Anyone else noticed a major increase in cancellations?

[Alexandra316]

I never used to get cancellations: in my first year of hosting (approximately 150 completed stays), I had fewer than 5 cancellations. By contrast, this year has been brutal. Last week, I had 7 guests book and cancel at various points. Nothing has changed on my listing to speak of: reviews are still all 5 stars. Mostly they were cancellations due to changes of plans, but I also had two because people didn't read the listing: one didn't realize we don't allow cats, and the other because she didn't realize the apartment is located in our home. Is anyone else noticing this trend with their potential guests?

I'm also wondering if it's due to the changes to Airbnb's to the cancellation policies: it's now easier to cancel.  I've always had mine set to moderate, but I'm starting to rethink that given the large number of cancellations I'm seeing. I would no longer be part of the Work collection, but I'm not really sure that matters. 

[Alon1]

@Alexandra316 

I've always had Strict Cancellation, and in six years only recall one cancellation, a few months ago.

Even so, it wasn't a regular guest, but a film-shoot cancelled by the director a day before arrival. There was also no request for refund since there was no 'extenuating circumstances'

I believe the determining factor to my record is twofold:

i) I generally don't take bookings many months down the line, coz potentially too many variables. The shorter time-span means greater certainty. 

 ii)  I don't do Instant Book, which means I interact with each and every inquirer to determine all the details. (eg. commensurate with your surprise 'cats', I've had a few inquire about dogs, either with or without initially noting 'no pets' in my listings. In any case, after our communique there is no chance such a guest will book by mistake.)

.

[Robin4]

@Alexandra316 

I can't say I am seeing a higher cancellation rate Alex. I have only had one cancellation this year to date and that was because the guest mistook which state my town is located in. They thought it was Mt Barker in Western Australia which is 2,000 Kms from my particular Mt Barker! I know it is hard to keep up with the platform changes but they haven't had an affect on my guest committments.

My booking rate has remained constant Alex, although I am a bit annoyed it is now spread accross two platforms. I never wanted to use another platform but Airbnb sort of forced my hand with that payout fiasco last November.

Another annoying thing are those ever present pricing tips!

They say 14% fewer than average guests are looking....no.....my views are up 28%.!

They say 19% more properties are available! I don't know where they mean, in my area a search of the first 100 properties reaveals 2 new listings. My feeling is these tips are simply generic and bare no relationship to either my area or my accommodation standard, so from my point of view it is pointless putting them in there.

I will follow this thread though Alex and see if others mirror your experience!

Cheers.....Rob

[Alon1]

@Robin4 

Guests failure to peruse listings prior to bookings may create a Stat of their own, but they don't bespeak or suggest some major changes in booking patterns. 

If anything, it would seem they are the product of blind bookings by means of Instant Book.

  I don't know if Alexandra uses IB, but it's hard to conceive such mistakes otherwise, as conveyed by my experience. 

[Robin4]

@Alon1 

I do use IB Alon, I resisted it for my first 18 months of hosting because I felt I was not competent to handle the issues I thought may come with it.

In the end Airbnb virtually forced me into using IB by giving peferential search placement to IB users, and because I did not have much of a track record back then my views were slipping as I fell down the list in search rankings.

I reluctantly took it on board in November 2017 and Alon, I have not looked back since! At least 85% of my bookings now come via IB and I have only ever had one issue that was directly related to the booking procedure where IB is concerned.

I find IB guests to be of better quality that request guests....they like what they see and just want to pay and stay. Booking requests invariably come with questions....'can we bring our dog just this once?'.......'We have a restored 56 Chev, can we use your lock up garage for our stay?'.....'Does your breakfast allow for a gluten intolerant guest?'

Alon, all reasonable questions but, those lead in questions are invariably the tip of the iceberg and more will follow as they attempt to tailor your listing to their requirements rather than what you offer.

Under no circumstance would I now dump Instant Book....it is easily my prefered way of accepting guests and since adopting it have had far less issues than I had before.

Just goes to show Alon, we are all different, and that's what makes this such a wonderful world.....All the best.

Cheers.....Rob

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 Thanks for your take on it, Rob. I also get the guests who book the wrong place. People look for Vineland but they're actually looking for Vineland, New Jersey (about 8 hours by car) or Lincoln, New York (about 2 1/2 hours by car) and of course the small matter of an international border between us!.

My bookings haven't gone down at all, and completed trips are the same: I've just been getting a lot of people who book then cancel. I'm still really satisfied with the number of guests who complete their stays. March was the worst month last year too, but this is an excessive number of cancellations. I only host the one space in my home, so to have 7 in a week just seems incredibly high.

I definitely believe that the stats are made up.

[Rosemarie9]

Hi Alexandra, I find that there is an increase in cancellations, mainly from guests new to the platform and who have not read details properly, ie, wanting to bring a pet, child when I take neither. There are those who think I am in Cork City not Kinsale, 25 mins away. I had one couple cancel a seven day stay just before they would have been penalised, annoying but hey. I had a strict policy on my whole home listing but found that it probably turns possible bookings off, so have returned to moderate on all my listings. March seems to attract guests who cancel or are more 'work', generally the quieter season October- March, means more of dealing with difficult bookings where people ignore reading my listing details or any messages I send for that matter. I have listed on other sites now, so this year is a bit of an experiment, I hope the next month sees an improvement in guests who actually read before and after booking. I find that after St Patrick's Day here, normality or close to it returns! Better weather equals better guests!

[Gordon0]

>>They thought it was Mt Barker in Western Australia which is 2,000 Kms from my particular Mt Barker!<< As somebody who is a couple of weeks into planning for our first ever trip (a three-weeker in January) to Australia, this fills me with fear, @Robin4!

Tell me there's only one Sydney!

[Robin4]

@Gordon0 

Rest assured there is only one 'Sydney' Gordon!

But some states of Australia have towns of the same name. There is of course my own, the one I mentioned, there also is a Gladstone in South Australia and there is a Gladstone in Queensland and some other examples and this is why it is  important for the host to put the post code into the listing address. When embarking on a search the postcode will come up as a part of the search criteria.

This dual naming of places probably happens more here in Australia than it does elsewhere Gordon because, unlike America where white settlement started on the eastern seaboard and made it's way west, Australia started out as a collection of entirely automonous  settlements, and with each settlement the inhabitants brought their familiar names with them!  

Australia will look forward to your trip Gordon!

Cheers.......Rob

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 @ Last year there was someone who thought they were booking for Sydney, Australia and ended up in Sydney, Nova Scotia. An embarrassing and costly mistake to make, and hardly the experience they were looking for! It made the news here, which goes to show the kind of thing that's considered news in Canada. 

[Robin4]

@Alexandra316 

Oh we know all about that too Alex! Here is Ade in front of the big fiddle.

Sydney got sandwiched in between Halifax and Charlottetown on our oddesey north.

Frankly Alex I prefer Sydney in Nova Scotia, but that's probably because I am so familiar with ours over here. 

I can just  just imagine the guys face as he walks out of the airport terminal and tell the taxi driver to take him to the Opera bar so he can have a drink and look at the harbour bridge!!! Some people just keep tripping over their brain throughout life.

Cheers.....Rob

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4Definitely an "Oh, b*gger" moment at the very least! It seems he was a teen from Amsterdam, so perhaps could be forgiven. Apparently he's not the only one to have made the mistake. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39459471

That fiddle is very cool... nice pictures! I've never actually been to the east coast. Dave and I keep talking about it. We should just do it: if you can make it all the way over here, surely we can make it a thousand or so kilometers!

[J-Renato0]

@Alexandra316 

I quitted Work Collection because it is necessary to have a very flexible policy regarding cancellation. 

To me, only the strict policy cancellatin is good and satisfactory.

After having some guests booking and cancelling (for free) sometime before arriving I gave up Work Collection.

I am happy. I take my small business very serious and I do not want to have people booking my listing just to secure a place while they are looking for another place at a lower price or whatsoever is the motive.

[Alexandra316]

@J-Renato0 Yes, I feel like it doesn't really have many benefits anyways. Most people travel to wine country for a wedding, or to do wine tastings: I don't get many work-related bookings.

Maybe time to make the switch!

[Ann72]

@J-Renato0 @Alexandra316 I agree and don't see an advantage to being in the Work collection.  The only people who have inquired through that have tried to beat my cleaning fee down, saying they won't be there much and won't be cooking or some such.  When I travel for work and stay in hotels, I don't message the hotel ahead of time and tell them I don't want a clean room.