Rate Manipulation By Guest

I’ve noticed that there are some guests who manipulate the system of progressive booking where prices fluctuate, as the season wanes from summer to fall and prices drop.

They will book months in advance, then a week or two from the date, they will cancel and re-book at a significantly cheaper rate due to the automatic price settings. Essentially they are reserving their place in line at my expense.

So here’s my question, when this happens to you, do you cancel the reservation? Or do you shrug and let them be cheapskates?

That’s what happens when you let someone/something else set your prices.

JF

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This isn’t an issue about auto pricing. It’s an issue about place holding.

You want the prices to get lower as it gets closer to the date, that’s something I’d do manually if auto wasn’t available. The issue is that some guests will book at the higher rate to hold their place in line, then re-book.

The question essentially is, should you let them get away with it?

This hasn’t happened and probably won’t due to the kind of listing I have and my narrow price range. Also when people cancel I often raise the price a little for that date or block it completely because other dates have filled in my calendar and I like to schedule occasional days off.

However, if it did happen I’d be really irritated and I would take some action of some kind. One thing I’d do for sure is that that the guest would get my “low price” set up. Yes, people who pay more get nicer quality towels, snacks, soaps, sheets. At a low price I take the Keurig out, leave no snacks and they get Softsoap instead of high dollar organic brand.

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I always do that. So far, it’s been a solid tactic in respect of higher revenue.

JF

7 Likes

What kind of action would you take?

I wish my place had 2 gears like yours does. Something to think about.

I answered that:

Also if they were to ask for any kind of concession (like early check in or late check out) it would be a “no.” There are many things I don’t offer in my listing but I do for good guests once they are here. I’ve lent bowls or glasses, offered use of my washer once, I’ve kept an eye on someone’s dog while they went out to eat…none of that would be offered to a manipulative guest.

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Update: I was curious why the rate dropped so low for summer months, so I investigated. It turns out the rate was supposed to be higher, not lower for those nights based on my Wheelhouse settings.

Wheelhouse acknowledged that this was a server error that caused the rate to drop far below market pricing.

@JohnF, you were not entirely wrong that this was an automation problem that allowed this to happen.

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Seems you are using the wrong cancelation policy.
Use strict, problem solved.

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How do guests know the rate will be lower for those dates after they cancel? Are they looking at nearby dates and just assuming the reservation dates will fall inline after they cancel?

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Out of curiosity, if you use strict, can you choose to refund them and cancel manually without a penalty to the host?

Some guests go back and check rates before a trip to see if the can find a cheaper place closer to their trip. In this particular case the guest probably found a cheaper place near my location and decided to cancel. Then when they went back to search to find the cheaper place, they saw that my rate had dropped significantly and re-booked my place.

Of course, this particular case was an error by Wheelhouse. You usually see this sort of thing between November and January when the rates drop all the way to baseline rates. Overall only about 6 guests per year (out of 90) do this and only about 1-2 re-book your place vs going to a cheaper alternative place.

I think cancelling without penalty has to do with being Instant Book more so then the cancellation policy.

Strict cancellation policy

RR

Don’t guests who cancel have to pay the Airbnb service fee after 48 hours? Wouldn’t that impact any savings the guest was hoping with lower rates. Or does Airbnb not charge the service fee if they book another place?

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Guests can get the service fee on a cancellation waived up to 3 times per year.

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Except, I recently learned that Airbnb changed their strict cancellation. It’s no only 14 days out for 50% and 7 days out for 100% non-refundable. At 15 days or later, the guest gets back your rate while blocking your calendar.

Mine still looks like this.
After 48 the guest has to pay 50%

Where are you located? I’m in the US - this is how it’s worded now:

Strict

For the Strict version of the Airbnb cancellation policy, a guest can receive a full refund of the accommodation fees if they cancel the booking at least 14 days prior to the check-in time for the booking.

However, a guest will only receive a 50% refund of the accommodation fees if the cancellation is made at least 7 days prior to the check-in time for the booking. If this is not done then no refund will be given at all. Finally, there is no refund given all at if a guest decides to cancel after check-in.

I am strict: Strict

For the Strict version of the Airbnb cancellation policy, a guest can receive a full refund of the accommodation fees if they cancel the booking at least 14 days prior to the check-in time for the booking.

However, a guest will only receive a 50% refund of the accommodation fees if the cancellation is made at least 7 days prior to the check-in time for the booking. If this is not done then no refund will be given at all. Finally, there is no refund given all at if a guest decides to cancel after check-in.