Pinched nerve isn’t “plans changed.”
I’d only offer to refund if days are rebooked (yes, I know but if someone does book today…) and leave it at that.
As I said in the post above this one, it’s not the same as the OP’s situation.
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She hasn’t cancelled. She was to be here 6 nights and says she still may come. I’m not going to ask if she wants to cancel, I’m waiting to see what will happen.
No confidence if she did cancel that I’d be able to rebook with this short notice.
I know this is different from the OP, I didn’t want to start a new thread when this has probably been discussed 100x’s.
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I wouldn’t refund then. Refunding when you can rebook or use the time for maintenance or a much needed break in work schedule is one thing, acting as someone’s travel insurance is another.
The only thing I’d do is offer empathy and a modest discount should she rebook in the future.
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If I rebook, then I refund. I’m good with that and I’m a nice person who cares about my money and the money of others.
I did offer empathy. She’s supposed to be thinking of moving here, so, if like when I was looking here, she’ll be back and forth. I had thought of offering a discount if she later comes back and hopefully she’ll still show up in the next day or so.
Since I’m just getting started here and figure prime time are the summer months, I really didn’t want to eat this money, yet I don’t feel great about taking something for nothing.
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REFUND!!!
What goes around comes around!
Put the shoe on the other foot!
Do unto others as you would have them do onto you!!!
Share a little kindness!
Pay it forward, Baby! !!!
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I like that you offer a discount to friends and family. My husband offered ours to my cousin. Thought he was staying for a long weekend but it ended up 2 weeks!
The update on my guest that was to arrive for 6 days is that she’s not able to get around very well, so the reservation was cancelled.
I immediately replied that due to my firm cancellation I wasn’t able to refund her money at this time. But, I told her that if any of her dates get booked, I will refund her the difference. Also, if she rebooks later I will offer a discount.
She replied that she didn’t expect this but it was very kind.
I really hope I get a couple of those days booked so I can pass money back to her.
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I would refund if it was me. Let them know this isn’t normally the process with a cancellation policy like yours.
I guess I understand that if the rental is a major or sole source of someone’s income that they would rent to friends or family at a discount, but personally I can’t imagine charging my friends or family anything. When my friends or family come to visit, they insist on buying all the food, cooking all the meals, washing all the dishes, and taking me out for dinner.
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No matter if the booking got replaced, it is still a booking that got canceled.
I refund is a last resort, I would try to rebook them for different dates or offer them a credit on their next booking first. (Preferably a direct booking).
And if you do a refund, I would still keep a small fee for the time spend. $50 would be reasonable.
As I customer and business owner I have no problems with paying people for their time spend.
And remind that AirBnB does the same, you give your money back, but AirBnB is keeping their fees.
Wanting to refund is an emotional response, so the key question is whether your hosting is primarily a business or not. If it is, the clear answer is no refund.
There is also a problem with the emotional response, which is that the human mind has a bizarre psychological “charge writeoff” mechanism, wherein if you realized you just lost a $100 bill in your wallet but shortly after got a free extra night of stay at a hotel because of some blah and that free stay is worth at least $100 in your mind, you tend to write off the loss against the gain, but there is no justification for doing so and you should logically be just as sad about losing your $100.
The analogy is that the Strict policy has an average cost amortized over many bookings, wherein in the past, you didn’t get some bookings or revenue you would’ve otherwise gotten. That loss has nothing to do with the fact the loss on this particular booking was promptly patched, but like I said, the human mind has strange biases. (You charge-wroteoff the immediately refilled booking against the cancellation, but forgot about previously sustained losses.)
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AGREE. I think that is a considerate and thoughtful approach, and I’d use the exact same words. Beside, its a good business strategy - they might book another time and could be excellent guests. I would however add the following caveat; if the rebooking was at a lower price, (last minute discount), I’d withhold the difference from the original Booker.
I’m glad you explicitly stated what you think the analogy is because I don’t see it.
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I concur, randomoid.
The people who book with me are aware of cancellation policies and take that into account. My pricing also takes my policies on cancellation and refund into account.
The people who book with me can afford the nightly rate. I kind of think of it as they are purchasing an option for accommodation. They may choose not to exercise that option for whatever reason. If they want to cover that risk, they can purchase travel insurance. I have done detailed receipts for guests who need documentation for travel insurance claims.
Any cancellation penalty I receive is unrelated to the revenue from another party that books. I don’t perceive it as unethical double-dipping. In my case, with flexible cancellation, this has occurred quite rarely. I can think of 2 times in the past 5 years that a guest cancelled or no-showed after the 24 notice window.
Where I might be more generous is based on individual circumstances, my own version of extenuating circumstances. For example, if a guest has a family emergency and has to cut their stay short, I have refunded. Again, a replacement booking is irrelevant to my process.
I can see where the calculation would be different if I was in a longer-stay, resort or vacation area. The guest & family may have paid a significant amount and not be able to vacation at all if they couldn’t recoup due to a cancellation. Then I could see refunding something if re-booked, but not refunding if not re-booked, due to the significant financial hit on me as host. Also there is the likelihood that a grateful refunded guest would book their vacation with me again.
I operate much like an urban hotel. Short stays, relatively low per-guest expenditure.
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Guests have the option to buy travel insurance. Some credit cards even include this service. It is their responsibility to protect their interests. We are hosts. We are not travel insurance. We are running a business.
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That said, IF a Guest provided believable circumstances AND we got rebooked, then we might consider refunding - after getting the full payment from the replacement guest. If they simply cancel, we are not going to ask why, and it is not our business. No ethical considerations were raised. So, my responsibility is to my family. All day long.
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The host was fortunate that they got rebooked, and so did not lose 50%. That was a real risk.
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@KKC I added a parenthetical sentence at the end more explicitly explaining the analogy that might help.
Your explanation, while interesting, doesn’t click with me. I don’t have previously sustained losses. I don’t imagine having bookings that I didn’t get. I should be clear though that I have a very different rental than many here. I like last minute one night bookings. I think I’ve only had one or two nights out of hundreds of bookings over 7 years where the person cancelled relatively last minute and I wanted to be rebooked but was not. If I had the kind of listing where I did lose money I might have a different attitude.
I readily confess that I’m not much of a capitalist and if Airbnb were my sole source of income, I’d probably be broke.
I do appreciate the efforts of so many to explain their position that is counter to mine and I find it fascinating.
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Yes but maybe like me they missed the January 2021 extenuating circumstances policy change so they think illness & death are covered.
Also the Airbnb Exec announced in her video Airbnb would be offering guests travel insurance. Currently they do not offer it.
Unless travel insurance is mentioned at time of booking, most people who are not frequent travelers won’t think about it.
The new Firm cancellation policy is what STR management companies use in my area. As part of the booking process it is clear no refunds for any reason if cancelled less than 30 days in advance AND for $56.50 travel insurance is available to cover if something like hurricane, flooding, personal illness etc.