Trying to cancel guest

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I made the mistake of accepting a reservation from a new, local airbnb member with no reviews. Typically I don’t accept them especially if they are local. Every single problem we’ve had over the last 3 years (over 2000+ rentals) has been from local guests - parties, drugs, alcohol, prostitution. This gal used a suburb name that is really obscure and I didn’t notice. First, she said it was her anniversary and she’d be there with her boyfriend - pretty common, sounded fine. Then, she said her mom will be the only person there, because she will be dropping her off (red flag #1). Then, I she updated her profile to say “I like to use Airbnb when I throw an event to make the experience more amazing” (giant red flag). Then, she asks if we can blockout all light from the bedroom because she sleeps better when totally dark. (red flag, wtf?) Then, she asks for extra towels for a 2 night stay (small red flag). Then, she asks a million questions about the kitchen (just annoying, I despise guests that plan on cooking every meal in).

I talked to airbnb about canceling the reservation and they are hesitant to cancel. Any suggestions? If I cancel her they said I would lose my super host status, something I don’t want to do since I have 7 properties. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.

2

Nothing you can do except bite the bullet, especially since Air is hesitant. However:

“You are dropping your mother off? Sorry – that’s a 3rd party booking and is against Airbnb TOS” – DENY!

There’s your excuse.

“Can you block out all light?” No.

“Can I have extra towels?” No, sorry, limit is X per week, not per night.

Superhost status won’t be lost with one cancellation – I know I cancelled someone last quarter and still got SH. Even so, it’s not like you get 24% more booking for being a Superhost. Again I know, as I’ve been SH ten times in a row…

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Say no to all her requests. Say her mother is not allowed in the property as she is not a registered guest. Say the kitchen is just a kitchenette, and not suitable for full catering. As the property does not suit her needs you can allow her to cancel free of charge.

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Tell her you monitor who enters and exits your property with exterior security cameras. That should deter her.

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5

Assuming she said this on the Airbnb message platform- and there’s no reason why it should be anywhere else - you’ve got her banged to rights. Just call Airbnb and say that this is a third party booking. Tell them the evidence is in the message area and they’ll deal with it. I’ve done it several times and it doesn’t affect SH status.

PS. It might be a location thing but I’ve often hosted local people and had no problems with them. I had one recently who I’d probably say was one of my best guests ever.

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To clarify, she said her mom will be the only person there with her.

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Oh sorry.

When you said:

I assumed you meant that she’d be dropping her off and leaving. I thought it was a third party booking. Apologies.