What would you do? Instant Booking issue with a moral quandry

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

What would you do? Instant Booking issue with a moral quandry

Hello all,

 

I need opinions on this, because I feel like I'm in a bit of a quandry. I've been a host for 4 months, with over 30 bookings so far, and I feel like this is the toughest situation I've had to deal with.

 

I cancelled a reservation on NYE with Airbnb's help due to feeling very uncomfortable with the guest (the questions they were asking regarding occupancy suggested that they were planning on having a group with them, and they were only booked for 2 and we only allow 4 people and no parties. They were completely unresponsive to questions, so I couldn't even verify what was going on - it was super suspicious).

 

Rather than seeking another reservation after the cancellation, we kept the dates blocked to avoid any more New Year's headaches. However, a guest who had already been in contact previously but had never booked asked if she could book. I said yes, because I felt comfortable that they were going to be responsible guests. It would also be difficult for her to find another place to stay, because she needed a dog sitter, and we had agreed to do that for her. I re-opened the date and sent her a special offer to complete the booking. There was no option to block the date while still allowing her to book. As she was finalizing her booking, another person instant booked. I have no issues with the new guest: they also seem great. I am just feeling really terrible about the original guest.

 

I am trying to get Airbnb to accept this as one of my free Instant Book cancellations; I'm not sure if they will allow it yet. I don't want to jeopordize my pending Superhost status to make this happen. I'm up for Superhost in January.

 

My question is, what would you do in this situation? Would you cancel on the new guest and honour the old guest, or just say too bad, so sad and keep the guest who was able to book? I was also thinking of offering the guest I'm trying to cancel a free night anytime he wants to stay with us to compensate for the inconvenience, as he's only about 40 minutes away and could book a weekend away anytime.

 

Thanks!

 

Alexandra

 

6 Replies 6
Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Hello @Alexandra316. If you already have that idea of offering that second guest another stay, ask them to change the reservation now for any future date - thus both of you will avoid cancellation and the guest will not lose anything. You might make that future chosen date stay as cheap as possible... whatever pleases the guest. 

But you should have handled it another way. Now you should do it as well to avoid another jeopardy: set the price for the night sky high before changing the reservation to prevent anyone else from Instant Booking or turn IB OFF for the time being. In the meantime send that special offer to the guest No.1.

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"
Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Marzena4 Thanks, in the future I will do that. I just assumed that I was safe, and I shouldn't have. I know it was my fault.

 

Airbnb has already cancelled the booking penalty free, so I am just going to make the offer that they can book with us in future for free.

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

This has sort of happened to me a few times, I always make it clear that I operate on a first come first served basis, so in this case if I wanted to reopen those dates I would messgae the Guest first and say I reopeneing the dates now, or in 5 minutes or whenever in case they are interested. If people ask about a room availablity I usual add 'currently', bookings and cancellations for that matter change things.

 

Had too many circumstances where I have had enquiries where they REALLY want to stay and then they disappear, so you never know.

David

I had done that: they were in the midst of processing their reservation and couldn't complete it. It all happened really fast.

 

I agree with you, @David126: I generally treat everything as first come, first served, as we get "urgent requests" all the time that don't book and you never hear from again.

Takes less than a minute so somebody could get in, but that would be a really rare event.

David

@David126 Yep, just my luck, unfortunately! I think because we're close to Niagara Falls, people are desperate to book for New Year's at a reasonable price - finding a place at all is very difficult this late.