AirBnB wanting me to ignore my cancellation policy.

[Kenneth-And-Lilia0]

Hey guys, ever had this happen?  I have a "strict" cancellation policy and had a guest cancel after the 48 hour window so she got a 50% refund.  Apparantly she wants more of a refund and AirBnB is asking me to make an exception to the policy.  This is what I got from them and my responses:

AirBnB:  Hi Kenneth and Lila, my name is (name withheld), and I am a case manager from Airbnb. I am writing in regard to your canceled reservation with (name withheld). She let us know she would be unable to stay anymore and will like a refund after canceling. I am letting you about the situation and also to confirm if you are okay with providing her a refund. Please reply to this as soon as you can. Thanks.

Me: I'm sorry but our cancellation policy on our listing is clearly spelled out as "Strict". She did not cancel within 48 hours of her reservation so no refund is warranted.

AirBnB: Thank you for your prompt response. I understand you have a cancellation policy in place for things like this. However, I want to ask if you are able to consider a partial refund of any sort. This is because it is the guest first time using Airbnb, and they are new to everything as well as the policies. So, if you can kindly consider a partial refund at least, that will be great. Please let me know what you think.

Me:  OK, I'm sorry but there are multiple issues here. (Name withheld) is not a new AirBnB member, she has been a member since September 2017 and has 3 reviews so she is NOT a first time guest and is not new to everything. Per policy, AirBnB gave her a 50% refund (and did not refund the Service fee at all). The review policy stands as is. She was refunded the 50% of her stay by AirBnB and is not entitled to any further refund.

My question is, what's the point of having a cancellation policy if they are goiung to ask me to ignore it?  And, BTW, some of the days that were reserved are still available so how many guests did not book because the dates were already taken?

[Letti0]

@Kenneth-And-Lilia0  I am surprised they emailed you. Normally they call and ask to intimidate you more and put you on the spot, at least in my case. My reply is always no also. I have a strict policy for a reason, it's because of people blocking my calendar and missing out on other booking chances. AirBnB use to show on a guests profile if they cancelled on hosts, just like they do to hosts that cancel. They have stopped doing this I believe, which does not give a host fair warning on past behavior. I had one tell me well I've cancelled before and other hosts have been nice enough to refund me. Nothing listed on her profile, that she is a chronic cancellation guest. 

[Rosemarie9]

I also hate the intimidating messages from both guests and airbnb. This year I have had a number of cancellations for next day stays where the guest has not bothered reading the basic information ie location, then cancels and starts messaging me for full refund immediately. Even when I have refunded, airbnb take ages to update my calendar to " available" which means it stops others booking. So it is ok for us as hosts to constantly take a hit but airbnb don't miss out ever on getting their money do they? I'm getting really sick of people sending me fake date requests also, I pre approve the ones I know won't book but I cannot do that for people who ask about bringing six children on my not suitable for children listing, they would book it if I sent a pre approval and then I would be stuck with declining threats If I decline. The system does not work, and we are all wasting our breath as it doesn't seem to register with airbnb or they simply don't care. All I want is an effective booking platform, I will look after the rest, but not honouring cancellation policies is ridiculous, what's the point of having them?

[Helen133]

Hi , yup it seems to be a year for dodgy requests and people not bothering to respond to pre approval questions when the info is in the listing already . I sometimes wonder if a good computer person can do this to deliberately block dates ??? Also so many people this year seem to expect me to arrange their journey for them ! I give detailed directions from town but I don’t know why i seem to be treated as a travel agent . If I go away it’s up to me to arrange my break  . Sat nav etc poor here and I specify this but still folk use it then blame me for going to the wrong place. . . 

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

Yes, they are requesting on her behalf. I was in a difficult situation once and had to cancel. The host never helped out. It was awful and I will forever curse that guy! 

So, it’s important to be fair. And kind. You could give her a little more. Doesn’t matter what your policy is. There is a human element here and.... well Air BNB knows and maybe in their minds will use that against you in any future dispute. Host was unreasonable. 

[Kenneth-And-Lilia0]

Sorry, no.  The host wasn't unreasonable.  The host followed the policy that both parties agreed to.  Buy a plane ticket and dont cancel in 24 hours, you're SOL.  Book a hotel and don't show up, you're SOL.  So no, I wasnt unreasonable at all.  I followed the rules.

[Letti0]

@Andreas-and-Anna0  I have disagreed with a lot of your comments in the last week or two. I have refrained from replying to them. You appear to me to be more of a troll then a contributor trying to deliberately act on making random unsolicited and/or controversial comments in threads. If I can rebook I will refund, if not no. I am running a business, not a non-profit charity that you seem to think we should all be for the guests. It is not "unreasonable" to stick to my cancellation policy, what is the purpose of having it if you do not enforce it.  I noticed you have a Moderate Policy, why? You seem to think it's not applicable for us to use ours, so do you use your's or refund all or more to show the human element here? Curious minds would like to know!!!

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Letti0 , yes, yes, yes.

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

If someone calls and needs help, yes I would definitely consider changing policy. 

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

@Letti1

My listing has always been flexible. We don't need to agree. Im not looking for 5 Stars from you or anyone on here.

[Letti0]

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@Andreas-and-Anna0 wrote:

@Letti1

My listing has always been flexible. We don't need to agree. Im not looking for 5 Stars from you or anyone on here.

---

That is a flat out lie! It has not always been that way you just changed it after me calling you out on it. Dang, I wish I would have taken a screen shot of it. Nothing worse than liars, maybe you can give us the information to contact your guests from July and ask what it says on their reservation for cancellation policy? I would gladly make even an international call to prove you are  lying now. Why? What propose does it serve lying now? 

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Letti0 ,

when I published my post „yey, yes, yes“ I also took a look at @Andreas-and-Anna0 s  cancellation policy and it was moderate. Both You and I of course can misread something somewhen, but it would be strange if 2 people would fall for the same careless mistake at the same time. Also, You are the No 1 contributor in the US and I am the No 2 contributor in Germany, we are used to reading listing descriptions and keep an eye on the issue in question.

And then, in a post above andreas and anna write: „

• …..... yes I would definitely consider changing policy.

Their next post right beneeth is:

• My listing has always been flexible

Well, if it had always been flexible, which cancellation policy would they consider to change to, there isn't a more guest friendly policy than flexible on airbnb.

Ok, not an important issue really to dig into any further.

[Letti0]

@Ute36 It's back to Moderate lol...

[Gina225]

I think of Airbnb more as a community than a way to make money. We are here to help each other. If money is your only objectiive, then join VRBO.

[Gaspar-J0]

Sadly Airbnb only sees you and I and everybody else as a way of making money, despite its pretense to be "nurturing a community". They will take comision every step of the way  but if anything goes wrong, you are mostly on your own. They have some of the worst customer service I have ever encountered and that is both as a host and as a traveller, If your case doesnt get shut on your face without any explanation as it many times does, you get all these philipinos calling saying all of these well meaning things, how they understand you and how sorry they are that you feel like that,  but at the end, nobody cares.