A Guest requested to change reservation after checked-in

[Tatyana70]

I had a mid-term guest for 3 months (first time), but after staying 2 months she told me that her job being cut short, she wants to change her reservation and now leaving one month earlier (32 days earlier). I have a strict cancellation policy. I rejected her request and told her that  I’m unable to accept the request due to the short notice, it’s not enough time to find booking replacement. I discounted the rates for her considering the length of the stay. She left, my house is empty now for the whole month and no one can book because the entire month shows booked. Is it any way I can open those booked days since the house is actually available and try to get some bookings? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tatyana70 The better response to the guest would have been that you would refund her to the extent that you managed to rebook the accommodation. That way the calendar is freed up and guest should be happy that they potentially get some money back. You could probably still do this now unless you have burnt the guest relationship.

[Tatyana70]

That's what I thought. Thank you for replying. I better just leave it along, because there is  no guarantee that someone will book those leftover dates unless it's a half price. 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Tatyana70 , you've received different opinions from experienced Host members about your specific situation. Have you heard back from the guest yet? How did you eventually deal with this?

It would be a good idea to mark a best answer that supported your situation the most , so that Hosts referring to this main thread get an idea of best possible solution to this instance. 🌻

[Shelley159]

Hi @Tatyana70 

To open up the dates now, you will need to go to the reservation (which sounds like it is still ongoing) and click on "request change" to request a change of the end date. The problem is that your guest will have to accept the change (which they may not do if they are angry), and the payment will be reduced to reflect the new end date (the revised amount may not be acceptable to you).

[Tatyana70]

Got it! Thank you very much for your reply!

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

you don't need to open up your calendar you have rejected her request to amend the booking. 

the guest booked under the long term cancellation policy so will lose a month if she cancel and you will still be paid.

just advise the guest as a gesture of good will if she cancels and you get any replacement bookings you will refund proportionally at the discounted rate she was given less the airbnb fee @Tatyana70 

[Tatyana70]

Thank you! I don't think she had option to cancel. She moved out a week ago but I still have 3 weeks of blocked calendar left. It's a very law chance that I'd have booking in so short time within next 3 weeks, but I'm booked right after her original departure day till the middle of August. 

[Sandra856]

@Tatyana70  A guest can cancel whenever the guest feels for it and for whatever reason and will then automatically get refunded by the system according to the cancellation policy. In this case nothing as the guest is not entitled to anything. When the guest cancels the calendar will automatically reopen so new guests can book. If I were you I would have explained to the guest that with such short notice I unfortunately wouldn’t be able to refund - but should new guests book I would gladly refund those dates. Remember your guest will be able to review you and there will be a much bigger chance to get a great review if you offer something in return. I would always ask the guest to cancel asap - the calendar reopens automatically- and offer a refund should someone new rebook any of the dates. 

[Emilia42]

@Tatyana70 @Sandra856 

This just happened to me where a guest was in the middle of her stay and needed to cancel the last two days. I advised her to cancel and my cancelation policy would take effect. When she went to cancel she got this prompt:

So the only option was to send a change request which (if I accepted) would have refunded her in full. When I declined, the reservation was kept as is. This makes it very difficult for hosts trying to stay within the cancelation policy.

[Sandra856]

@Emilia42  It makes me so angry that Airbnb make guests believe that they don’t really have to respect the cancellation policy they agreed to when they booked. It puts us in such a crappy situation. It also makes it much harder to rebook and refund the guest if it is not possible to easily reopen the calendar. Wtf Airbnb. 

[Tatyana70]

I agree 100%!

[Rebecca]

Hey @Tatyana70, @Sandra856 & @Emilia42  👋

I hope you're all well. Thanks for your patience with a reply. I've found some info that might help with how guests can cancel a booking on Airbnb:

1. Go to the Airbnb website or open the Airbnb app.
2. Log in to your Airbnb account.
3. Go to your reservations or bookings page.
4. Find the specific booking that you want to cancel.
5. Click on the booking to open the details.
6. On the booking details page, you will find a "Cancel" button.
7. Click on the "Cancel" button and follow the prompts to confirm your cancellation.

I also found this article which has lots of information: 
Guide | Guest - Changing or cancelling a reservation

I hope this helps. 😊

[Sandra856]

Hi @Rebecca 🌿

Thank you very much for your reply. I followed your link as well and found this :

‘If you’ve booked a place where there’s a more strict cancellation policy, you could also consider changing your dates instead. Just put in a change request to the Host and any difference in price will be shown before you confirm the request.’

It really, really puts the host in an awkward situation that Airbnb lets the guest think that they can just send a request to alter the dates instead of accepting the cancellation policy. It is just not okay. 
I know you have nothing to do with this - I just want to give my feedback. There is a lot of pressure when it comes to keep getting those good reviews and high ratings and this puts a good deal more pressure on a host when the host has to tell that it is unfortunately not possible to ignore the cancellation policy when a guest wishes to alter dates during a stay in order to overrule the cancellation policy and get a refund the guest wasn’t entitled to. 
Best, Sandra

[Sandra856]

It would make more sense to explain to the guest that in case the guest needs to cancel - then the guest will automatically get refunded according to the cancellation policy agreed to when the booking was made.