Cancellations and review: how to deal with guests who cancel their stay shortly after checking in?

[David1421]

The last guest was the daughter of the person who booked my place. The following day after she checked in, she abruptly decided to leave, saying she did not feel comfortable living at my place. Apparently, she and her father did not read the listing and the house rules. She did not provide any valid explanation why she made the  decision to leave. She even managed not to see me again before leaving. 

I smelled some racism in her behavior, because I still think she did not know that I was a man and a black. Besides telling me that she did not feel comfortable, she also mentioned that the bedroom room was too clustered. I think she thought that she was going to have a whole house for her, because she came in with more than 5 times what a regular guest is supposed to bring in: 4 suitcases, and several bags of personal stuff. I had been hosting for 7 years, and no guest ever complained about the size of my place before. 

The father requested full refund, but Airbnb Support applied the "Moderate" cancellation rule to him. He was not happy. It was clear that such a guest cannot write a good review for me.

How to deal with this type of guests?

[Elisa]

Hi @David1421 😊, 

This is a very interesting situation, thank you for bringing up the topic here!

However, I am truly sorry about what happened to you.

I’d like to mention some experienced hosts to see what they think about it:

@Zheng49, @Debra300, @Frances3408 and @Dr-Jayanthi1. 

Thank you in advance everyone!

Warm regards 🌻,

[Cheri354]

Well, if she has already left, you don't need to deal with her 🙂

First off, the father booked a place for someone else (daughter) to that's a "third party booking" which isn't covered by airbnb and they don't like it.

About her knowledge of your gender or race; your name is published with your photo...

You may be correct that she thought she'd have the whole house to herself considering what she brought with her. Just guessing she misunderstood the space and didn't like having less room/privacy and that's why she left. Or she didn't realize she'd be sharing a house with a man. Could be she was both embarrassed (of her lack of knowledge/reading of listing) and uncomfortable with co-ed housing. I don't see anything that is racist in the situation, actually.

Not sure if they will be able to leave a review since the booking was cancelled and the guest didn't stay. Good for you that airbnb refused to refund.

[Elisa]

Hi @David1421 😊, 

Have you found a solution? 

Our Host shared great advice with you. Did you get a chance to review it?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you so much @Cheri354 for helping!

Warm regards 🌻