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I negotiated a 50% discount with the guest and she canceled it. Thanks for the advice, everyone!
I think I avoided a disaster. I’d have been anxious the whole duration of her long stay that she would damage the place.
Bad review and a messy situation avoided at the cost of some revenue.
Background
I have a guest who wants to cancel a reservation. My cancellation policy is strict and the reservation begins in 3 days. She says “I just want you to know we are still coming, but I am extremely upset with you and plan on leaving a very bad review once our stay is up. The lack of humanity you have shown is astounding. I am disgusted with you and just wanted to warn you there is a very bad review coming your way.”
I don’t want to let her cancel and get a full refund. I am a superhsot with over 100 reviews, average of > 4.9.
I’m wondering if I could get her review removed since she is threatening me. What are my options?
“You should cancel your reservation as I will not allow you into the rental. I have reported your threat to Airbnb and will not be approving any refund. I will not allow myself to be intimidated. This is my business and I have clearly stated policies. I will call the police if you show up on my property. "
Even if I lost all the money because Airbnb wouldn’t back me up, I wouldn’t let them in. A bad review from this woman would be the least of your problems.
Any attempt to use reviews or review responses to force a person to do something they aren’t obligated to do is a misuse of reviews, and we don’t allow it.
@HudsonNY : Thanks for the link. I sent it to the guest to get them to calm down with their threats. Additionally, if they leave a bad review, I hope I can get it removed.
You definitely don’t want this guest in your house. You should say something about “trust and safety” to Airbnb. Ideally, they cancel her and let you keep the payout, but you might get further if you ask for half. But no matter what, you want to get her cancelled before the check-in day so that she can’t leave a review. If it gets delayed and she can a leave a review, there is someone at Airbnb that can be ready for it and remove it before it is ever published, if you can get to that department.
Absolutely contact Airbnb and say you need them to cancel the reservation because the guest has threatened you. Memorialize the bad review threat on the platform message system if the guest used other communication.
"You agreed to the strict cancellation policy when you booked, and are now threatening a very bad review if you do not receive a full refund. Review extortion is against Airbnb Terms of Service, which you also agreed to , and has been reported to Airbnb. "
Thanks everyone. I reported to Airbnb and Airbnb removed the review option from this reservation.
The apartment I rent out has a security staff and check-in is done by them. It’s a long reservation and a lot of money for me to lose. I will let the guest stay. Not worried about the review anymore.
Guest doesn’t want to travel due to some covid related excuse. I refused to let them cancel or reschedule. If I let them reschedule, they will most likely want to come during the winter school holidays ( I know this as they are traveling with two children). I cannot afford to lose revenue during that high-demand period. I offered them a rock bottom rate which is 1/2 of my high season rate.
Help me understand. They are booked now at a discounted price, threatening a bad review because they booked under a strict cancellation policy during a pandemic & want to cancel because of a Covid related reason? When does their reservation start?
Like you, my rental doesn’t have anything irreplaceable. However I’m concerned if they show up, they will do horrendous things as payback like punch holes in walls & block drains & leave water running. The Airbnb host protection offers little if any reimbursement for damages.
I know you don’t want to give up the revenue but this likely will cost you more than the cancellation in the long run
F that “guest” and any entitled jerks without travel insurance who think that covid is a magic word that gets them out of being responsible.
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It is good that you succeeded in their losing the “review option”. It was obvious “review extortion”. Regardless of what Air told you, there is a good chance they will be able to leave y
ou one and you will have to remove it later. Get IN WRITING from Air the “no review condition”.
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If they are still planning to come, we would require a security deposit before check-in to protect against damages.
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TAKE DETAILED PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF EVERYTHING. Make sure they are time and date stamped (email & upload before check-in to google drive, etc). With this guest, I would let them know UP FRONT that there is a full photo and video record of the condition of the entire stay. I would even have all of that uploaded to Air BEFORE THE CHECK-IN and get Air to confirm In Writing they concur with the condition of your home.
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The guest won’t “like it” but F them - you need a deterrent vs “butthurt ego retribution” they may be planning, especially since the review option is GONE.
I don’t have the kind of listing that calls for it but if I did I’d do research on travel insurance that would cover these kinds of covid cancellations. Then I’d send it to every guest who booked with me as a service. And when they cancelled I could simply tell them to file with their travel insurance.
@Jefferson : Thanks for suggesting the photo route. I will do that. I will let her know upfront that any I will report any damages to Airbnb and she will have to pay for it. At the same time I feel that I don’t want to give her any ideas about damaging my apartment.
@Annet3176 : Reservation starts this weekend. My gut tells me that she won’t do any damage. This is a group of five people. Parents with two kids (1 infant) and an aunt. They are cramming into a 1 BR, so they don’t really have a huge travel budget. Based on the way she writes, the guest seems naiive about how the world works rather than someone who knows what they are doing and could cause serious damage.
I was thinking about letting her cancel, but I quickly realized that this is exactly what she wants. Intimidate me into giving her a full refund. If I let every guest do that then I will be out of business pretty soon.
Maybe ypu can work something out with her that if she cancels you refund her 50%. I agree with the concern of another poster.
This guest has anger issues and I can see her swatting on your mattresses and peeing on them, flushing towels down to toilet to clog them, etc. She can do real damage.
You could put in a claim for damages but Airbnb will not fully pay because of wear and tear.
Giving her a 50% refund would be a compromise that might end up saving you lots of money in the long run.
I just offered her that option. I don’t want to spend my time and energy fixing the damage she may potentially cause. I’d rather devote my energy to attracting future guests.
She has been on Airbnb since 2017 and has one five star review. I googled her name and she has a photography business (her phone number on Yelp matches phone number on Airbnb).
