Unfair for host if guest does not cancel or show up

[Sandra7966]

Hi, I am concerned that I have just found out that if a guest does not cancel, nor do they not show up that we do not get any payment. Having a booking for more than 4 months for a 9-day period is a big loss when they don't show up. Surely there needs to be something in place for this for the host otherwise what is the point of having a policy in place that guests need to give you 7 days' notice to cancel. This is a huge loophole in the system; there should be a mandatory deposit kept aside for this kind of behaviour otherwise it will start to happen all the time. I have also asked about whether we can take a deposit personally and the answer is no, now I think there is no point to keeping on with Airbnb. AI support just said it is fair for the guest, wow!!! I would like to know what others think of this I am sure it must have been raised before. 

[Geoff7]

Such a great topic @Sandra7966 - I received a note just on this very point from one of our Community Leaders here in Australia just this week. Same issue - and the real problem for her was that this was a last minute booking and it effectively blocked her calendar so she could not get booked again. I have suggested to Airbnb that until such time as a guest confirms or actually pays - that a calendar is not blocked - this is fair on the host as well as provides an incentive for the guests to make a decision. First in - best dressed.

[Sandra7966]

Thank you @Geoff7 for your response. I think if there was at least a 25% deposit kept from the booking cost; less people would do this. (Money kept aside for the host). Obviously, my guests knew that if they didn't do anything at all like cancel or don't show up, they would not get penalized. There has to be protection for the host, I generally spend at least 4 hours preparing the villa and gardens before any arrival and on top of that the food supplies including fridge items waiting for them. Who pays for that? Me!! At present I still can't book out the villa as it is blocked with their dates.

[Geoff7]

All really good points - many thanks 

[Helen3]

Hi @Geoff7  

Could you let us know how your advisory board has raised another key issue of concern to many hosts which is the introduction of AI to respond to concerns around retaliatory reviews .

As you're aware AI is now used for appeals against Airbnb turning down requests for retaliatory reviews to be removed resulting in them automatically turning down cases even where guests have threatened bad reviews if they don't get a refund or who have been thrown out for partying.

Be great to hear what feedback you've received when raising these issues in our behalf with Airbnb??

[Elaine701]

I have strict cancellation policy. If they don't show, I get 50% at least. But I don't think that's ever happened in my entire history. I've had them leave early and demand a full refund for imaginary atrocities I've never committed, but never had a no-show. 

If you open a support ticket, you could be in for a world of hurt. Just ignore it and move on. Next...

[Brian3831]

You’re not wrong—this is one of the biggest frustrations as a host.

The reality is, platforms like Airbnb tend to lean toward the guest side. At the end of the day, they’re protecting their business model. They’re competing with other platforms, and keeping guests happy (and booking repeatedly) is what drives their revenue.

If you flip the situation around, most guests aren’t going to argue against getting their money back—it’s human nature. So the system ends up favoring flexibility on that side, even if it creates risk for hosts.

That said, it does feel like a gap. If there’s a cancellation policy in place, it should actually protect the host in cases like no-shows. Otherwise, as you said, what’s the point of having it?

You’re definitely not alone in this—this concern comes up a lot, especially with longer bookings where the financial hit is much

bigger.

[Sandra7966]

Hi Brian, thank you for your response, I have had a message from the support team, and they said we are getting the payout, but still unsure if it will come out of our next guests stay. The problem with that is we then lose money as we get charged for all the international transfer fees. That's what happened when we had a cancellation with only 4 hours' notice and felt guilty for keeping the refund, so we had it paid back. That's why we are reluctant to give a full refund from now on.

I guess we will wait and see what happens.

Cheers