Reservation Period with "Flexible" Check-in time

1

What is considered the reservation period for a booking made with a “flexible” check-in time?

The guest, Jasmine, sends one introductory message attached to instant booking on Nov. 20th. That message mentions arrival time “ideally” at 9:00 am. There is no other contact from the guest.

Jasmines reservations dates are from Thursday December 21st - Monday the 25th with a party of 10. Her group arrives Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. (unannounced).

I had accommodated last minute private room rental guests the night before, and had to explain to Jasmine’s party that as soon as these guests departed I would be able to clean and ready the space guaranteed by 11:00 am. I advised the guests that I would ready the space as quickly as possible and then notify them with the house was ready.

The guests becomes verbally aggressive with very loud volumes. I advise her to contact customer service so that a representative could further explain policy regarding the circumstances. (My mistake).

Airbnb rep called me back a few minutes later to explain the guest was requesting to cancel. I explained that this would not be an option with a strict cancelation policy on a holiday weekend on a $2,400.00 reservation.

The house was ready and the guest was notified by 10:20 a.m. Unfortunately, the reservation had been canceled by Airbnb just moments before. The Airbnb representative from the Trip Team, Henry, decided to cancel the reservation on the guests behalf and refund all but one night. Leaving me with an empty house, no rebooking, and a substantial loss in monthly income.

I provide a flexible check in window for guests who arrive late at night. I am adding a disclosure to my listing which informs guests about this concept.

In my opinion the guest arrived outside of her reservation period, because we did not agree on an arrival time. Also, the guest arrived 45 minutes prior to the time she originally requested. However, the guest was granted a refund and rebooked with a different host despite the cancelation policy being strict, and my immediate appropriate response to all circumstances and contact.

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I also wanted to add that I did discuss this with a “manager” from the trip team. I inquired on how to dispute or over turn the decision made by one seemingly inexperienced Airbnb representative. The manger advised me to open a resolution request for the remainder of the reservation cost. However, there is not an option to do this because a resolution payout has been made for the one night and the case has been closed by Airbnb.

How do we make requests to reopen these cases?

3

Ughhhhh, that seems highly unfair. Keep escalating the case and see if you get to someone reasonable. They refunded her because she couldn’t check in early when other guests were still there!!!

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4

Is your cancellation policy ‘flexible’?

Bc the 1 night cancellation fee seems in line with a Flex Cancellation policy, if the guest requested to
Cancel.

5

Wait, your policy was flexible!??? Then you don’t have a leg to stand on, and the guest was within her rights to cancel. Change to strict. No reason to be on flexible unless you like losing money! :weary::moneybag:

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6

OP hasn’t confirmed, but that’s what it sounds like to me given the refund.

7

said by OP in posting.

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8

There has to be more to the story.

9

Thanks. I missed that in the wall of text :joy:

10

The cancellation policy is “strict”.

11

The cancelation policy is strict. The check-in window is flexible.

12

What was the reason Air BnB gave for cancelling?

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The guest was pretty loud with me, and very displeased. The airbnb representative later came back after the decision was made and implied that there was a verbal “altercation” and the guest claimed to be uncomfortable. However, that was not the case and is a fabrication.

14

That is why they were refunded because they felt
‘Uncomfortable’

15

Air originally stated that because my check-in window is set to “flexible” but I was not ready for the guest at 8:15 am, then the guest had to cancel and this apparently superseded my cancelation policy? When I challenged the decision the rep and manager later came back and insinuated that there was a verbal altercation between myself and the guest.

Is it just me or are Airbnb reps making up rules as we go?

16

That is a “no-win” scenario.
I think you can still get a New Years booking in NOLA and I would hop on that possibility asap.
Learn from this lousy situation and set parameters that are clear.

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17

They refunded because you didn’t honor the flexible check in window. You turned her away after she thought she could come early…so that qualified, I am thinking.

18

I think the ‘verbal Altercation’ and ‘uncomfortable’ comment probably had more to do with it, since
Uncomfortable is a buzz word for them

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19

My reservations are most commonly made in advance and I am well booked for the year.

20

Does flexible mean unreasonable? Should I change a policy on my listing that works for the majority but did not please one unreasonable guest? Why is communication not a concern or requirement?