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Got a big problem, a guest was able to cancel NYE weekend- the biggest weekend of the year 24 hours before their stay started. They cancelled one of the eays a week ago and promised me they would keep the reservation and then, 24 hours before check in, they cancelled.
It seems like somehow the listing got on a flex cancellation even though 13 other of my other places have strict. They are looking into how it happened but it happened. However, My house rules clearly state no cancellation within 30 days and the guest even acknowledged that.
It’s a mess- not sure what to do except resign to the fact that I lost $2800 for the owner and almost impossible to get it booked at this late date but at least warn others to always check what you have cancellation set as house rules don’t seem to matter.
I’m in the same boat. I lost Christmas and NY week booking for almost as much. Guest cancelled ten days before… after having blocked my calendar for months. I able to rebook the NY but the Christmas remains a big loss as Airbnb has not yet either paid me out or made a decision to refund the guest.
Super bummed and in the future I will REQUIRE guests to have travel insurance in place if they want to book those weeks. Or I will just block Christmas altogether and take it off of availability…because having guests on those days is stressful.
It may not be legal to Require them to purchase insurance, so you may need to create a way to phrase that rule. Suggestion #1 - it is “coverage” and not insurance.
Air has their cancellation policies but should allow some flexibility for busy periods. I don’t care much if someone cancels in the middle of winter the day before for a mid week booking but would like to make it stricter for public holidays for example Xmas, NY or major summer period. I change my cancellation policy from moderate to strict about 2 months before the holidays.
After Receiving a note from the guest’s CR that she was closing the case, my guest’s cancelled payout sat in limbo for several days. I finally called today and they said they would unblock it and release the payout!
Basically she said that the guest had not met their strict qualifications for extenuating. She said you basically have to be dying or have someone in your immediate family die to meet EC. also there is a deadline period of 14 days which is not extended except in very special cases. So the guest got half and I got half.
It is possible that the guest’s husband died. But no one has to die. We know of other posters whose guests were able to use EC because a son broke a leg before they even reserved!!! I can’t recall who that was.
This is such a BS air policy. And their reps are f’kn idiots. It’s cruel to release the payment and then take it away again.
This is why I’m wondering- do we need an external rental agreement- where if this happens your rental agreement still says they have to pay. Granted AirBnB wouldn’t pay you so collecting would be hard outside of court- but still gives you protections
It would not be enforceable and would be a waste of time I am afraid Big Bear.
I wrote them back and said the same thing. You closed the case, issued the payout and then reopened the case and refunded all within a couple of days. So unfair and disappointing!!!
I also told them, I’m blocking this time period in the future. Which takes it away from your guests being able to book… My family could have come over and stayed if I were giving it away! Which I basically did!!!
