So an elderly lady was supposed to come over tomorrow because of her doctor appointments. Her appointments got cancelled and now she is asking for future airbnb credit for my place… how do I handle this without getting a horrible review?
She shouldn’t be able to leave a review as she won’t be checking in.
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Tell her sorry it doesn’t work that way. But, if she has a new date I’d consider switching out the dates and calling it even.
If she doesn’t have a rescheduled appointment, I might offer 50% and frame it in a way that I am doing her a great service in hopes she will book for her future appointment… which she probably won’t. I’d just feel badly if she’s on a fixed income.
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She hasn’t rescheduled her appointment, but she comes down regularly so her msg says.
I’d give her the credit as it could lead to an ongoing booking. You will get 50%, and if she doesn’t book again, you are not out, if she does book again, you will have a happy guest who will most probably book again. I’m going to a lot of doctor appointments, scans etc, sometimes they get cancelled. I’m trying to find a private room for when my sister’s spare bed isn’t available. So far I’ve not had a good experience.
She is probably waiting to hear from the doctor’s office.
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If not booked, I would help her as best as I could, a little kindness is always welcome. _ have moved dates around for guests. Many of us would have experienced a medical cancellation, sometimes can’t be helped.
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I don’t understand all the posters saying that you should refund despite your strict cancellation policy because medical appointments often get cancelled. I’ve rarely, if ever, had a medical appointment cancelled, but if it’s a common occurrence the guest should choose a listing with a flexible cancellation policy.
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I must agree with Ellen. Why would you refund this guest?. Her cancellation was on her, not on you to make up in good faith.
I may be a bit jaded, but I have heard way too many sob stories about why they had to cancel. No more Mrs nice guy. I took the loss and really, why should I?
If extenuating will cover it you may not have a choice anyway.
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Thanks guys for all your input. I ended up upholding my strict cancellation fee, but told her to cancel ASAP so that she could get the cleaning fees and service fees refunded. She ended up getting back $38 and I got to keep 48.50. I also offered to give her a 50% discount for her future stay.
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Sounds like a fair deal and a good karma inducing move.
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Just because it hasn’t happened to you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Next time life gives you a lemon, you might want to have some credit in the forgiveness bank.
I know people lie, but not all do.
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Who mentions lying in this thread?
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Me? I only mention lying because I’ve caught guests red handed in lies. After two or three times, you tend not to trust the newest sob story.
I can’t imagine approaching a hotel with whom I have had a prepaid reservation and asking for credits for future stays because something happened on my end. Why is that up to them to make up?
And yes, I understand being nice, and being nice is a thing. But are we all in business to be nice?
Prepaid is prepaid. Non refundable is non refundable. Strict is strict.
There is some kind of pressure now in this culture to refund anything and everything. So that the business takes the hit and the customer doesn’t.
Why can’t the guest take responsibility for her own cancellation?
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@konacoconutz. I thought you had but then I re-read your posting and simply mentioned sob stories which is not the same as lying. I just wondered why @Louise felt that @EllenN [who she responded to] was talking about lying. Of course, she might have meant to respond to the whole thread and not EllenN’s post.
I never said that anyone lied. What I’m saying is that if a guest books an Airbnb for an event that has a high likelihood of being cancelled; the guest should choose listings with flexible cancellation policies. I am in fact a kind, generous person and I have a flexible cancellation policy.
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But aren’t they??
One guest asked for $1,000 change to her reservation because of supposed business reasons… She had to cut her trip,to Hawaii short by ten days. BS… Later I found out it was really because she got points for 10 days at the Marriott. If she had just been honest I might have even forgiven it. But no, she had to lie. Then stayed at my place for four days and became the worst guest I ever had by a million percent.
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Some sob stories are no doubt lies. Some sob stories could be heart-breaking if they are real. Problem is we can’t know which is which.
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I don’t even think the point is whether or not the guests are lying. Airbnb has extenuating circumstances defined. If the guest needs to cancel due to extenuating circumstances they will receive a full refund. If they believe that they might need to cancel they should book a listing with a more generous cancellation policy. I believe these guests are trying to have their cake and eat it too. The Airbnb cancellation policies are worded in a way to make sure that the guest understands. If they wish to book a place with a strict cancellation policy, presumably because they tend to be less expensive, I don’t believe the host to be unkind for sticking with their cancellation policy.
I agree we should be allowed to stick to our policy. But there are times when it might pay in the long run to be flexible. If I was in that position, and the host took this stand, then I’d not book that place even if it was the best fit for price and location. I expect to have many more trips to doctors, and have had far too many in the last five years. The first place I stayed at was great, until they booted me out two hours before advertised checkout time. I need that time to get my pain under control. So that host has lost any future bookings from me.
Often hosts here state cancellation policies of hotels aren’t flexible , so why should we be, but then gripe when guest’s want services hotels offer. You can’t have it both ways.
. I’d like to know how 50%, gives the host $10 more than the guest?
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She got the cleaning fee of $20 + service fees/occupancy tax back.