Wrong island!

[Sue44]

A guest, who booked last night and due to arrive tomorrow, has just cancelled the reservation because she thought our cottage was on a different island! A lack of due diligence and research on her part, as our listing heading clearly states the location. 

She is requesting a full refund, even though we have a strict cancellation policy in place. We also have a two day advance booking window.

However, having typed in the name of the island she was intending to visit into the travelling app, our place is indeed listed there. You would need to be able to read English, take the time to click on the map icon, and have some idea of the geography of the west coast of Scotland to get it right. She is blaming the map and ‘misdirection’ but the itinerary clearly states the location. As an ex- geography teacher, I take pride in such things!

Is this found to be a general Airbnb problem? The page of listing photographs also states ‘free cancellation’ by the title - presumably the ‘cooling off’ period?

Your thoughts please!

[Emiel1]

Hello @Sue44 ,

I fear when the guest is contacting Airbnb she will get a full refund. Allthough it is offcourse her mistake, a lot of postings here showed Airbnb being very generous in refunding guests.

Best regards, Emiel

[Ange2]

@Sue44   Another case of guest not reading or comprehending.  She will need to cancel the reservation and contact Airbnb to dispute your policy, or try  to claim extenuating circumstances .  Whatever you do, do not cancel,  and do not click 'yes' if you get an email from Airbnb asking if you want to cancel, you will be penalized. Tell the guest they need to go through Airbnb. Good luck!

[Lisa723]

Yes, this is a general problem, the search will show listings in the general vicinity, even when separated by a body of water. If you search for Bainbridge Island Washington you will see listings across the sound in Seattle.

[Ange2]

@Lisa723   I can see it may be a problem when guests assume because the search is geared towards marketing – sell, sell, sell, so the net is cast wide.  But it is shocking that so many people just click, book, they don't read and don't do anymore digging.  If you search for Manhattan you also get Brooklyn, and even parts of New Jersey an entirely different state, and all three separated by water.  I have had a few guests who imagined I was where they wanted to be!

I suppose all one can do is reiterate it again and again and include the location, again and again, in every message, and add a satellite image of location to the gallery.  It is not foolproof, but it helps.