problem with cancellation policy for weekly summer vacation rentals made a year in advance

[Bernard106]

Hi Airbnb Community,  I have a big problem with Airbnb cancellation policy.  I rent a 5 BR house weekly for summer vacations.  Most guests book months to over a year in advance.  My policy is a FULL refund for cancellation if I am able to re-book the week.  Airbnb policy allowing one week notice to cancel gives no opportunity to rebook and I am out half my weekly rate (currently about $5000) with no recourse. This is a deal killer for the summer whole house weekly rental business.  I have had several instances where guests cancelled at the last minute because a nearby oceanfront house had not rented due usually to being overpriced.  The rental agency upgraded them without my permission.  In the other instance the guest kept breaking items until I was finally glad to get rid of them.

With a single person or couple staying a few nights this policy might work; at the least the amounts involved won't ruin a season.  With a 5 BR house with 15 guests it is a dealkiller.  I have written Airbnb many times, of course no response.  Has anyone outthere found a way to deal with this problem?  Thanks, J.B. du Buy, MD, Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach, VA, USA.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Bernard106

A solution could be to list on a platform that suits your needs better for the summer months and use airbnb for the low season.

[Liz-Ryan0]

If airbnb added an option to strict cancellation saying full refund minus administrative fee if the host is able to rebook that would help - but does airbnb every talk to anyone?  I am starting to wonder if there is a viable alternative platform?

[Bernard106]

Liz you are so right, no way to talk to airbnb, guess they are too big. I have received an email from someone at airbnb who was interested and forwarded my issues to the brass or is it bureaucrats, but no reply.  They even have a new division to encourage weekly rentals but no reply from them, even though I pointed out they have a unique opportunity to expand market share with expedia now charging travelers a hefty fee, and offered my 16 year expertise in weekly rentals.  There are other alternatives such a tripadvisor or flipkey, but maybe we owners need to start our own cooperative; I am working on same starting my own website. Thanks for your input, Bernard du Buy.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

The option is to set your cancellation policy to Strict and then mention in your House Rules that a full refund may be issued if the property can be re-rented for the dates.   That way you are covered  for 50% if the guest cancels more than 1 week in advance and 100% if they cancel the week of the reservation.  That's your "Administration Fee".  Even if you re-rent, you do not have to pay them back the part of the cancellation fee that you are owed, so you can offer a "refund" of any amount you'd like.  

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict

After clicking through to your profile, I do not see a property listed so I do not know what cancellation policy you've currently selected.  

I would also suggest that you only take reservations up to a year in advance.  NO ONE knows what they are doing 2 years from now and that's just asking for someone to cancel when something more attractive comes available.  Why would you want to be their backup plan when you can be someone's anticipated vacation?  JM2C.

[Bernard106]

Hi Alice and Jeff,

Thanks for your thoughts. The cancellation policy may work for 1-2 people in a room for 1-2  days, but for a whole house with 15 travelers for a week at $5000, losing 50% of your income is devastating. My cancellation policy is actually less strict than Airbnb since I refund 100% if I am able to re-rent the week.  Most of my reservations, as well as most weekly vacation rentals, are made a year ahead.  The weekly vacation rental market has learned that the most desirble weeks and most desirable houses are booked a early.  With 15 or more family members or friends, it also takes a long time for scheduling time off from work, some businesses require months or a year's notice.  Exactly the problem you mentioned, that of someone booking a house as backup only to cancel at the last minute for something perceived to be better is the bane of the weekly vacation rental business and is actually facilitated by the Airbnb one week cancellation policy. We call them "upgraders" and they are a nightmare in our business.  I have tried for a year to communicate some of these points to Airbnb and with one exception have gotten nowhere.  The reason you didn't find my listing is that I had to withdraw it over inability to resolve this. I cannot afford to book several weeks with Airbnb only to risk having them cancelled at the last minute; this would destroy my season. A shame because I like Airbnb, and they have an excellent opportunity to pick up market share from expedia now that they (expedia) are charging travelers a hefty fee (in my case 5%) to book. By the way, what is a level 10? Whatever it is, I am impressed! Thanks, J. B. du Buy

[Amanda394]

Has anyone tried to enforce common law notice to vacate laws to get a judgement against guests that cancel prior to end date? 

[Letti0]

@Amanda394  I did in April of 2016, but it is very difficult to collect a money judgment in Texas. Our law provides that only non-exempt property of the judgment debtor may be seized to satisfy the judgment. Like debtor must earn over $60K if married to garnish wages, $30K if single. The judgment will  be picked up by credit reporting agencies and be noted on the debtor's credit report thus his credit history is trashed. My guy did pay in the end to get it removed from his credit history 5-6 months later to buy a car or house or something.