Rescheduled date, unresponsive guest

Dom2654
Level 2
Devon, PA

Rescheduled date, unresponsive guest

HI, 

Relatively new host here, looking for some advice. We had a guest book way back in November for a NYE stay at our house - it's in a ski area. They went with a discounted/non-refundable rate when they booked. Anyway, they had to cancel since a member of the party was ill at the time and they were not comfortable traveling. Since it was nonrefundable we offered to move their reservation to an innocuous date to keep everything as-is to allow us to rebook the date, and to all them to rebook their trip at their convenience and not lose any money. 

 

In the month since the cancelation - we have booked out most of the winter and there is no weekend room, I have sent them three messages mentioning that since this was a non-refundable rate, that they would have to either:

 

  1. initiate the cancelation, and the we would refund 75% of what they paid of the room rate
  2. use the house at the new date 
  3. pick any two nights in the future to use

She has not responded to three very detailed messages asking for very implicit responses, at all. 

 

Am I right in thinking that I should NOT initiate the cancelation myself, correct? I am not that worried about the dates they have a hold on right now (they are for next Monday and Tuesday, and the place typically rents just for weekends in ski season). But if she does not respond by this Wednesday I can not host her as I will miss the deadline to register with my community office. 

 

What should I do?

 

8 Replies 8
M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Dom2654 

 

 

In your 1st paragraph you state that the

 guest cancelled.  If that's the case, your calendar should have opened up for new bookings. Also, in your bullet notes, you suggested that they cancel.

 

Since your guest cancelled, then there is nothing more to do.  They likely don't want to rebook.

 

I meant to say they canceled in the sense that they contacted me saying they could not make it. I originally moved the reservation to next week. There is an active reservation coming up but there has been no response. 

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Dom2654 

 

I'd be more inclined to wait for a reply. Ask again. If they don't reply or cancel, then the booking continues as if they didn't cancel, even if they don't show up. It's not your fault. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Dom2654  Sometimes guests do not have their notifications turned on and don't realize they have messages waiting. Try calling, texting or whatsapping to let them know you have left them 3 Airbnb messages and to please respond ASAP.

This was it. Thanks for the suggestion. 

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

@Dom2654 Did the guest originally acknowledge and accept the new date? If so, you should expect that they will show up. As Sarah says, they may not be aware they have messages from you on platform. The platform and the app are both glitchy as heck. Call or text.

 

Two things you should know. Guest can leave a review if the booking stands and they no show. If you cancel, you get slapped with a whack of penalties.

 

Presumably, you chose your cancellation policy for a reason. So why would you be stepping outside of it for anyone? Headaches like this are what often result, and the host is the one who usually is left holding the short end of the stick in some way or another. You may as well pick a flexible policy instead. I suggest that a better course of action would have been to direct the guest to cancel, and offer to refund them for any portion of their cancelled dates that you were able to rebook. They can then rebook at a later date as it suits them. 

 

Yep, they acknowledged and accepted the change. 

It’s really not that much of a headache, I’m just looking to do the right thing for both myself and the guest.

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Dom2654 if you have a live reservation, I’d do the prep work to be ready to host it:notify community, clean, etc and then wait to see