Guest who booked for 43 nights(March 21, 2023-May 4th) wants to cut her trip short and get a refund

[Erika934]

I did accept her request to shorten her trip from 43 nights (3-21-23 to 5-4-23)  to 35 nights (3/21/2023- 4/25/2023) but now it seems she wants more she wants to "come to an agreement we can both feel good about and does not want to pay rent at 2 places for the month of April".  Of course, she wants to do all of this negotiation over the phone I have learned to keep all communication on the platform.  

This is a business and I am doing this to make money she got a big discount for booking over 30 days and if I meet her in the middle at 21 nights she will still owe me money due to the 1-month discount not being applied. At this point, it's unlikely I will get booked for 4/1-2023-4/25/2023.  

Has anyone else had a similar experience?  How did you handle it?  I have been hosting since October 2022.

Erika

[Tom934]

In my experience some guests do this deliberately to get a discount when their stay would not normally get one. You are running a business and are totally entitled to stand by the original booking terms which they agreed to when booking your place.

Stand by the terms, at worst she will never book again but she sounds like a chancer, so I would never really want her as a guest again anyway.

Obviously if you get a genuine vibe from her then it is a different issue, but still you are not a charity.

[George1495]

Erika- we have had many versions of modifications and schedule changes. We have almost always accommodated the guests with a credit, return of money, etc. on a few occasions we felt taken advantage of, but most were legitimate (medical, sick family member, legal issue) where we would have appreciated the same from a host.

[Renee291]

This is tough.  I've made accommodations for people that have unexpected things arise but this sounds like she just found something she likes better.  How else did she end up with 2 reservations for the month of April?

Run the numbers, regular rate at shorter stay versus current reservation. It always helps me to write it down.  If you decide to give her a break, you'll have to explain the reasoning, that she's not entitled to a refund under Airbnb long term stay policy, and that the proposed short stay isn't entitled to a discount.  

I feel like the host ends up on the losing end most times, but have come to accept it, as it hasn't happen ed to me often. 

You are smart to keep all communication on the platform.

You are within your rights to stick with the policy. Otherwise decide what you can reasonably live with and work on your explanation so she feels like she's getting something.  Also get her to alter her reservation so the days are available again.  Although you say they probably won't book, maybe some of them will. 

You might need to ask Airbnb to make manual changes to the reservation, I'm not sure if the reservation will recalculate to remove the discount at this point.

This type of thing can be time consuming and draining.

Good luck.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Erika934 one option is to offer, if the guest cancels, to refund any nights that you manage to rebook.

[Clara116 · Accepted solution]

@Erika934 That's a rather sticky situation. I think since you gave a big discount in the beginning with the longer stay dates - stick to your original. You do NOT have to come to an agreement that you are both happy with. They have the problem with having a second place, NOT you. I'd surely keep it all on platform and say with the huge discount they received you are not able to make more alterations. Stand by the Airbnb policy for longer stays. I would say Airbnb makes and determines the agreements for longer stays and so they have to understand they accepted that when booking.  

I understand there are a few guests that book longer stays to get big discounts and disregard all of it and change dates and take advantage of hosts. I'm not sure I would let this happen - If you can find a way that YOU are paid very fairly, like what would the regular rate be for the amount of nights without a discount....make sure you are getting that and don't undersell yourself. I would stand strong on this to see how it plays out. Remember keep it all written on the platform....not over telephone, cause I've heard of guests telling CS the hosts said,"" this and that and not always 100 accurate. 

Keep us posted. Wish I had a better solution for you. Good Luck, Clara