Cancellations

[Karen4156]

So our Villa is rented on Air BB, we feel aggrieved that customers can book and cancel up to 30 days prior to check in and not face any penalty, effectively offering no protection to the owner. It has now happened twice, potential guests reserve our entire villa for over 6 months meaning that we lose out on other bookings, and as long as they cancel more than 30 days prior to arrival they face no charges but we are penalised as we are left with an empty villa in peak times. Now if we cancel thats a whole different ballgame…… Air BB please adjust your cancellation procedure in line with other platforms.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Karen4156 What cancellation policy have you defined for your listing? It looks like you have chosen Firm. If you care so much about this why not change to Strict?

[Karen4156]

Yes ours is already with the strict cancellation. The strict policy is: if your guests cancel within 30 days of the arrival date then you get paid 50% of the booking but they can cancel anytime before this and have no penalty. 
People book several villas for the same dates and then decide just before the end of the free cancellation period. There is no protection for the owners. People wanting to book a villa that sleeps up to 28 guests will have booked well in advance. We now find ourselves with these two cancellations that we will probably not fill now. Frustrating - probably time to remove the villa from Airbnb! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Karen4156 Are you talking about short term cancellation policies? If so I show them below

• Firm cancellation policy: To receive a full refund, guests must cancel at least 30 days before check-in. They can also get a full refund within 48 hours of booking if the cancellation occurs at least 14 days before check-in. If they cancel between 7 and 30 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights. If they cancel less than 7 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights.
• Strict cancellation policy: To receive a full refund, guests must cancel within 48 hours of booking and the cancellation must occur at least 14 days before check-in. If they cancel between 7 and 14 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights. If they cancel after that, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Karen4156 Also if a guest books more than 1 property for the same dates they lose the Airbnb service fees should they cancel.