Multiple bookings from the same guests/cancellations

[Laura2592]

Just a question as I am relatively new to this and have had this happen twice. 

We get a guest book. All well and good. Booking is months away/next year. Then that same person books another stay before years end/closer to today. This individual's profile says they live locally to our listing (within a 20 minute drive of our place.) They have reviews/nothing amiss on that front.

But then both reservations get cancelled. No communication from this guest- -I always send a thank you email after booking and most of the time the guest will respond and say they are looking forward to the stay. etc.

It seems odd. Any ideas of what could be happening? As I say this has happened twice, different profiles, both in the area of my listing. Which is odd in itself  as its not a particularly popular area to visit....

[Yadira22]

Hi @Laura2592 

this is very odd and honestly an unspoken rule is to not accept locals. This is because they tend to come with a lot of issues from unwanted house parties, third party bookings etc. 

If it raises any red flags you can block this person. To block you need to touch flag on one of the message shared with them and this would prompt you to select from a range of options including inappropriate behaviour. You could always choose this and say- nothing major behaviour wise but their actions were questionable... explain what happens. The last screen would ask you “would you like to block this guest” and select “yes”. Do note that this is only possible on google chrome and on desktop! 

Good luck to you! 

Yadira 🙂

[Laura2592]

Thanks @Yadira22   Both times it was an older couple or senior single woman. I wondered at first if it was another host just trying to block availability to get people to book at their place instead but it doesn't seem to be. I also thought about contacting the hosts who left reviews which are also local to me. But I don't know if that is frowned upon.

[Yadira22]

Hi @Laura2592 though it’s not what’s traditionally done (contacting previous hosts) o have heard of some who do this. My best advice is to follow your gut. Good luck to you! 🙂