Guest cancellation - allowed to review?

Answered!
Marie-Et-Simon0
Level 3
Melbourne, Australia

Guest cancellation - allowed to review?

Hi there!

 

We had our first guest cancellation yesterday. The guest cancelled at 10pm the day before check-in.

 

Will they be allowed to review? I've read that guests can review when they cancel within 24 hours of check in, although sometimes I read that it is when they cancel on same day than check in...

 

Thanks for helping clearing the confusion!

Marie

1 Best Answer

Moral of the story...... Bookings taken under a FLEXIBLE policy are only tentative bookings at best.   

Hosts with a STRICT policy have peace of mind; rain, hail or shine.  They still receive bookings, but only from guests who are taking a calculated risk themselves or have purchased travel insurance. 

 

Why should the host carry all the risk? Put the onus back on the traveller and protect your self, your business and costly investment. It's not about the quantity, but the quality of the booking one receives. Be picky and choosy just like guests are. It's a two way street. 

 

View Best Answer in original post

38 Replies 38
Russell49
Level 10
Katoomba, Australia

I just got the same thing...A guest gets cancelled then is allowed to leave a scathing review which is supposed to be based on cleanliness, check in, accuracy, etc...all things that are unreviewable because there is no genuine experience to base even an opinion on, yet Air BnB said it was in the intrest of "fairness". I then told the case manager that if the guest is allowed to tell unbased lies, then perhaps I should attack her character despite not having any encounter with her....they said "yes".....tells you that it is like one big game of BS charades. You would think that Air BnB would treat us superhosts like business partners instead of prostitutes.

Under strict cancellation rule the host is obliged to give full refund if they cancel 3 weeks before? And who will pay for the loss of business and other potential bookings? Airbnb's cut is still pocketed from their end so no need to worry...

 

So no news from Airbnb on this? Its becoming a cancellation nirvana...

Travis99
Level 3
San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico

We sent our location to this last guest a few days before checkin, matches the location on Airbnb of course. Our listing states we're a 15 minute drive to the beach. After waiting for the guest and getting the space ready, we use the property ourselves, they cancel.  They tell us it isn't close enough to the beach, despite all the maps we sent and the location on airbnb, and gave everything a 1 star when they never even made it to the property. They also say 'Nothing like the photos', but again they never even made it to the property, we were here waiting for them.

New to hosting so a couple poor reviews have tanked my rating. At this time we're taking the property down from airbnb. The community has changed so much from when I started as a guests several years ago. It's moved from interesting people exploring a locale, to bargain shoppers looking for something cheaper than a hotel. 

Any recourse suggestions would be greatly appreciated, we're very discouraged by the whole platform at this point.

You are 100% absolutely correct about AirBnB's guests changing. When we started it was a pleasure meeting most guests. Now it has come to me wondering whether these "0 review" guests have even read the house rules, how noisy they will be or what state the room will look like after they are done.

 

The majority of guests we got were more interested in the location and tourist sights as well as the unique room we offer.. Now they tend to be on the side of looking for budget properties to disrespect. I have raised my prices and have noticed that I get more respectable guests overall. I will never give away my concerns of respect, my hospitality, a place I paid great money for and risk for other's enjoyment, etc for a cheap price. This comes at a cost and I will not short change myself.

Andy542
Level 3
Oria, Spain

Has happened to me and my partner that also rents rooms and you really wonder if these people can read or know what a map is.  Due to extra fees on top of my preferred price and lack of support from customer services from what I have read I am seriously considering removing my property from AirBnB as most of my bookings come from another agency who seem a little more helpful.  Personally I've used AirBnB quite a lot over the years as a customer/guest and found you get what you pay for when comes to sharing someones home and because of that I take that into consideration if reviewing but some guests seem to expect the earth for their money. Oh well, nothing stranger than folk as the English saying goes  🙂

Travis99
Level 3
San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico

We'll be removing all our listings from airbnb once this last guest finishes their stay. We've had a few amazing guests and several horrors. While I know Airbnb won't read this, they need to skew their review system so that guests with longer stays have more weight. Someone who hates it when they never even show up shouldn't cancel out a guest who stayed for two weeks and left a glowing review.

 

Zoran3
Level 4
Bar, Montenegro

I also need answer about that situation. Can anyone help with this?

 

Chris639
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

anyway to get Airbnb to remove unfair reviews left by guests who cancelled upon checking in?

Isabella337
Level 1
Atlanta, GA

I have canceled a room rental of 68 nights in NYC from airbnb at 90 days BEFORE my check-in date. I was billed for $3216.06 for the first month rent and I was billed for $2,036.94 on my cancellation day. My intern company is downsizing its NYC office and I was relocated to Dallas for the coming summer intern.

I called airbnb twice (last Friday and today). It would be fair to have a place to voice such issues for future guests  ...

Anthony608
Level 10
Silver Spring, MD

I had my first experience with this as well just yesterday.  A man arrived at the house on what I had thought was a female's profile and immediately said he hadn't been given the key to the house.  I have a keycode and when he learned this he became nervous, went up stairs and looked around, then left.  He never came back the first night and in the morning the reservation was cancelled.  As of right now (an hour or so later), the reservations is completely gone off my calendar, like it didn't even happen.  Maybe AirBNB changed the system where such people can't leave reviews.  In any event, this was  brand new account from a local and I think there was definitely something shady going on.

@Anthony608 This is the exact reason I use key codes and I do not give out keys. Just too easy for a guest to make a copy of an actual key. Good luck guessing the new code after check out, I change the code with every guest. 

I know a bad review is coming after my next guest although she has already said she isn't coming to check in. What are the chances Airbnb will remove the review?  Here is the scenario. Guest books the place two weeks ago (AFTER the pandemic was announced) using the NONREFUNDABLE option (I offer a moderate booking option.) She sent a message two days ago wanting to cancel AND receive a FULL refund due to "Fear of travelling during the pandemic." I deny the request so she reached out again and  this time says her aunt has cancer and needs surgery, so she wants a full refund. Again, I deny the request after explaining to her I provide an opportunity for guests to make reservations with a refundable option. Still not satisfied, she then reaches out to Airbnb, who in turn contacted me and ask am I wiling to give this lady a refund. I tell them no and explain she had the option to a refundable booking. I asked the rep what is the purpose of offering "refundable" if guests reserve using "non refundable" but then just call in to ask for a refund anyway? Her check in is tomorrow so today, I send her check in instructions (she never cancelled the room) and her response was I told you to cancel this reservation, so stop contacting me about this. I responded and told her I cannot cancel the room, she has to do it and until she does, I am obligated to give her check instructions. Her response was I told you days ago I am not coming, so do not contact me again. Now, this pretty much means this lady isn't coming BUT she did not cancel the reservation. I KNOW her review is going to be scathing. What chances do I have that Airbnb will read the dialog and remove the bad review that is coming behind this debacle?

@Joycelyn8- It is completely against AirBNB policy for a guest to review a property which they did not actually visit.  If she leaves a review, I would contact AirBNB and tell them in no uncertain terms she never set foot on the property and left a false review.  I have heard they usually take those down, but with the recent employee cuts at AirBNB, they don't appear to have that many people reviewing cases and it might take a while.  I am going through something now as well, trying to get a guest review removed for racism, and no one has called me back yet from AirBNB.

@Anthony608thanks for the advice! I am happy to say the guest did NOT leave a review so no harm, no foul! Crazy thing, I told her she was entitled to her cleaning fee back if she cancelled, but she refused, so instead of getting something, she got nothing refunded! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...

Crazy, I have had a few guests leave terrible vindictive reviews after not giving a refund based on our strict policy and them cancelling on the day they were supposed to arrive. I told AirBnB and they said it was "fair" lol