Cancellation by airbnb without my consent

Mamamia,

Do you know if you can even re-rent that time period? I thought I read on here before that if the host cancels then the dates are blocked. I don’t know though.

It can be a costly lesson to learn. I am on Booking.com which is only instant book. But since I take payment directly (vs. Booking.com) I can screen the guest once I receive reservation - and if guest didn’t understand cancellation policies I can tell them to cancel on their end very quickly. No one gets penalized. But I will get penalized if I cannot honor the booking and guest isn’t violating max occupancy, throwing a party, etc.

I made the mistake my first year of not realizing how early people will book. I didn’t have any restrictions set on Booking.com - so in October I received a booking for July 3/4 (Thursday/Friday) ! I was so mad at myself for allowing someone to book just 2 days during the major holiday weekend. I did luckily get the dates filled all around it. You may want to check if you can reopen the dates once you decide your plans.

You may have really dodged a bullet here. This girl could have been planning a huge New Year’s Eve bash for just one night. Your place could have been totally trashed. Instant book is not a good idea for people renting out their entire apartment. You really need to be able to screen people when you are not going to be there. IF Booking.com did not allow me turn down one night parties, I would not be able to use them.

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Mamamia,

Was the correspondence between you and guest over the phone or through Airbnb’s messaging system? If it was done through the messaging system then Airbnb read it and that’s why they didn’t feel the need to contact you. They want the guest to quickly book another property.

But if Airbnb did cancel without any evidence then is very strange. I surely hope a guest cannot just call Airbnb and tell them I may not honor the booking. Hopefully this was just a blessing in disguise.

Take my advice: do not use instant book. It just takes too much control from you as a host to determine just who will be entering your home and when. Maybe I am hypersensitive, but I need to be able to turn people down if they don’t pass the “sniff test.”

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Sandy, you are a sensible and think positive. I know I made a big mistake that I should not have used Instant Book feature which I am not aware of the booking I do not want to accept. Airbnb should have given me a warning or consent before their cancellation. No matter who cancelled it, I have paid a lesson anyway.

I wish airbnb could give me a warning or consent before their cancellation regardless penalties. I have already expected to payfor a lesson on Instant Book anyway but I dislike airbnb who does not respect their host. It is somethinkg like that the host enters the guest’s room without knocking the door and the host said “I have the right to go in any rooms in my home without your consent. So what?”. Would you be happy with the host like this if you were the guest?

Cabinhost, I can re-rent that time period on other websites as airbnb is not the only website for the hosts. I do not worry about it. I just feel I am not respected when airbnb cancelled my booking without my consent, no matter it is my fault. The point is that we pay the host fee and penalties for cancellation, aribnb should respect us as the hosts and advise us what not to do again in the future rather simply grant penalites for cancellation.

Thank you for yoru advice, Jackulas. I definitely take your advice - Never use Instant Book.

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Ok got it, it offended you that there was no communication before cancellation.
I think of it more business like: they read your correspondence with a guest and cancelled based on that. It saved them time on extra conversation with host .
I have my own business and I take shortcuts wherever possible. I text instead of calls. I tell people email me and texting instead of having long conversation with customers.

Live and learn! I’ve never been on IB, and never will but when I was a young, inexperienced host, I used to take one day bookings during the peak times. (Christmas Eve and Christmas. And getting guests checking out on 12/14 and others checking in 12/24. All for same daily rate !!! Say what!!! ?? I did it once and never again!

Just no thank you.

I don’t want to be doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms on the most wonderful day of the year. I want to be baking Christmas cookies, listening to Dean Martin and making hot cidered rum.

Now I require a week at Christmas. And through New Years. AND it is priced really high. So if they are going to be bothering me on my favorite holiday, they will have to fork over the cash for it. :slight_smile: Otherwise it can sit empty. :smile:

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Amen to that. I have already started jacking up the prices for the holiday season. If I am going to be put out during my resting time then I better be well compensated. It’s all about ME! Hehe.

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Good. I am glad it helped. Trust me…I have only been hosting a short time, but I have become very fond of that DECLINE button. No amount of money is worth having a psycho in my home.

Want an example? I declined the guest listed below, because something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. Now read the one review she has from someone else she stayed with. Really dodged a bullet there, didn’t I?

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LOL! Let Viktoria find a hotel or a flophouse!

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I raised my prices almost twice for December- March. Wonder if I can succeed with it. I am oriented on hotel prices in the area. I still will be 30% cheaper than the cheapest motel for that period. Also, on weekends I put 10$ more. Let see what happens, it will be my first busy season.

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Yana, you’ll be able to tell what you should do with pricing when inquiries pick up… My holiday bookings start coming in very soon… Most haven’t thought about it because airfares to Hawaii are still high…

The good thing about the Air calendar is that it can be adjusted…and fine tuned to accommodate demand. I like that!

You know, I don’t have to be booked back to back, but I usually am…

I am generally happy if I can get at least a couple of week long bookings in a month. Then it pays my mortgage. :slight_smile:

No one ever booked with me ahead of time. Max.2 weeks and it was few bookings. Majority of mine are last minute booking, wonder why.

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Yana…it’s been the same with me. I get tons of bookings for within 2 weeks away…mainly short-term planners I suppose. Just got one from a lady looking for mid-October. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? Needless to say, it made me happy. I like to be able to look ahead to what I have in store.

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