Is Airbnb being too generous with guest cancellations?

[Robin4]

This evening I had a guest book our listing for the evening of 21st April.....8 days from now!

Within 5 minutes of booking that night she contacted me and said, "I needed to actually book for the 22nd and 23rd  but you are showing as unavailable, is there some way you can confirm the dates I want for me"! In other words she is asking me to ditch another booking for her benefit. I messaged back that, as shown on my booking calendar the dates she wanted were not available, and 2 minutes later she cancelled her booking for the 21st.

My point is, she has used the Airbnb booking system, she has pulled out her credit card and then tried to manipulate the hosts current reservations knowing full well the dates she required were not available.......why should she get a full refund? Neither Airbnb or I have done anything wrong, I don't want her money but guests who do this should be penalised in some way.

Instead Airbnb tells them they can cancel within 48 hours free of any penalty. It gives guests the  bravado to try and get their way at others expense knowing that if it doesn't work they will not be penalised.

What do other hosts think? 

Cheers.........Rob

[Amanda1775]

@Robin4 

I think the guest did this because they knew they could get a full refund based upon your refund policy. Too much effort on ABB's part to find a way to penalize the few guests who act like this without penalizing most guests who need to cancel for legitimate reasons. 

The good thing is that this request is a built-in red flag and you won't have to host a manipulative guest now or later! 

[Robin4]

@Amanda1775 

I don't know that it is tied to my refund policy, Airbnb automatically refund booking cancellations within 48 hours!

You are right about the red flag though, I have got reasonably good at picking them over the years. The issue is, with IB they are on your doorstep without you having the chance to assess them!

Cheers.......Rob

[Helen744]

@Amanda1775 you can assess people on both IB and with a flexible policy . If you set your checkin times to end at say 8pm and start at 2 and have at least a two day booking minimum this helps slow down the worst of the last minute party people . Use your rules to make sure people are aware of no parties no smoking or whatever and if as seems to be more the case these days they do not respond to either text or airbnb messages then ring them . Ask them to check messages and use the mobile number if and when necessary to keep you apprised of Eta etcetera.Get ids and vax certs sent via this and phone numbers . try and do this within the 48 hours in case there are red flags but nine times out of ten  this eventually gets through to people once you connect as a host.Airbnb tells people not to communicate off the platform 'before booking ' but after booking then do your darndest to communicate and in your mind finalise the booking. No one travels in order to cancel very often.To get a free hol maybe. Most are pleasantly surprised when you say hi , we are looking forward to hosting you but  please update a few details before arrival. H.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Robin4 it must be due to your refund policy. Under the Strict policy you only get a refund within the first 48 hours if the booking is more than 14 days away.

The guest has done nothing wrong in this case other than be stupid to think any host would make unavailable dates available for them!

[Emilia42]

@Robin4 It looks like you have a flexible cancelation policy. So it doesn't matter when, or for when, the guest books. As long as the guest cancels prior to 24 hours of the check-in date they will be refunded in full. 

Example: for a guest books for the night of April 21, this is your cancelation policy:

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Robin4 If your policy is flexible guests can even cancel part way through their stay and get refunded for some of the remaining time. We would never want this as they could just go home if the weather forecast was bad!

[Robin4]

@Emilia42  @Mike-And-Jane0 

Yeah, I understand what my flexible cancellation policy entitles the guest to, but when this policy was formulated it was designed to give guests a cancellation option that didn't disadvantage them for a genuine booking error, or a sudden change of circumstances which made fulfilling the reservation not possible. I have never wanted to be paid for something I didn't provide.

I have had 4 occasions where, a guest has booked our listing only to discover on the scheduled day of the stay that they have actually booked a listing in another state with the same town name as the one they wanted. All of a sudden they are driving around searching for a property that is 1,700 Kms away from them. Airbnb tells me that the guest is not entitled to a refund because the stay has technically started and (per my cancellation policy) they are releasing the guests payment to my account.

I do to a certain extent have an issue with Airbnb over this. If a guest is searching for listings in Mt Barker in Western Australia, it should not be possible for my listing in Mt Barker in South Australia to show up on their search page.....but on at least 4 occasions that I know of, it has!

I immediately offer the guest either a 'future credit' to be used here because, a refund will not involve the Airbnb service fee....... or I will offer the guest a refund, whichever they choose. On two occasions the guests accepted the credit option because in one instance their travels were bringing them this way within a few weeks, in the other instance they elected to reschedule the stay and give it to a relative who lives in this part of the world to use. I know, against Airbnb policy but we are trying to iron out an issue to everyone's satisfaction. The only risk from the guests perspective is, I get paid before their stay actually takes place and it's up to me to honour that credit!

On the other 2 occasions they were thankful for the refund considering the booking fault lay with them, but disappointed loosing 19% of what they paid in service fees but, there is nothing I can do about that. I am not going to prop up Airbnb's service fees at my expense!

But this instance yesterday was different, this guest booked knowing they had no intention of using the night they had booked and I don't think there should be an automatic refund, regardless of cancellation policy, when someone abuses the process like this!

It's not the first time it has happened and it probably won't be the last!

Cheers........Rob

[Gillian166]

@Robin4  I wondered if that ever would be a problem as it IS very confusing to have 2 small towns, both in wine regions, with the same name. Certainly Mt Barker WA is very well known. 

to your point i generally get Inquiries, where a guest asks about other dates, but they dont' waste my time with a booking. and if they cancel (say thurs-sat) i dont' care as we generally can fill them. 

[Helen744 · Accepted solution]

@Helen7 

Robin4 , I think these are 'hotel people ' who are used to being in a quasi waiting list for their dates. They want the extra space of an Airbnb but cannot take on board that there are not constant cancellations when you only have one property , they want the cheaper rates and the extra space but still expect the white fluffy towels as per a hotel or hospital or day spa. H

[Helen744]

Also they will book randomly and then cancel one of the days and ask for others H

[Ann72]

@Robin4  That’s annoying.  She could have just sent you an inquiry.  But your place is very popular, so I assume she was afraid even that night would disappear if she waited.

I haven’t had this experience, but I have a strict policy, which must make guests more cautious, only booking when they feel very sure.  As you know my place is very seasonal and getaway oriented, and the booking lead time averages two to four months.  In practice I fully refund for any and all re-booked nights following a cancellation.  But I don’t want people to know that ahead of time for the exact reason your story illustrates - a calendar cluttered up and blocked with people who are exploring options!

[John5097]

@Robin4 

While each listing is different, I've seen a dramatic change in cancelations after covid. I'm sure as you are aware, the moderate cancelation policy pre covid was two weeks, and ABB kept their service fee for any cancelations after 48 hours of reservation. I listed my unit on mid Feb of 2020, booked up fast, even with zero reviews, and in late March the cancellations came pouring in, for a total of over 75 in the first year. After that I changed to a flexible policy and as you stated it was just to let guest cancel if there was a real issue, and left it up to guest to have that flexibility, but suddenly started getting a lot of questions the night before check in, where it was obvious the guest was bargain hunting and would cancel. I also get a lot of guest within short driving distance, people who want to get to the ocean and coast, and if happened to be raining, they would cancel. So started with the new moderate policy which gave them 5 days, but then Airbnb started allowing host to refund guest or guest would request to change their reservation dates the night before. But even at 6 pm the night before checkin I can rebook in less than an hour, so just have to be realistic, because most of these guest will opt to stay if they can't cancel. So yes some guest have adapted and now expect to be able to cancel the night before. Also for some context, 20% of people who purchase tickets to major concerts are now no shows post covid, compared to 3% pre covid. 

As far as canceling within 48 hours I would only care if it was close to check in. 

I think the cancelation policies have already caused a lot of host to shift as many bookings as they can to other platforms, and keep Airbnb to fill in the gaps.