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That is so odd they didn’t ask about the dog. We allow pets but everyone that has brought pets has asked before booking, especially regarding leaving them alone, etc. and just to make sure it is allowed.
You are right to stick to your policy in this case. We are in Colorado, and had tons of inquiries and questions for the holiday season, but just got a booking. You may not get rebooked.
I am unsure why some are giving you a hard time. You could get another booking and keep the 900. But you are offering to refund which is above and beyond in my opinion.
Those 2 days she blocked your place and kept anyone else from booking may have cost you a longer booking if other potential guests looked for a place during that timeframe.
I think single rooms are much easier to be flexible on depending on the circumstance. I generally will refund a 50 dollar room if a mistake was made. If I am renting out my whole house, no way am I just going to refund 900 dollars with no replacement booking. We do rent our whole house also and luckily no one has cancelled yet. But if that happens, I am also sticking to my policy.
Booking dot com is notorious for cancellations, no-shows and scams. It’s very possible she had been scammed before and lost a lot of money by people that told her the same story as you. Some people are just mean, but other people become very protective and appear mean after other people take advantage of them enough times.
I’m happy for you that your arrangement with your long-term guest that pays late all the time works for you. But you’ve built up a level of trust with him. For short-term guests, most of us are less trusting. We hear lots of stories about people getting scammed or their homes being damaged. So we get nervous - maybe even seem mean to some.
AirBnB and other OTA’s have done an excellent job scaring many people into distrusting other people in this business. It’s what makes them money. One site even had a pop-up for awhile that said “Book on-line!! We can’t protect you if you book directly with the owner”
Who was trying to do a scam here is the owner . She knew I was not coming back after she told me : you have no reservation, and yet procedeed on charging my card later on.
She knew that my card will work , that’s why she tried later on again knowing I wouldn’t show up.
I am sure she does it on a regular basis.
And there is no excuse for rudeness. Past or present experience. I had bad experiences too ,it doesn’t mean I am rude to my next guest
The property is a no pets listing. Had the guest asked about the dog prior to booking or after the answer would have been the same.
Still getting inquires for the dates, the last one asked could she bring extra people and I declined. I really hope it gets re-booked for the guest who cancelled’s sake.
Thanks for that explanation Yana. That booking.com experience is outrageous, so glad that she didn’t succeed in getting your money.
It’s very rare that I get cancellations, for some reason, in fact hardly ever. My best ever situation was a few years back. An American guy booked for a week during high season so it was quite a bit of money (well, for me anyway… ! I have a budget listing). He seemed really nice in communication and I looked forward to meeting him. A couple of weeks before his trip he messaged to say he couldn’t make it due to work commitments but he didn’t actually cancel the booking. I messaged a few times to say please cancel so you can get your money back and I can re-book the dates.
Eventually he replied saying he didn’t want his money back. You could have knocked me down with a feather! He said something like ‘I’m money-rich but time-poor’. I wrote back to thank him saying I was the complete opposite - plenty of time but no money!!
Just shows you that there ARE great guests/people out there
Yes, it was very unusual. That’s why I remember it so well
He said he would book again in the future but he never has. Maybe he will eventually. I hope so as we are clearly a match made in heaven
If you are only concerned about protecting against last minute cancellations then strict is the wrong choice for you. To accurately communicate your terms you should be using flexible or, depending on what you call last minute, perhaps moderate.
A lot of people avoid strict because they can’t take the risk = you are missing out on potential bookings that could drive your price up. But that is probably not a concern for you.
I don’t know what landlord tenant law is like where you are but turning guests into unvetted, unleased tenants would leave a landlord open to financial disaster where I am. They could quite easily stop paying for a year before I could legally get them out. I would also be on the hook for tribunal and sheriff fees on top of that. My best guess is that you are on top of this and have nothing to worry about in this regard.
I have a strict cancellation policy & generally make NO exceptions to the rules - when asked to, I refer guest to the extenuating circumstances clause & encourage them to claim refund via that medium if they are eligible. This ends the back and forth discussion and gives them an avenue to pursue. When Airbnb calls to try and convince you to make an exception, do as they do: state no & that you’ll entertain no further discussion on the matter. Works for me every time & shuts down the convo like Airbnb loves to do to hosts.
For the guests to contact TA after contacting the host IS a sign that the guest is entitled. The guest clearly knows the rules regarding cancellations as they are taken through step by step what the consequences are. They still decided to go through with it. Then email the host asking for refund. When the answer is unsatisfactory to them, they reach out to TA. At that point, does the guest expect TA to pay for their mistake? Or does the guest expect TA to strong arm the host to pay for their mistake? How is that NOT ENTITLED? Wow… Mind blown…
O my god …people do it ALL THE TIME!! THEY TRY AND THEY GET REFUNDS ALL THE TIME.
Seriously people … Some of you are in this rental business for a few weeks .Stop judging guests so much and be hospitable .
The woman lost 900$, it’s bad enough for her .
Stop giving her names, she is already punished enough .
I know exactly what I am doing and what kind of cancellation policy to choose. Why you think I am only concerned about last minute cancellation?
If a guest blocks me for weeks and then cancells I won’t refund him too unless I rebook. It all depends on situation. I don’t really get this many cancellations but if I do and I can see I can’t refund without rebooking I at least drop price to make it possible.
I don’t want to have permanent tenants.
These guests of mine choose to be there and I have them there because they are wonderful and having them there allows me certain lifestyle. But if they leave I am ok with this too.
I am very much aware of all the laws . I was helping my father with rentals since I was very young . He owned lots of properties and his tenants were mostly on welfare or other kind of social programs. Some were paid by government, some paid directly. They were the most difficult rentals . STR is nothing compare to them.
STR was new for me 4 years ago.
I don’t understand your logic. So you are saying that:
Since people do this all the time, it means such an action is not entitled. Well, I beg to differ. I think LOTS OF PEOPLE are entitled.
Since some of us are in this rental business for only a few weeks, that means we aren’t allowed to judge guests. I have no idea who you are referring to, but I’ve been in this business for years.
“The woman lost $900. It’s bad enough for her.” Thus she’s not being entitled. This is the worst logic of all. First of all, OP already said if he/she is able to recoup that money, the lady would get refunded the full amount. This means the lady really wouldn’t lose anything due to our OP’s kindness. Now secondly, if the OP doesn’t get rebooked, sounds like the victim is our OP, who’s out A LOT MORE MONEY THAN $900.
I didn’t give her names. I just said she sounds entitled. Our OP is already punished enough.
I normally would support refunding if I rebooked but this thread is making wonder if that’s not just perpetuating the problem. If hosts keep refunding irrespective of the policy stated at booking guests are going to keep disregarding it. I know this case involves a TA booking but Airbnb is experimenting with various cancellation policies. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out.
I mean she doesn’t deserve any more that she already got. The problem doesn’t even exist anymore as OP already decided her fate. Not sure what this post is even about. To tell us how entitled guests can be?
