cancellation

[Claire158]

I would like to make a comment on 2 previous cancellations that I had to make so that potential guests are not 'put off'.  The first cancellation was because the guest wanted to change her date so I cancelled to allow her to do this but it looks bad on me.  The second was because I had an emergency plumbing issue that couldn't be dealt with in time for the booking so was out of my hands, again, looks bad but couldn't be helped.  How do I explain this to potential guests?  When I look at my reviews the first two that come up are the cancellation ones which is really annoying!  All the other reviews are excellent.

Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Claire

[Jean75]

i wouldnt worry about them , they will soon be swallowed up by all your wonderful other reviews, certainly wouldnt influence me if i was booking

[Helen3]

Never cancel a booking if a guest wants to change a date, you could have simply accepted a change to the booking from them and then it wouldn't show as a cancellation.

I would contact BnB about this and see if they might be able to review.

[Ana7]

Maybe for start, just to avoid looking as an unreliable host, you could post a respond to the cancelation comment, exactly like you explained to us?

[Sandra126]

@Ana7, it is no longer possible to post review responses for all users, I have not been able to for some weeks. Could be a test, or it could be a gradual roll out.

[Ana7]

Oh, really? Didn't know that!

[Robin4]

@Claire158.....Hi Claire, there are always ways to handle a booking problem without you having to cancel! If a guest wants to alter dates that they have booked, let them do it without involving you. Your listing is available or it is not, and if your guest wants to change dates, that is their issue, not yours! Work with them, but not FOR them!!!

As to the plumbing problem, you could first message the guest and explain why the hosting cannot take place and ask them to cancel their booking and choose another listing. Or get onto Airbnb help desk and ask them to relocate your guest due to extenuating circumstances.

Claire, you must exhaust all avenues before you cancel a confirmed booking. The booking system is automated and does not take into account that you felt you were helping or doing the right thing.....it just recognises that you cancelled a confirmed booking.

You are right, this will not look good in the short term, and it may have an effect on your bookings....host cancellations are looked on as 'the kiss of death' where guests are concerned because, they don't want it to happen to them, and they will regard a cancellation or two as a sign of unreliability as far as the host is concerned.

As other contributors have suggested you should either phone Airbnb in England on +44 203 318 1111 or else through the Airbnb Facebook page and plead your case and see if Airbnb will remove these postings and release you from future penalty.

Claire I see you have many successful hostings and your reviews are wonderful but before you do more damage to the wonderful work you have done it would pay to sit down with a cup of coffee for an hour or so and familiarise yourself with Airbnb's rules of hosting so that you can avoid this sort of thing happening in the future. On the forum home page just type 'Help' into the search bar and a lot of options will appear that will give you the knowledge you really need to know before getting too involved with hosting.

Good luck and I hope it all works out for you...cheers.....Rob

[Christine1]

@Claire158, this is upsetting and @Robin4 has given you very sound advice. Although you may not have recognised how many alternative courses of action were available to you at the time, there were different ways to handle both situations. In this case as the reservations were cancelled there is generally no facility for you to post an explanation, you are just going to have to take it on the chin. It is not likely Airbnb would remove the notices because cancellations are a big deal to travellers, and it would be unfair to put the notices through for some hosts and not others such as yourself. 

As someone who has had my bookings cancelled for no particular reason that I knew about, I can confirm that I would not book with a host who cancels. 

Lack of familiarity with the way that hosting tools can be used, seems to be a major cause of cancellations.Alterations can be initiated by either guest or host, and they should be the go to option for any change on a confirmed booking. No matter who is initiating the alteration request. 

When it comes to plumbing electrical services etc, you need a plan B. This needs to be a backup that you have set up before you need it. Like a neighbour, friend, relative nearby or another Airbnb host who will agree to accommodate your guests on short notice in the event of a domestic crisis.