Guest Issues - Canceling upon arrival

Nikola3
Level 2
Belgrade, Serbia

Guest Issues - Canceling upon arrival

Hello,

 

I have an issue at the moment. Guest who arrived at my HOSTEL is disappointed because he thought it is an apartment?!  More than a month ago we had a conversation and many times I told him about the room he want to book. Even the listing I have clearly states HOSTEL. Now he says that we want to cancel everything as that is not what he was looking for. Needless to say that my listing was under booking all this time, and I might have lost some other potentional guest. 

 

If anybody has some experience  place advise what is the cancelation policy, if I did not do anything bad. It is guest who did not pay attention as all my descriptions clearly states it is a HOSTEL. I have more that 40 photos and few listing and every single one starts with name of my hostel, which is White Owl Hostel. 

 

If anyone was  similar situation please advise, what should I do now, since he want to cancel and to get his money back, but he will stay one night?

7 Replies 7
Lauren-and-Leon0
Level 2
San Diego, CA

Hi Nikola,

 

I agree your listing is very clear what is offered. You have set your cancellation to moderate which states "If the guest cancels less than 5 days in advance, the first night is non-refundable but the remaining nights will be 50% refunded." 

You can read more about it here: https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

Do not cancel anything for the guest, you may be penalized - tell the guest they must contact airbnb to cancel. Do everything through the website and do not give them cash either. 

good luck! 

Great sound advice.....so glad you wrote, but I didn't see your post until after I written ...because it was not showing on my end. 

 

Hey @Nikola3  ABSOLUTELY DO NOT REFUND THIS GUEST WITH ANY CASH.....and as I mentioned, have them call Airbnb.

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Thank you Momi!:) Much appreciated. I will do as you both advised!

Yes Nicola

they will be able to leave a review, HOWEVER, if their behavior is against the terms and conditions of Airbnb, then Airbnb will cancel the booking as soon as you call them and they will be asked to leave first thing in the morning.  This happened to me a few months after I discovered that my guests had damaged my room within 2 hours of arrival.  I actually tried to fix the damage before even approaching them about paying for it, but instead of appreciating the 2 hours I spent trying to fix something, the husband was VOLATILE and nasty and was overheard by Airbnb rep yelling at me (I called to report that I felt extremely unsafe with this very large nasty man and Airbnb was amazing in their help to me because they could hear how he was being to me.   They were cancelled immediately and allowed to stay one night in my home BECAUSE OF MY GENEROUSITY...I felt so bad for his wife.  She kept crying and aplogizing to me for her husbands unacceptable behavior.  (sadly I was alone as my husband was working overnight at his job) but thankfully the couple left peacefully, and I requested they get their money back minus ONE NIGHT...even though I didn't have to as per my STRICT policy.  And they were not able to leave a review either, but I can assure you that Airbnb noted their profile as having a major complaint already.  Good luck but keep in mind, if you feel unsafe, threatened in any way by their use of bad language that violates terms of being a guest within the Airbnh platform, you NEED to call Airbnb and report this.  I cannot stress this enough.  The call is free and 24 hours too.   

 

Im sorry you are going through this.....its not fair.  But sadly, every once in a while, we all seem to meet that unruly guests that CAN"T READ.....haha

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Hi Momi,

Thank you so much on your advice. Trust me when I say I know how you felt, as I have been working on a cruise ship for 9 years:)) I know exactly well how guest can be "demanding" ;)) With the experience I have I will find the way to use all the sources so they well welcomed, but as you said I can not learn them how to read. The only thing I worry now is that if they have a chance to leave a review, I believe they will leave  negative one, frustrated for what happened to them. Even tho it is not my fault I should not be blamed for it , and they should not be able to get an option to write an review. Is there any way I can influence on that other than to report them being violent? I get in a bad mood just for not getting 5 stars:)) and with one click on their mouse for sure I will get one star as he thins we were misleading him?!?. I have entire communication to prove that he is wrong. Needles to say that his English is poor and that can also be a part of the problem.
Please advise if there is a way for me not to get evaluate by them other than calling airbnb?

Thank you so much!

Hi Lauren & Leon,

Thank you so much on your prompt answer. I really appreciate it.

 

I know I have set my cancelation to Moderate but, I have never had this experience before, and I want to do all I can to help the guest. I have a super host status and I don't want to lose that because of this. They have been really rude and offensive all night and they decided to stay for a night, but if they decide to leave tomorrow than I will do as you advised.

One more question, will they be able to  leave the comment after this?

Again thank you. Much appreciated!

 

 

Momi0
Level 10
Honolulu, HI

HI Nikola

If you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to worry about.  IF the guests stays one night, and decides to leave tomorrow, then you need to have HIM cancel his reservation for the remaining nights by agreeing to your cancellation policy which is clearly stated on your profile or you can also go into the actual booking and ALTER the reservation to end early.   You are the host, its entirely up to you what you want to do.  

My suggestion is to call Airbnb as this is a situation that they need to be made aware of. They will help guide you thru this process to ensure you get paid properly and to possbly ask them to help the guest find alternate accommodations.  But please remind the guests, that its HIS reposponsiblity to also contact Airbnb customer service to inform them that he wants to leave after spending one night. This is your business, run your business the way you want, and if you choose to refund him, you can, but depending on YOUR cancellation policy he may or may not be entitled to anything back.  Its entirely up to you.  

 

I want to recommend that you go through your profile setion by section and make sure you understand what you have chosen for your settings on cancellation policy as you are the one who set it.  Look at everything....quite a few hosts have not properly gone though their entire profiles to make sure all settings are what they want.  I know this because I tried to book a place myself with another host, and even that host didnt' know they had chosen the arrival time as FLEXIBLE when I informed them that I was arriving at Noon, only to be told that check in was 3p.m. but that's not what their profile said.  Just some helpful advice.  Good Luck.....

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook