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Post by High Priestess on Oct 1, 2016 6:08:22 GMT
Thank you Grace, that is very helpful information to have.
I think there is the point that Rhonda made, that Airbnb has been all along choosing willy-nilly to refund guests for whatever reason, whenever, and not stick to the cancellation policy. Many hosts have had at least one instance of this. It does not happen often enough, so far, that it has been a serious concern to most hosts, but the new policy would seem to allow them to do more of this.
I hope there is a huge outcry, both about this and about the new policy or practice or beta-testing of hiding the guest photo from the host.
I'd like to see some pressure applied by the host community on some of these misguided changes, and see the pressure be successful.
Many of us have not had many cancellations, but that may be because we have a strict policy and the guest knew they would lose out if they cancelled. If the guest has much less to lose, they may not be so hesitant to cancel. I am waiting to see what happens before I decide what I will do. What some hosts have talked about doing, which I think makes sense, is to start refusing to take reservations too far in advance. Block out your calendar or limit reservations such that they can only be made up to 3 months in advance. Or less. If many guests find that they can no longer make reservations far in advance because hosts have changed the way they do business in response to Airbnb's changes in policy, then if hosts lose out, guests will lose out, which is as it should be.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 7:05:57 GMT
Aloha Deborah,
Certainly your reference is not to the Community Center hosting community.
I haven't looked lately, but last time I did, they were still trying to figure out where the closest Western Union office is.
I agree with limiting your calendar, although I haven't, and as the reservations started rolling in, my heart sunk. I remember the same the first quarter of the year with December reservations.
I don't have a clue what tomorrow brings; how the hell am I supposed to find the crystal ball to figure out if I'll even be alive in 6 months from now? Cripes, my neighbor volcano may blow, another earthquake take out my house. I may feel like telling this brilliant idea of hosting to go down the same road I told my last employer.
Of course the Devils Advocate side of me has to add that the guests already don't have a clue, if it leaks out who's ass Airbnb is really kissing, that would make a difference.....perhaps.....I shall not hold my breath as our guests can't get past reading the listing the want to book.
When guests politely send a message past the original cancellation policy stated, that they agreed to, asking for a refund for whatever ridiculous reason they can come up with at the moment; in the past, and going forward, in a kind and professional, I always begin with "I'm sorry to hear... " (your f up),refer them back to their reservation that I requested they print out. End of Story......
Last email I had received, (a hawaiian...haha), I didn't even bother responding to.
Unless this wording leaks out amongst airbnb guests, and they will be forced to take the time to read the entire 42 pages of different wording for what has always been in place.
I have noticed in some of your comments/stories/experiences, that you are kinder hearted than I have become on refunding $.
Mostly in your offerings of if you can re-book it. I stopped that the second time it happened.
Neither could take the time to even send a Thank You for all the grumbling and whining I had to endure.
Actually, it might even be an improvement like the other sites to have no picture of potential guests. No matter what you look like, how wonderful your photoshop smile is, how closely you hold your best friend, cat, dog, or kid. Rules are rules. I find my typing much blunter in my responses to the Pancake Faces, rather than the charming couple who would be delighted to stay in my home.
I'd even go on to say (of this I am sure surprises you none in the least), although I admit I practice selective memory, 98% of my guests don't resemble their profile pics, nor does my "taking a dump" pic much resemble me. Even if pics were current, I don't care, people change their hair styles every day, I don't review any of the incoming reservations except Message History to see if I know both of their names (perhaps I didn't write down their traveling partners name) to type into that Tax Amount Due with the amount card.
Was my funny the other day, all swimmers, all spoke german, so I kept asking this one if I had already told them about whatever. I couldn't even remember her flippin name. I truly don't care, but apologize to please not take it personally, as I do care about Her and my Guests (he-he, secondary to my bank account). She got it and filled in the blank that it would be impossible for me to with such volume. Guys seem to look different; young women pretty much all the same to me. Brunette, perky, fit, smiley, and in charge of the activities and enjoyment, got a plan, not a BFF type).
I always giggle that it's apparently the cat's job (Norman) to keep track of who is coming and going. He's the first one to greet a new car/guest, and first one to see their final drive out.
Poor guy, he's been camped out at the bottom of the loft stairs waiting for the guests to come down, or back into the house who have been gone 4 days.
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Post by keith on Oct 2, 2016 17:19:50 GMT
I agree, this is really good for AirBnB and not really good for hosts. The problem is... if a guest cancels, they likely book something else on AirBnB so AirBnB ends up getting their money.. Meanwhile, the host is left with an empty unit.
The real problem with AirBnB is that they make rules without thinking them through. In this case, it *might* be reasonable to compel hosts to use more flexible cancellation policies IF and only IF they prioritized that listing until it receives a replacement booking. If I had some assurance that I'd get a last minute replacement booking for one cancelled a day or two ahead, then I'd be more willing to risk it. The problem is, airbnb loses nothing when this happens--as always with AirBnB, the host assumes all the risks.
As for the cancellation policy.. they're mostly useless in any case.. I know of many cases where AirBnB has refunded against the policy even when it wasn't for a cause stated in their policies. In other cases, they try to browbeat the host into voluntarily giving a refund.
In the past, and this likely wont work well with this new change, I used to tell guests, "sure, contact airbnb, and if they'll refund their fees, I'll do the same." never heard back since airbnb would NEVER refund fees for a guest cancellation.
However, if they now won't get charged the airbnb fee (which, honestly, never seemed fair to me since airbnb's costs were effectively zero--much of that goes to fixed costs of infrastructure but the rest goes to insurance which isn't needed if there's no guest stay).
I get very few cancellations, but I worry that having an open and free cancellation policy will encourage people to do what they do with hotel rooms.... they reserve them knowing they only have a 50% chance of staying, then cancel and move on. When you have 200 rooms this isn't really a big deal, when you have just one.. it's a huge problem.
This is the thing airbnb looses sight of.... they look at 1.5 million listings and (micro) things all make sense, they don't really care (they claim to, but actions speak louder than words) about the impact on the people they speak most about "middle class people just trying to make ends meet."-- when those rooms go empty for airbnb's convenience.
I do sympathize for the guest who, with the best of intentions, had to cancel and is faced with paying for a trip they can't take. It's horrible. When guests cancel and ask for a refund, I always tell them that if I get a replacement booking for those dates I'll give them a partial refund. It's not always the case that all days will get re-booked or for the same price, plus I keep some to compensate me for my time in handling the refund. So far there have been 2 cases in 4 years where this happened and the guests were satisfied.
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 2, 2016 17:36:59 GMT
YEs I agree Keith...hosts may see more cancellations now than we used to see in the past, given that there is less consequence to guest for cancelling. And the burden is on the host.
One of the things I suggested was that since guests, not hosts, benefit by a more flexible cancellation policy, let the guest pay for a more flexible policy if they want it. Have a tiered rate structure that allows hosts to set rates for different cancellation policies. Pay more per night for flexible but get more $ back if you cancel. Pay less per night for strict but get less $ back if you cancel. THis would reward those guests who have the most solid travel plans.
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Post by keith on Oct 2, 2016 18:01:18 GMT
I've just experienced my first imposition of this new policy. I had a reservation for a party of 4 gals to be arriving tomorrow, where my listing only accommodates 3, but they asked for a special exception for the fourth guest, and I accepted. Just now, Airbnb contacted me by phone saying that the party has sudden "concerns" about my request to not mention Airbnb to my neighbors, in the name of privacy and discretion, as although it is completely legal for me, it is also highly controversial in my city right now. Due to this "concern", the guest would now like to cancel. The customer service agent stated that he felt the "concern" warranted a full refund even though I have a "strict" cancellation policy. Grace, Donr blame the airbnb agent youth. It's airbnb policy to always find a way to side with the guest. Guests have other options. Do you? Not really so you get to be abused and it's fine for them. In this case... As are similar. Airbnb knows if the guests rebooted a bigger space or another when they claim to cancel for medical reasons. To my knowledge, even with all their talk of "data science" they don't use this data in their decision making. Sadly, you did give them a legitimate excuse to capitalize on. The lesson... Keep the "don't say airbnb" messaging for the in person checkin. Although, I personally find it offensive when I'm asked to lie for a host regardless of the reason. I'd rather defend your right to have me there than pretend we're cousins. Keith
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Post by keith on Oct 2, 2016 18:05:38 GMT
Pay more per night for flexible but get more $ back if you cancel. Pay less per night for strict but get less $ back if you cancel. THis would reward those guests who have the most solid travel plans. This only works if they can't abuse it... If you book the more expensive "cancellable" one but there's no cancellation fee! You'll use that to hold a place then check a week ahead, find a cheaper non-cancellable booking then cancel the other one. There should be a cancellation fee for the guest which gets paid to the host. Or.. Using airbnb's own logic... If the host fees increase with cancellation policy, they should decrease as well. If they want everyone on flexible cancellation then this should have zero host fees..and priority search results to replace cancelled nights.
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Post by Mabel on Oct 3, 2016 16:47:44 GMT
Thanks Keith. Saving the "please don't mention airbnb" for after check in, is irrelevant for me because the only time it is a problem is upon showing up with luggage, uninformed as to where to go (no matter how many times they've been drilled and quizzed), and being approached by a problem neighbor to ask if they are looking for an airbnb (me). Asking my guests to simply say "no" if asked is not the same as asking the guests to "lie" for me. Technically yes, but because I have many other kinds of paying lodgers here, whether for surgery, studies etc, and the fact that I would never ask anyone to say they are my relatives, or anything like that, the need for discretion is justified. I have been making this request for a long time with only positive reactions of empathy and enthusiastic cooperation, and truly believe it was a case of, as you mentioned, preferring a larger accommodation last minute after I had agreed to accommodate a 4th person. I was paid out $200 from the $676 cancelled reservation.
So the only lesson learnt here is that I have now included that request along with an explanation about being completely legal, in my very first message response to a guest, rather than leaving it for later. And probably also to not agree to accommodate a 4th person.
With the new cancellation policy now in place - which renders "extenuating circumstances" obsolete, I am looking at all future bookings with new preparedness to expect a potential fully refunded cancellation, regardless of reason, to happen at any time, but I don't feel that will happen too often. I did notice that my listing ranking jumped after airbnb allowed this refunded cancellation, and I did get another booking immediately. So there is that.
Deborah thank you for the response about not accepting bookings further than 3 months out, but I have had the 3 month limit all along for just that reason. I sort of expect that this new policy is in fact experimental and might get amended with the next update, after enough outcry.
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Post by High Priestess on Oct 19, 2016 4:06:35 GMT
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