Lake house in Michigan USA

[Susan6105]

Hi all

My name is Sue and my husband and I recently purchased an up and running STR near our home in Central Michigan. Things are going pretty good. We have hosted 4 groups so far and have gotten two 5 star reviews. We had someone cancel at noon with a 3:00 check in due to weather. We gave him a full refund because of the weather (which was fine here, not even snowing) Is this what others would do?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Susan6105 

I would've done the same, it's better than having a situation that can turn out badly.

Just put some effort into finding a replacement booking (e.g. custom promotion). Airbnb also seems to give you a ranking boost for those dates if you've had a cancellation.

[Andrea6232]

Ciao @Susan6105 , yes, I would have done the same 😉

[Joan2709]

@Susan6105 

This is tricky...What did the guest say about the "weather" that made him want to cancel?

Some Host clients I work with have very large properties and stricter cancellation policies as it is more difficult to get another booking for the cancelled dates. Sometimes these properties are booked far in advance (sometimes a year before) and the calendar is blocked for this guest reservation for over 1year. In these situations, some Hosts just can't get another booking for such a last minute cancellation. In these cases, the Host usually lets the guest know that it would be almost impossible to replace their booking. They will then offer to refund them if they are able to get another booking. Of course, if they have to lower their price to get another booking last minute, the guest will only be refunded the amount of the new booking (minus fees).

Your listing is smaller and you are a new listing. Allowing them to cancel with a full refund might be prudent. This is because if they felt "forced" to stay at your place since they weren't entitled to a refund, that might lead to a negative review that is difficult to overcome as a new listing. 

[Susan6105]

@Joan2709 He was about 4 hours away. He said it was snowing very heavily and he felt the drive was risky. He was near the shores of Lake Michigan and we are in Central Michigan where we don't get very much snow so I believe him. It was just hard to refund the money knowing there was no way we would be able to replace him with a 3 hour window.

Thanks for all of your help

Sue

[Joan2709]

@Susan6105 

Understandable...

Another option in this case would be to allow guest to alter the reservation to less nights, or allowing the guest to postpone arrival by one night and extend the stay another night (assuming you didn't have another reservation).

You can also offer a partial refund, or another stay at a future date at a 20% discount. 

[Kathleane0]

I like to think of it this way - what would you pay for a good review (especially when you have a new listing)? That helps to feel better about refunding a booking. I do like Joan's suggestion to attempt to work with the guest to alter the booking.