Guest cancelled with no communication on Strict Cancellation Policy

21

A guest contacted me to cancel where she would not receive a refund. My terms are “moderate” so that means she cancelled less than 5 days before check-in. There were circumstances that she explained and it sounded reasonable though I certainly couldn’t verify. I stuck to my terms and kept her money but I offered her a credit, in the amount she forfeited, towards a future stay. Haven’t heard from her since.

22

Whatever you want to call it there is no competition for them

23

Have you tried listing on Booking dot com, VRBO and promoting it yourself?

24

When I’m in a position of not needing full occupancy I certainly will be

1 Like
25

Don’t get me wrong some things they do really well. The app is excellent Imo and ease of use as well. And obviously they get the bookings.
I’m rarely ever unoccupied. But they certainly seem to be treating hosts with total disdain and things are not looking like improving.

26

Exactly what I thought

27

My most wonderful, smart, and kind (but totally challenged with tech) husband would do something like this. He can fix anything, and I mean anything, but tech-based stuff is just not his thing. Not saying you need to refund but he obviously didn’t intend to make the mistake. I would have refunded any rebooked nights, which is typically my approach no matter the circumstance.

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28

I understand it is an honest mistake, but I didn’t want to eat $500 during peak summer season due to his mistake. The mistake really is AirBnB’s fault for allowing guests to make multiple accounts.

29

Update:
She submitted a payment request on Feb 28 through the resolution center for the 50% she forfeited. Reason was “HUSBAND LOST JOB”. I haven’t received that money yet - their booking was for late April.

I declined politely. Expressed sympathy for the situation, hoped they bought trip insurance since we have a strict policy, and volunteered to supply any documents they needed for their insurance claim. Also suggested they check their credit card - some of them have travel insurance as a free extra.

Haven’t heard anything back yet. If her husband did lose his job, it might fall under the extenuating circumstances policy and they’ll get their money back anyway after applying.

30

Exactly what I was about to suggest.

31

How did this shake out?

32

She didn’t qualify for the EC and I kept the 50%.

2 Likes