Do you allow cancellations outside your policy?

Yes, I do. And I am really, surprisingly, ok with it. Everything you said is true. And, it is, hey, a business - and it’s the guest’s turn to lose out. I think @AmyB’s story about the broken-arm lie has put me in the frame of mind to never believe a story. For all I knew they are not stuck in Shanghai, but got good tickets to a show in NYC and decided to stay another night there (my guests almost always see NYC, then come here).

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Yes, I certainly was annoyed. But I was able to rebook their dates three years ago, so I wasn’t really out any money. I was out some time, and that certainly matters. But I had a choice of which experience to focus on: my experience of them as a sweet, fun, friendly family – or my experience of their dishonesty three years prior. People and our experiences with them are complex. My spiritual practice in relationships is to let otherwise good people’s confusing, contradictory, and complicated behaviors push me to become a big enough person to contain both sides: the beautiful and the flawed. Even for my own sake, I’d rather retain the memory of their sweetness than the memory of their dishonesty. That doesn’t mean I’ll forget that I can’t necessarily trust their word (if they request a booking again, for instance). It just means I let myself enjoy the goodness in them even though it co-exists with some badness (as is the case for all humans).

Trust me, I can’t always achieve this. I’m struggling with it, now, in the case of a family who booked my home to attend a nearby wedding, and were disrespectful, poor communicators, evaded my rules and limits, and treated me with near hostility when I insisted they not hold parties at my house. I’m struggling to remember that they’re good people. LOL.

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@Hans_Dijksman, where are you that you usually get guests last-minute? There’s a lot of passionate feelings that every host should have a strict cancellation policy, but I get a lot of last-minute bookings. I thought that was unusual for most hosts.

Actually I had a lovely group stay that was a last-minute booking. One was a student here and he had friends visiting (from China). When I asked where they were headed next, they said it depended on which airbnb host they heard from first!!

@dcmooney I host in Amsterdam. I dont know if that means its easier to get last-minutes bookings. Ah yes, that sounds adventurous to travel that way. Once I had a last-minute during Eastern. I would never book a last-minute during Eastern, but they did. Just an last minute decision to go on travel. :wink: And they enjoyed it!

I find that my last-minute guests are more friendly, open, and fun. They have such an openness and joy. They booked last minute so had no time to have expectations, or to worry, they are just traveling open to whatever comes!

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The guest was scheduled to check-in tomorrow. Am I still going to get paid the day after? Just like they showed up? It seems so odd! Air already let me know that they are changing the payout for the price of the cleaning fee.

Honestly I’m so happy to have a day off! Especially if I’m getting paid for it!!

And if someone else books, I get paid for both the cancelled and new booking?

What a great attitude. [quote=“dcmooney, post:46, topic:4007”]
I get paid for both the cancelled and new booking
[/quote]

yep

Yup you still get paid. And I wouldn’t refund even if someone does rebook. This is the general public not my family. I don’t rent out my guest room for sh*ts and giggles. We use that money for bills.

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What a great attitude. I hope I can make it out to Berkeley sometime just to stay in your airbnb and soak up the good energy. I don’t prefer places with other guests but your place is obviously different.

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Thank you, K! You’d better get here before I take the advice about not offering so much organic breakfast. LOL.

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