Sudden rush of guest cancellations

[Robin4]

I would just like to make an observation and see if this is just an anomaly which I am currently experiencing or if it is part of a general trend amongst hosts.

In 3.5 years of hosting, over 350 stays I only ever had 3 guest cancellations!

Since Halloween at the end of October I have had 5. That is 5 guest cancellations for November. I had 2 in one day!

Previously there has always been a reason for the cancellation but in three of those this month there has been no reason, just, ‘please cancel’ or no explanation at all,  just a cancellation email notice from Airbnb.

I am wondering if events in San Francisco at the end of October have heightened the level of mistrust in Airbnb and in Airbnb hosts. Nothing else has changed here, I haven’t copped any poor reviews.

Are any other hosts experiencing this?

Cheers......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4 I notice that those who cancelled only have a circle with a letter in it for the profile pic. Were you able to see actual profile photos of those guests before they cancelled, and the photos disappeared when they cancelled, or were they without profile photos to start with?

[Robin4]

@Sarah977  Hi S,

No, when they were an active booking they had photos, the generic letter only crept back in once the reservations were cancelled. That veil of secrecy returns!

Also note Sarah when a guest does not have a profile photo it is just a greyed head field with no letter in it as per.

It's only when Airbnb don't want you to see their profile that you get the circle with the letter in it!

Cheers......Rob

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4  Seems that it could be related to the Orinda murders (near San Francisco) that occurred Halloween night - In my opinion, Brian Chesky's public tweets and later statements to the media after the tragedy made it sound like there are lots of 'bad actor' hosts that run "Party Houses" and don't care about guests' safety. Not sure why he and his legal and PR team took that approach. It could have been handled very differently. Instead of being reassuring, it may have raised some alarms and some guests could be cancelling as a result. But I guess there's no way to know for sure.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4 

This is really unusual, but I don't believe guests would cancel their booking with you because they are afraid you may run a "party house" or a scam listing like in VICE case. 😉

But those two cases brought people's attention to the dark side of Airbnb so maybe they googled, found Airbnb dirty laundry and realized it would be safer to stay at a hotel instead.

Btw we had one cancelation since the beginning of November but it was because our guest needs an amenity we can't provide. Everything as usual here, knock on the wood...

[Ana7]

Actually I did notice this trend, in Zagreb, Croatia. I don't think it has anything to do with the shootings, more likely with the notice that Airbnb sends like "You can cancel this reservation until...." - I sometimes feel that Airbnb is encouraging guests to cancel! They keep their fee, naturally.

Last weekend I had 3 cancellations for the same night! It was booked, then cancelled, two times in a row! Luckily the third one stood. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ana7  were those guests who came in Zagreb for a dog show? They all specifically asked for free parking at the premises and when they realized ours is already reserved they didn't book and one booked and canceled for the same reason.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

PS when I think about it, yes, it really seems like ABB is encouraging guests to cancel. No wonder, they keep their fee and if someone else books the same dates with the same host then ABB collects one more fee. It is profitable... for ABB of course...

[Ana7]

No, the first reservation stood for a long time and then something came up and they couldn't travel. The second guy who booked didn't notice at first that my studio is for two (and they were four). So I had them cancel and promised to give them their money back although I didn't have to. 
Btw did you know they are allowed to leave you a review if they cancel on the day of check-in?

[Robin4]

@Ana7 

Having worked in Airbnb support, can I answer the last part of your post with a minor degree of authority.

The protocol which activates the review of both host and guest works this way.

For review purposes, 12.01 am on the morning of the stay is the mechanism which triggers the review. At that point both the guest and the host will automatically be offered the opportunity to review each other. A review email will be sent to each within 36 hours of the scheduled end of the stay. The reason for this trigger point is, some stays get to the point of check-in but, do not take place…….a guest might cancel when arriving or without entering because, the hosts listing was not as described and booked, and does not suit their purposes. Equally a guest might book for two people and turn up with 7, which the host simply cannot accommodate and the stay will be cancelled.

In each of these incidents both host and guest were in a position to form an opinion of each other, whether the stay took place or not, and the reviews system will be offered to each! They can both apply to have one (or each others) reviews removed and a decision to do that will be arbitrated by Airbnb within the content policy guidelines!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rebecca181]

@Ana7 Oh, so if there is a cancellation Airbnb keeps the fee. If the home is re-booked, they receive yet another fee. And so cancellations may in fact lead to bigger profits for Airbnb?

[Ana7]

---

@Rebecca181 wrote:

@Ana7 Oh, so if there is a cancellation Airbnb keeps the fee. If the home is re-booked, they receive yet another fee. And so cancellations may in fact lead to bigger profits for Airbnb?

---

Yes I believe it is exactly like that!

[Tony-And-Una0]

Hi 

We haven't seen any changes in booking patterns recently although we did have a spate near the last Brexit deadline end Oct as overseas guests were confused about travel arrangements between Northern and Southern Ireland.

Once Brexit was postponed yet again, the bookings came in.

As one of my single friends remarked with a sigh ," Brexit has had more dates than me this year!"

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  @Ana7  @Rebecca181  @Sarah977 

Airbnb started out with 2 guys who were struggling to pay their rent on a San Francisco apartment. They hit on the idea of putting a couple of air mattresses (cheapest beds they could find) into one of their spare rooms and, they accepted guests into their home……..That sort of sounds familiar around the world now, doesn’t it? Isn’t that what Airbnb is?…..the hand of friendship, welcoming strangers into your home! These guys did not set themselves up with a series of roadblocks as to who would or could enter their front door! They as hosts made that decision. Where the hell did all this go off the rails?

Airbnb have lost sight of that, corporate is now the buzz-word, multi listing is being rewarded with different payment options, no service fee options, the ultimate prize will be the destruction of the hotel, and the affordable long term rental housing markets.

Hosts rights have been withdrawn to the point where many of them are struggling with the practical concept of continuing to host. I think Bec, you can relate to that!

It seems to be a fact of life, the more money you have, the greedier you become, and Airbnb have become greedy to the point where there is a strong possibility they will implode! They have an entire division (the Global Development Team) who’s sole job it is to dream up new ways of making money, new markets to corner. Why just this morning a tweet comes to my computer from no less than Brian Chesky (the CEO) that Airbnb are moving into cooking experiences.

A tree only grows so high, you can’t keep on adding branches to it without it toppling over!

*

There is a portion of Airbnb that works, there is a portion of Airbnb that does not! It cost more to keep non performers and trouble prone users on the books than what you get out of them! There is a portion of Airbnb that is respected and advances the platform…..there is a portion which screws and trashes the platform!

If you halved the size of Airbnb tomorrow they would lose virtually no income…..every tree needs pruning every now and then to keep it healthy. I know, that's a hard thing to say, but I am worried about the future. As I said in another post here, I don't like to admit I am an Airbnb hosts any more....I am just a B&B host! I am sick of being asked to justify why I do what I do, make excuses for the company that I have loved and has been so good to me!

What would I do if I had the chance, I would make Airbnb better, not bigger! I would set a performance bar and those that did not meet that performance bar…..find somewhere else to list, lets get the respect back again!

Cheers…..Rob

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4  Trees also come down in fierce winds and storms. And are sometimes even destroyed suddenly by an impressive strike of lightning. There are sure to be very dark days ahead for Airbnb due to their arrogance and greed.