YES ! It’s not an auction that ends on check in day. If people make a reservation, the transaction should be guaranteed. (And ideally this should work both ways.)
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It’s not just national news stories. I’m in a facebook group that has a travel and real estate sub group. In that group people ask for recommendations of places to stay and travel tips, etc. Whenever the topic of Airbnb comes up the posts are about 50/50 with good and bad experiences. Every time there is someone warning that Airbnb hosts are terrible, unreliable, places aren’t like the pictures, etc.
I suspect that’s part of why other hosts are unsympathetic and have reacted the way they did. It’s not just that this is a definitely no-no in any business, it’s the entitled attitude of the OP. “But I’m in Silicon Valley!” “But I’m in the most competitive place in the world!” “But I charge a lot because I have big bills to pay!” “But I am legally disabled!” “But I have a special needs daughter who goes to an expensive school!” And so on and so on and so on…
Yep. And you don’t know any of our stories.
The fact is that it’s all very well saying ‘business is business’ and as many of the hosts here have been in business (successfully I might add) for very many years, we agree. And we all know that a good deal is a deal that is good for everyone.
It’s not difficult to get bookings to fill gaps - easier in fact than posting at length here.
And it’s also worth bearing in mind that, as all real business people know, this is called the world wide web for a reason and notably in this case because anyone in the world can read what is written here. Thanks to Google, with the information that the OP has given us about herself and her location, her listing can be found fairly easily.
It’s very likely that she now wishes that this thread was deleted as it shows her publicly in a bad light. As far as I know, only moderators can do that - the moderators that she has antagonised…
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She already posted her listing the first time she posted on the forum a month ago.
Yes , I did and the only way is to cancell 8 days guests. That would be not wise to loose your workers who I am sure pay you the top $ and supernice guests. The platform is a two way street. Guests cancell all the time and then request refunds. Which I very often give.
I used to not cancel because I thought it was bad but then I see how guests cancel without thinking twice and especially now when they can cancel 2 weeks before and get 100% refund , I don’t hesitate if it’s suits me.
Last onth I had a reservation that was made 2 months ago for 2.5 weeks and guests cancel 3 weeks prior to their arrival holding my calendar for 5 weeks for nothing.
So it’s ok for them to act like this because system allows it should be ok for us hosts to do the same
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Oh my goodness, I remember now. Thanks 
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@PuppyLover - You are spot on. You truly understand how I have twisted myself into a pretzel to make others happy and be the best host I can be. When one reads the dozens of 5 star reviews I have, one can easily see that I go above and beyond for my guests.
I love your idea of the dinner gift card. SV doesn’t have a lot of good restaurants and it is a win win to not only give them a nice dinner for the trouble but also turn them on to a great restaurant in the area.
I have never canceled on a guest purely for financial gain. These situations are some times very complex and can be “damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
AirBnb is working on finding the 6-14th guest something else that is to their liking. If they are not successful, I will honor the reservation. I like to believe everything happens for a reason and maybe the guest will find a better place that suits them better? Again, AirBnb is willing to do this for me because I am a good host with a good record.
I really appreciate you voicing your opinion and sharing your experience in a similar situation. It takes a smart and strong person to break away from the pack mentality present here. Unfortunately, many see this as an opportunity to judge a stranger. Believing that in making someone else wrong makes them right and righteous.
What kind of a forum would this be if every time someone asks for ideas, solutions and or constructive criticism, instead only gets angry hordes of internet trolls attacking their character and assuming the worse about them and their business?
I always tell my kids “Only sad people can be mean.” Many can only see life as black or white
Thank you for your kind, helpful words and your empathy in navigating the grey.
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My wife recently planned to attend a birthday party for a 95-year-old friend in a city several hundred miles away. She made her reservation at what looked like a nice B&B a month before the event.
While she was driving to the town the day before the birthday party, the host canceled. My wife called AirBnB and they asked why my wife was cancelling.
When the host called to tell my wife she could not have the room she asked my wife to cancel–which my wife told her she would not. The host called AirBnB and told them my wife had canceled.
She booked at a nearby hotel on the beach at a cheaper rate with more services and tells me that was her first and last experience with AirBnB–when she plans other trips she will stay at a hotel.
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Good luck! I’d encourage you to network with folks in your area to find out how to help each other when hosts get in a jam for space. It happens.
I do see a world of difference between:
- A guest getting canceled on their way to a trip and being left high and dry
- and a host who is 12 days out and can work hard to provide the guest with a very suitable or even preferable alternative and a gift card
EDIT: I also think it is very human risk management to HATE the idea of switching from a guest you are comfortable with to an unknown wild card. The existing guests are working well for you. So why tamper with that.
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It’s NOT a “pack mentality”! YOU and other folks that don’t honor bookings, especially in high cost/tight reservation areas like yours, ARE COSTING YOUR FELLOW HOSTS THEIR REPUTATION AND INCOME. No wonder we’re all pissed off about your behavior. On top of it, you’re expecting AirBnB to find alternate housing for your greedy desire to avoid playing by AirBnB’s rules! If you want to house your guests somewhere else, FIND THAT PLACE YOURSELF so the AirBnB support can spend time helping hosts that follow the rules. You’re damned lucky someone here hasn’t already shared this thread with Air and they haven’t taken you off the platform.
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Absolutely. I more often than most disagree with my fellow hosts (on this forum in particular) on how to do just about everything. I personally believe I’m successful because of it (because my guests tell me about yall mofos) and I can toot my horn about dozens of reviews too. My guests needs always come before my own however. I accept that responsibility when I turn on IB or accept a listing. I’ve definitely left guests high and dry who booked using fraudulent accounts or were presumptuous about violating AirBNB TOS or my listing rules. So no moral high ground about leaving people out in the cold to protect my other guests, their safety and my property. Fair is fair though and if a guest books and isn’t breaking the rules, I’m not being an ethical host to cancel and I shouldn’t expect ethical treatment by Airbnb or my guests.
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What a load of crap. You came on here with a sob story asking how best to bump an upcoming booking because you had the chance to make more money.
You didn’t get the wave of warm fuzzy sycophantic replies you were expecting therefore, in your eyes, the other posters in this thread are a horde of internet trolls.
The reality is that the critical responses came mainly from long established, experienced hosts who run their businesses with a certain level of professionalism and integrity. Character traits you are obviously lacking.
I noticed on the other topic you reacted in a similar manner, when you didn’t like the replies given when you asked how to make more money from your listing. The one takeaway for me from that topic was that you stated:
That, along with the rest of your ramblings, suggests to me that actually you may be the troll in this topic
JF
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That was very rude .
I am not sure why long established hosts here like your reply so much.
Actually hosts dont have to be so superprofessional. Yes we are in hospitality business and yes as human beings accepting someone In our homes we have to be hospitable and courteous but none of us went to school and studied hotel business, and as hosts we do what we can. It’s quite silly for guests to expect staying in someone’s house and see their host as a professional hospitality worker.
Integrity has nothing fo do with it. Guests when they cancel do as it suits them. They dont even give another thought that may be a host has
his/her only income with Air or how much inconvenience they caused. I just gave someone refund of 50% because they cancelled the day of checkin in and instead of being grateful they wrote me a bad review.
If we were not allowed to cancel then Airbnb wouldn’t give us that option.
Yes there is risk to book through Air , cancelation is not the only one.
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Jes’ playin’ –
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Thank you @Yana!!
You get it.
Your obligation is to your guests, both sets of them. For the April 6-14 guests, find another, nearby place (airbnb or a hotel) that will accommodate them and will also be similarly priced. Once you’ve got a plan together for them, you explain the situation: my current guests have unexpectedly changed plans and they need to extend. I don’t want to leave you in the lerch, so I’ve found xxx. If that works for you, let me know. I will call Airbnb and let them know what’s happened so this way when the reservation is canceled, you get a full refund. If you want to sweeten the deal, you could, as someone else suggested, give them a gift certificate or a nice thank you gift.
I do extended stays and try to keep in communication with those guests. A few weeks before they’re scheduled to check out, I message them asking if their check out is still going to be the same date. Often times (I’d say 2 out of 3 times) they ask for an extension. I have an extended stay and last week he said he’s checking out this weekend. It just so happens that this property I’m going to be selling, so I was just about to call my contractor to help me get it ready to sell, when I got a message from the guest extending his stay to 4/15.
So it does happen, and this is where 1) being flexible and accommodating and 2) having a local network of fellow hosts that can take new reservations is super helpful.
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@NordlingHouse “You’re damned lucky someone here hasn’t already shared this thread with Air and they haven’t taken you off the platform.”
I have beaten you to the punch by calling AirBnb myself. I have been reassured by a gentleman name Kramer that is impossible for this thread to result in getting me kicked off their platform.
In fact, they told me they are sorry that they can not do anything to defend or protect me from this cyberbulling and stalking. With this forum being a 3rd party one, Airbnb has no control over it. They are however making a note of the threats made.
My RECORD of mostly 5 star reviews, shows my character. Years of being a great host speaks way louder than a few angry people on an internet site.
@jaquo “It’s very likely that she now wishes that this thread was deleted as it shows her publicly in a bad light. As far as I know, only moderators can do that - the moderators that she has antagonised…”
As a "moderator, your input is a conflict of interest and on most sites, it is not allowed. You are clearly abusing your “power” and you are a cyberbully. You seem to relish in the idea that I am being raked over the coals on this forum. Even going so far as to use multiple smiley face emojis? Sick. 
Another example of your abuse of position/malfeasance:
“And it’s also worth bearing in mind that, as all real business people know, this is called the world wide web for a reason and notably in this case because anyone in the world can read what is written here. Thanks to Google, with the information that the OP has given us about herself and her location, her listing can be found fairly easily.”
Interesting fact: Jaquo has a web site listed in her profile that is “Not secure.” The warning refers to the lack of security for the connection to that page. It’s alerting you that information sent and received with that page is unprotected and it could potentially be stolen, read, or modified by attackers, hackers, and entities with access to internet infrastructure, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and governments.
Jaquo is an example of cyberstalking/stalker if there ever was one. What does she suggest be done once someone has “easily” found WHO I AM? WHERE I LIVE? WHERE MY PROPERTY IS? Something nice? I doubt it!! She is encouraging people to look me up on the internet so that they can at the very least judge me? Inviting people to be nefarious and find a way to hurt me? I naively thought others would have constructive criticism and did expose myself to people that have no ethical fiber by giving a link to my property. Shame on me for sure for initially trusting strangers and believing most people are good until they show me a reason to believe otherwise.
Despicable
Last but not least, it is pretty low that some people have attacked me for mentioning my disability and special needs daughter. Cruel, heartless, just straight up mean. Is nothing off limits?
As I said in my post to @puppylover “only sad people can be mean.” I REALLY feel sorry for all the angry people that have attacked me. You all have TOO much time on your hands. To enjoy criticizing someone, you have to have a sickness inside that can only be partially relieved when you lash out at someone else.
Not only are most postings critical and cruel, only about 10-25% answer the question or have something productive to contribute. Many of my punishments do not meet the “crime” I “committed” by merely asking a question about canceling on a guest. I haven’t even done anything yet. Many acted as judge, jury, and executioner just for my suggesting I am thinking of canceling if it could be a win win.
If you all think that you will get through to someone using these tactics, you are sadly mistaken. In what world does harping on and criticizing a person work in getting them to do what you think is “right.” I am not going to spend any more time on this but I can pretty much guess that it is a terribly ineffectual method has not worked in the past. Nor will it work in the future.
I will do all I can to report this site and warn others of the nefarious nature of most present. I will only go on the real AirBnb forum and suggest to all that are not nefarious to do the same.
THIS IS MY LAST POST. I AM LEAVING AND NEVER RETURNING. I WILL NOT READ AN EMAILS OR POSTS FROM THIS SITE. People can only hurt me if I let them and I am ending this right now and today.
PEACE and I do mean Peace, 
OUT!!!