cancellations

[Elizabeth156]

Gabriella a woman from Florida joined airbnb in March 2018 and contacted me, a Superhost, to rent May 20-June30 which  we agreed and she was confimred. I am always reluctant to host "newbys" because they have no history but everyone gets a fair chance.

Yesterday morning Gabriella contacts me and says "my sister and I have a change of plans and wonder about cancelling" I  tell her sure she can and then I immediately call Airbnb and ask about the cancellation policy which I have as strict on all of my properties, and Im thinking wow thats a lot for Gabriella to have to pay but I learned that the LONG TERM cancellationn policy for bookings  over 28 days kicks in and she only has a committment of the first month which in her case is May 20-31. $669. still alot of money.

I then immediately emailed Gabriella and told her about the cancellation policy  as I thought as a new member she might not be aware of any of this. 

I didne hear back so I called airbnb again and you all know how arduous that is to do with long waits etc, I reached someone who has a case manager assigned and they are toreach out to Gabriella to make sure she cancels so that I can get back ny space. Shes actually taken May out by only booking last 10 days and she has June tied up as well and I already turend away severl jun, july august bookings because of her.

The case Manager leaves without advising me of any contact with Gabriella. I then wish to have ny Calendar released as the dates are still blocked and I call Airbn again to see if they can do that. Finally this morning I called airbnb yet again and apparently the first case manager had actually spoken with her and learned that Gabriella was going to now discuss her plans with her family. One can assume she doesnt want to pay the fee IF only she had discussed this with me!! But instead I thought she was cancelling and thus I booked May 20-31 to someone who had wanted it all along who is currently booked April though May 15. I told Gabriella that I could no longer accommodate her in May and asked about June which she refused to answer . So the airbnb person Maxine in Ireland called me this morning very heavy handed indeed and told me that Gabriella never wanted to cancel she just asked about it .THUS  I would have to cancel her and lose my superhost status of four years and pay a penalty??? WHAT THE HECK IS AIRBNB THINKING?

[Fred13]

@Elizabeth156 In mathematical terms: Long term (28+ day booking bracketing 2 months) + newbie (has no clue about process or consequences of booking or cancelling) + miscommunication (she can't make up her mind) + Airbnb (wild card) = High chance of something going wrong, which did.

[Elizabeth156]

Yes and it did because the case manager knew she was “discussing with her family” could have called me and shared that I called him/her four times after they were to call me back.

i guess in my other homes I get a different clientele they book and come only cancel if they find out they actually can’t make it and I always waive fee but then they always come back and bring me presents ( yes you read that correctly)

losing Superhost status 3000 mikes from this condo will upset my guests in warwick New York my reviews are excellent and well deserved and my guests are very protective of me. My only bad review was from a French girl who didn’t want to leave until 2 hours after check out 

Because other guests were waiting to check in and the room had to be cleaned I gave her one more hour but she was pissed because they were out late, this is wine country, not my fault you drink too much and want to sleep it off .

[Fred13]

Those are classic examples when the Airbnb review system totally fails - an excellent host.

[David126]

This may come across harsher than it would if we were talking but I tend not to beat around the bush.

You have been a SH for 4 years but do not know what cancellation policies you use?

Why did you contact AirBnB at all, she asked what would happen, not uncommon, I tell Guests in such case that the sooner they cancel the better, I tend to assume that they are going to anyway and that opens my calendar up quicker.

If they ask about the finacial side I copy the AirBnB terms and send it to them. When doing so I decide if I want to offer them anything extra, if the booking is a long way out or they booked and realised quickly they made a mistake I tell them I will refund what I would get IF they cancel quickly. Otherwise I may say nothing or I will refund if I get another booking.

As soon as you involve ABB you lose control, who knows what they will do or not do.

A booking is not a booking until it is booked, likewise a cancellation is not a cancellation until you have it confirmed.

Last week somebody messaged me that they were not coming for a one nighter but never cancelled so I was still ready, might have got another message saying all was good and they were coming.

[Elizabeth156]

I think it’s the support team who muddied the waters. They asked me if I could offer other dates I did that but as usual Gabriel goes dark with no reply probably because support told her she should not reply

[Fred13]

    If only hosts used this line every time a guest even hints of cancellation:

   "If you are cancelling, the sooner you do so, the faster your booked days, will be available for someone else to book them, and the better chance there is for me to be able to refund you the other 50%". 

   That is IF the host is being paid 50%, and if that is the host's position. If guest doesn't cancel, a moot point. If guest takes their sweet time, they probably will loose 50% since they shouldn't have it both ways.

[David126]

I do not mention a figure as I have Moderate they could wait weeks and still get a refund, if they ask they probably do not know so the asap seems to be a better option.

[Elizabeth156]

You’re right we need to do that which is why I emailed her telling her tgat