Réservation

[Gokhan9]

Hi I am using Airbnb to host guests.

there was a reservation I asked to guest to cancel because I forgot to close the dates for that date. And I did not cancel the reservation the reservation date is for July . But Airbnb Gave me penalty I did not cancel the reservation . I don’t want to pay that penalty. Even I did not cancel I wish to host my guest I just ask to guest can you cancel if no you can stay I can host you but I saw Airbnb gave me penalty . 45 euro for nothing ? 

[Ana1136]

@Gokhan9 it is not for nothing. If it was your mistake you should cancel and not make the guests take the fault. Probably they called Airbnb and had them cancel the reservation since they weren't comfortable staying there. How did the cancelation happen? 

[Sarah977]

@Gokhan9  Did you get a message saying the guest wants to cancel and asking you to approve or decline? If so, and you agreed, that goes down as a host cancellation. It's a very sneaky tactic Airbnb uses to put the cancellation on the host rather than the guest, as the guest doesn't want to forfeit their service fees or be subject to your cancellation policy. Which in this case, the guest has every reason not to have to deal with.

 Ana is correct in that if a cancellation needs to be done resulting from the host's inattention to his calendar, or anything else that arises from the host's end, it is not right to ask your guest to cancel. It is your responsibility. Would you want to receive penalties because the guest decided they needed to cancel for some reason?

[Donna240]

Hi @Sarah977 ,

Good points, but if all of this happened within 24 hours of the booking, the guests would get a full refund as they are allowed to back out unpenalized for that period of time or is it 48 hours?  We also need to consider that even guest cancellations seem to cause no penalty for the guest who provides an “excuse” , any excuse, while the hosts with strict cancellation policies are always financially disadvantaged  by those cancellations. I see that as a penalty for the host.

[Sarah977]

@Donna240  Yes, it's true that the guest can cancel and get a full refund within 48 hours of booking, and I know some hosts would ask the guest to do this to avoid Airbnb's excessively punitive penalties. But it's also evident to me by reading posts like this over time that some hosts seem to think it's okay to ask guests to spend time doing cancellations even though it's the host's cancellation issue, which I don't think is fair.

Of course, none of the system is fair, and if Airbnb relaxed the penalties for cancelling, hosts wouldn't be reduced to doing these things. Dates blocked, "Host cancelled this reservation xx days before check-in", suspension from IB, loss or unattainability of Superhost status, and $100 fine seems way over the top for cancelling a booking. If they could physically take us out behind the woodshed and give us a whalloping, I'm sure they would.

I do think there need to be some penalties for cancelling, from both host and guest side. But why don't hosts have a free 48 hour cancellation period? And every host cancellation shouldn't be subject to the same penalties. Cancelling a booking that's 2 days away is a lot different than cancelling a booking that's not to take place until 4 months from now. Cancelling a booking once in 3 years is a lot different than a host who has a history of cancelling. Cancelling a booking simply because you're lax about updating your calendar is a lot different than cancelling because a family member is in dire circumstances and you need to help them out by letting them stay with you.

I.e. the punishment should fit the crime.

[Donna240]

@Sarah977  It is what it is, but as usual you paint a clear picture of the situation. This is a system that is tolerable if you don’t need the income, but punitive to hosts who do. Personally, I believe the host should be able to have some say in which cancellations deserve a break on penalties.

There seems to be no point in strict cancellations if guests can wiggle out of them so easily. It sets up the host for fewer bookings, since many guests avoid that policy as well as high security deposits, which as we have seen, don’t even get charged prior to a problem, and seldom get fully distributed to the host. 

[Donna240]

@Gokhan9 If your guests did as you asked, without complaint, then there would be no penalty for you as host. I have had guests cancel after being booked because they wanted me to change house rules, but I would not do that, and there was no penalty for me.

Perhaps your guests complained to airbnb because you asked them to cancel, or felt uncomfortable when you offered to host them  if they would cancel. Hosts are not allowed to book a guest except through their website. Some guests and some hosts may be tempted to try and make a private booking after they have received phone numbers after booking on Airbnb, but this is not allowed. If your guests misunderstood you, a complaint to Airbnb could be the reason you were charged. If you contact customer service and explain your story, they may be able to reverse the penalty.

keeping your calendar up to date is the way to prevent this in the future, and it is very important if you use instant booking.

Good luck.