have no idea his wife has mental issue or not, but the couple not even step out until 5pm, you are right, I should shorten the time, thanks, this make me so frustrated, maybe it is the time to stop doing Airbnb anymore

[Gwen386]

@Shuo12 You’re welcome. I definitely do NOT think you should stop doing airbnb. Treat it as a continuously learning experience. That’s what I do.

Example. A private suggestion from my very first guest. She wrote that I should remove the beautiful rug I had in the living area because it was a tripping hazard. You see, in my mind, I saw it as a lovely rug cohesively joining the living area and dining area. It never occurred to me that someone’s foot could get caught and they could take a nasty tumble and file a suit against me. I immediately removed the rug. 

My recommendation is “don’t take it personally.”

[Helen744]

@Gwen386 If the lddy has claustophobia, which is a real possibility ,then not revealing that this place was underground is a problem ,especially if windows were shown.As a person who experiences claustophobia I suggest the outcome for the guest is straightforward. They cannot and will not stay here.H

[Helen3]

This is simple @Shuo12  if the guest wants to cancel because he didn't read the listing description which says it's a basement, then he needs to cancel (not try and alter the date).

The guest cancels and will be charged 30 days because of the long stay policy.

If you like you can stay you will refund the host fee proportionally if you get any replacement bookings

Please read the long term cancellation policy on Airbnb Help.

@Shuo12 

[Huma0]

@Shuo12 

Currently, your listing description clearly states that it is a basement suite. Was this the case when the guest booked, or is this something you added to the description later?

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 It was just added.