Guest cancellation - allowed to review?

[Marie-Et-Simon0]

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

[Elena87]

@Marie-Et-Simon0

It is correct - they can leave a review.

It was allowed as consumer groups protested that customers could arrive at a place then be asked for more money, find some critical problem with the listing accuracy and so on. Previously if a customer had no option than not to stay and cancel, they were unable to leave a review to warn others - all  very valid and fair enough.

However on the flip side there are several alternative scenarios - if the customer makes an error/changes plans/can't arrive/gaming for a refund etc.

..for example I recently had a customer who booked my private room but arrived thinking he had booked a whole flat. He cancelled and left a review, a one star review including one star for hygiene/value/accuracy/check-in. This was the first one star review I've had out of approx 400 reviews. He arrived at my place with his booking confirmation in his hand and it took me all of three seconds to plainly point out his error to him, I helped him find another place however the reward was a retaliatory review. It's ludicrous a customer can leave ratings on cleanliness and check-in when they haven't even entered the premises. 

I understand why a review should be left in some cases but airbnb has adopted this one size fits all solution which can be unfair, untruthful, unrepresentative, unreliable and doesn't take into consideration any of the nuances revolving around why a cancellation took place.

Airbnb didn't think it through.

[Marie-Et-Simon0]

Interesting... I wonder what the review of my guest will be. Best case scenario : "great cancellation! awesome experience".

Worst case scenario... Retaliation review as we returned 80% of her monies (AirBNB advised we were allowed to keep all of it).

[Ute42]

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Hi @Elena87 ,

You state that customer groups had protested that guests could not leave a review if they don't stay at a place. I've read this remark several times but I never found the original story. Do You have any insight on what exacetly happened and when that was?

Also: HomeAway/VRBO, also a Short Term Rental Platform, doesn't seem to bother at all about customer protests, it seems that they just publish a review or not and don't care at all about any kind of regulations. Why can they do that and airbnb cannot?

[Elena63]

@Ute42

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/27/airbnb-agrees-reviews-loophole-intervention-cma-r...

British intervention from their Competition and Marketing Authority.

Don't ask me about VBRO and HomeAway policies, however they seem to be minor market share operators in the UK. 

[Ute42]

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@Elena63, thank You, now I know.

[Maria211]

I unfortunately had this problem as well.  My guest was a newbie to airbnb.  I chose to allow them a chance to become a part of the airbnb community.  They reserved my place for a week which is located on the beach and busy much of the summer.  They decided to cancel upon arrival, and asked for a full refund.  I have a moderate cancellation policy.  The reason was "this isn't what we thought we were getting".  The newbie guest called airbnb who gave them a full refund telling me that the listing should have said "shared terrace".  I discussed this with Airbnb and they told me that although I have pictures of the shared terrace, I didn't write it up in the listing.  I was out $1600 for the week.  I have been a Superhost for 3 years and have never had one complaint with regards to authenticity of my listing.  Now this person has written a review.  They spent about 5 mintes in my unit and never stayed.  So not only am I out all the money, but also have a bad review from someone who has never to this day stayed one night in an airbnb lodging accommodation.  Very bad rule on airbnb's part, bad management, and lesson learned.  Not renting to newbies again.  This will ultimately be a loss for airbnb because they will  lose business if they cant bring in more folks.  

[Ute42]

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Hi @Maria211 ,

I looked at Your listing and the terrace. It is huge and it's obvious that this is a shared terrace. There are 3 tables and 10 chairs or sunbeds on Your picture. Why would a place like Yours that sleeps 4 need that much outside furniture?

Your guests are ***ots and the CS person that gave them the money back doesn't impress me either.

[Maria211]

@Ute42 thank you for the support. I phoned Airbnb and they let the review go through which unfortunately is a scathing (and untrue) review from someone who actually never stepped foot in my unit or stayed there. I wrote a respectful response which hopefully will encourage folks to look at the listing in full as well as all my other honest reviews from people who actually were guests. My review of this person did not recommend them to be a  part of the Airbnb community.  A frustrating experience to say the least, but lesson learned for me. I will not ever again rent to people who are new with no reviews. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your feedback. I feel like I have support from other hosts which is awesome. In the end, people generally don’t believe 1 star reviews anyway I think, if the rest are 4’s and 5’s.  At least that is what I am telling myself will be the case. 

[Ute42]

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Hi @Maria211 ,

I read the guest review and I reread Your listing.

• Guest: It conveyed the idea that …..there was a patio that was part
  of the experience etc - The listing did not mention on that the patio was shared,

• Listing: There are several terraces with ocean views throughout the complex
  which anyone can use,

Your guest conveyed but didn't read. I think „which anyone can use" is a good description for a shared place. And a patio isn't mentioned at all in Your listing.

• Guest: …...up two flights of stairs.......

• Listing: The unit is on the 2nd floor with no elevator access

So what?

[Maria211]

@Ute42 I just called Airbnb again and they are reopening the case because I pointed out what you just told me!! Thank you and I will cross my fingers that they remove the bad review!!

[Elena87]

@Maria211

Well airbnb state in their terms of service ;

''Ratings and Reviews are not verified by Airbnb for accuracy and may be incorrect or misleading.''

Then Airbnb support tell you ;

''It is our general policy not to remove reviews. This is because reviews help to generate an honest portrayal of the variety of experiences that our hosts and guests have with each other. ''

[Edo0]

As always, most people are not reading full info about apartment, which is IMO not so smart. They just look for the photos, price and location

[Russell49]

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.

[TwoRoom0]

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...