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Hello denizens of this forum! This is my first time posting here only due to needing some advice. I am a rookie host who only recently entered this business with a house my parents refurnished. Anyways, heres my problem:
So, i had a reservation from the 26th of July to the 1st of August. This was fine until i had another reservation from the 1st of August to the 9th in which this guest(who had previously been cancelled from another host) asked me if they could check-in in the 31th of July(this was before they booked). My parents rushed me to say yes without checking if that day was free. So basically then i found out i had to cancel one of them and since the newest guest had already been canceled beforehand i felt guilty and cancelled the previous one. However i did cancel them with 112 days beforehand. After i did that i didnt hear from them until yesterday (one month afterwards) saying this:
Regrettably, its cancellation, although âlegalâ, left us completely without accommodation. This decision was, in our view, very unright and cost us several hours of research and 300 euros less in our budget. That, or cancel the plane trips of 6 people, that would be much more than 300 euros.
It seems to us that you have to better consider the availability of the house you have for rent.
I lied to them saying i had to do some surgery or whatever as the excuse for canceling their book. Meanwhile, i did some research around my area and there are houses for the same amount of guests for less than mine at around the same date so its not like they dont have any other options.
I know that this is my fault but i dont really have a way of fixing this other than ignoring them⌠i mean, i think they have enough time to find another host? Please what do i do??
What should have happened here is that you checked your calendar and advised the second guest that they couldnât arrived till 1st August. It only takes a minutes to go in and check, however rushed you might be.
Having realised you had made a mistake, you should have honoured the original booking with guest one and confirmed with guest two that they could arrive on the 1st (in line with their original request). And you could have helped them by identifying other local properties available for their first day.
You say you cancelled the first guest (have you done this through Airbnb?). Surely that now means this dates are blocked out on your calendar by Airbnb as part of the penalties it imposes on hosts, so I am not sure how you could then accept another booking from guest two?
Guest one is correct, it was unfair to cancel their booking, because there was a mistake on your part about dates. Once you cancel through Airbnb, Airbnb will give them a discount towards their next booking and can help them find an alternative.
I think what you can do is learn from this experience. Read up on Airbnbâs Help Centre and the tutorials and guides on Airbnb Community. Pay special attention to Host Cancellations so you understand the implications of cancelling as a host.
Thank you for your reply. Yes i will absolutly make sure this never happens again, i do know its my fault for rushing. Yes i did cancel it through airbnb, the 2nd guest booked for the 1st of august to the 9th (he asked me before booking if he could check-in in the 31st of july since that was the day he would come and he didnt know why it was blocked) which i said yes. So basically i should just help them get a diferrent place to stay?
You did not honor your first booking because you got greedy. Then you complicate things with lies. As a new host (or even an experienced one), the very LAST thing you want to do is cancel a booking without REAL cause.
My partner and I are planning a trip to Iceland and Scotland in Sept. Found a perfect place to stay in Rejkavik, until I (as a smart guest) looked at the hosts reviews. New host, she only had three reviews â one of which was her cancelling someone 20 days before their arrival! Would not book that place ever! No newbie host is going to spoil MY holiday!!
Yeah, i get it, im the bad guy here. Like i said i will make sure this never happens again. I only recently started getting people so im a noob. I didnt do it because i got ââgreedyââ, i didnt check if that day was free. No need to be so passive agressive.
Well, you evidently realised youâd made a boo-boo (do people still say that nowadays?) but I think posters are being a bit hard on you ⌠we all make mistakes and then make them worse by trying to get out of them! Our first Airbnb as guests we were cancelled by a host, but that was 2 weeks before we were due to travel, not 4 months, and I certainly wouldnât have written a headmistressy letter like the one you received.
If I were you, I would write a sincere email to the guests, acknowledging your mistake and apologising profusely. Sometimes, when we feel weâve been harmed or inconvenienced, we just need the âperpetratorâ to acknowledge how we feel and show empathy. So âŚ
"Dear not-now-my-guest
Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by my cancelling your reservation. I do completely undersand how you must feel and I really regret that my inexperience with Airbnb caused you this extra trouble. I very much hope that you have been able to to find suitable accomodation for your trip and will certain;ly take to heart your advice on more carefully considering my availablity in future.
With all good wishes
BroCake"
I think a gracious apology never comes amiss - and will make you, and perhaps even the non-guest feel better. After that, youâve clearly learnt your lesson - put it behind you and move on!
BTW, weâre NEVER passive-aggressive on this forum ⌠aggressive certainly, but we donât do the passive bit!
What about the guest that you agree for the first extra night that you find an other place closed by for one night and calling airbnb to get back the cancelation that was made an other guest (and taking the automatic very bad cancelation appearing on your page)
I would call airbnb and explain it, trying to find a resolve that work so to avoid the cancelation appearing on your review page ( bad for future booking)
You mentioned that the August guest asked you before he booked his dates if he could check in on July 31st and he didnât understand why the date was blocked. The reason you are getting some push back is because itâs a bit difficult to believe that neither you nor your parents even attempted to see why the guy couldnât book July 31st. So between the three of you, nobody stopped to say âwait, let me check my reservations firstâŚmaybe that is why the date is blocked.â
Yes we all make mistakes but when your mistakes cost someone money and inconvenience them I understand why they are angry. Hosts like you are bad for the reputations of all of us. I have little tolerance for hosts who have to cancel for any reason other than an emergency.
She said there are other properties available in her area for the same rate or less â this is a HUGE mitigating factor, IMO. The host will endure a much greater penalty for this cancellation (lost her freebie, bad PR for potential guests) than this ex-guest who is being pretty over-dramatic. They considered canceling their plane tickets over this, really?
Iâm hard on hosts who cancel on a lark, as well, esp if there are no other accommodations available. While the decision-making process of the OP seems illogical and inexplicable (to me), she didnât completely screw her guest over as much as she screwed herself.
Not really. The second guest never booked the 31 July because it was blocked but asked if they could check in one day early to which the host apparently agreed to.
