cancellation

[Anonymous]

I have a situation where an accepted guest wants to me to cancel his booking because he didn't read the profile properly but I think I might get fined if I do it,  has anyone got any help please? He booked yesterday.

many thanks

[Jeff158 · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous DO NOT CANCEL one of the penalties is loosing your superhost status, the other is the dates will be blocked and unbookable, the really nasty one is a message on your listing saying you cancelled a booking.

Your guest must cancel, you have a flexible policy so the guest will get a full refund. if the guest wants the service fees back from airbnb they will have to ring the number on the booking confirmation and talk to customer service.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your help. I have asked him to do the cancelling and its good to know I did the right thing.

[Steve143]

Hello @Anonymous,

One other thing, in case you don't know, is that if you receive a message or email saying that the guest requests a cancellation you must decline as otherwise you'll be deemed to have cancelled and those penalties will apply to you. Do not ignore the message, that's the same as accepting. You must decline.

This is a sneaky ploy, implemented by Airbnb, that effectively makes the host responsible for the cancellation so that the guest get's a full refund.

Steve.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the advice.

[May102]

I am a newbie. Today I got a confirmed booking but when I saw the rate, it's way too low. My fault I didn't see the 20% discount offered for the first three bookings and I already gave 45% discount. Now the guest booked for one month at 65% discount. We've talked already and he wants to cancel but he wants me to do it. Will I be fined for the cancelation? 

[Letti0]

@May102  He wants his first 30 days rental and Service Fee's back and he should get them back. The Long Term Rental Cancellation policy is different than your Flexible policy and that is why he does not want to cancel. You can ask if you reimburse him the 30 day rental and his fee's he'll be charged would he cancel, but I doubt he will. Your either going to have to honor this reservation or cancel with all the penalties that come from it. Also change your cancellation policy to at least moderate, so a guest has something to lose for a last minute cancellation. You may also want to change your listing to no long term stays until you get some experience in hosting. 

[May102]

What would be the charges? Will there be monetary fees? I have been told that airbnb can waive these charges however, I will not be entitled to some service of airbnb. 

[Letti0]

@May102  You can try to call AirBnB and grovel, plead new host and see if they will cancel penalty free as it was an instant booking, you are uncomfotable with a long term booking and did not realize they could book for that much time. They may or may not do it, it all depends on the customer service rep you get.

Also your rate is just way to low it was $24, but you changed it and now 4 people can book your entire place for $18 USD. You need to make it at least $28-$32 USD like the other new hosts in your area and charge $6-$10 USD for guests over 2. When you get some reviews you can up go up higher. You are losing money renting at these prices. You need to look at your competions pricing. And add a cleaning fee. 

[May102]

Thank you for the advice Letti. I have contacted the guest again and offered him airport pick and drop since he's coming from the US. I have also requested price change and kept it to 50% discount instead of 65%. I hope he's fine with it. I've changed the rate already and will add extra fees as well.