Airbnb guest alteration request to checkout earlier during stay

[Christine Cho]

I’ve been hosting for three years and recently encountered an issue I hadn’t faced before: an alteration request to check out earlier during a stay. In hindsight, I could have communicated better, so I’m sharing my experience for other hosts.

Guest booked an 11-night stay. On the 6th night, guest sent an alteration request to check out earlier, after 7 nights. This would be a 100% refund for the unspent 4 nights, according to the payout adjustment. I declined the request with a message that I cannot accept the alteration request as it is too close to those unspent nights. However, I offered to accept an alteration for 9 nights (2 nights fewer than original booking), which would have been roughly 50% refund.

Message between me (M) and guest (G):

 - G: shares Airbnb's cancellation policy after check-in: a 50% refund of every night that remains 24 hours after you cancel. No refund of nights you spent or the service fee.

- M : please proceed with the cancellation instead of alteration.

- G: cancellation results in immediate cancellation, not starting after the 7th night.

- M: suggests to cancel on the morning after 7th night.

- G: there is no refund at all with a cancellation and resubmitted the same alteration request.

 - M: the alteration request is 100% refund for unspent nights, which is not in line with the cancellation refund policy and would leave me at a loss. I reiterated they can cancel now and check out tomorrow, or send a different alteration request that was a middle ground for us (roughly 50% refund)

 - G: alteration is a larger refund and it is possible through Airbnb app. They couldn't understand why it would be loss for me or why they wouldn't get get the full refund since those night would be available for booking.

 - M: explain that I'm not obligated to accept alteration requests and in this case, guest is asking me to absorb the full loss for the cancelled nights. I also mention that alterations like this is effectively a cancellation, and so close to the dates effected hurts my operation and should not be possible per cancellation policy.

 - Guest insists booking was made because of moderate cancellation policy. At this point I suggest we resolve this through Airbnb support.

Ultimately, the resolution was to refund the guest 50% for those unspent nights. I don't understand why the guest was seeing $0 refund through cancellation (assuming what the guest said was true), given that the cancellation policy was as follows: 

"After check in: Partial refund. Get back 50% of every night that remains 24 hours after you cancel. No refund of nights you spent or the service fee."

In the end, I felt I offered a fair resolution but left with a sour guest who might leave a bad review. I read that I could dispute bad review in cases like this, but I also spent a lot of time and mental energy to find a middle ground. It should be airbnb's obligation to not allow alterations like this in the first place.  Lesson learned: in the future, I'll decline any alteration requests that effectively act as a cancellation of nights so close to check-in or during stay. I would decline reiterating cancellation policy and advise guest to cancel or contact Airbnb support if they believe they are entitled to a larger refund.

If anybody else has similar experience, I'd love to hear the outcome and any advise!

[John Underwood]

I think you were more than accommodating to these guests.

I think they should have gotten nothing for wanting to cancel in the middle of their stay.

[Christine Cho]

Yes, it was the penalty I paid for not being firm and not knowing what do to...it seems like alteration request being used as way to get more refund is not new issue, and until Airbnb fixes this hosts have to be aware and plan for the course of action and stick with it.

[Michael Baum]

Hey @Christine Cho I agree with @John Underwood. You did go above and beyond IMHO.

I have had something like this happen twice. Once was because of wildfire smoke. The guests just couldn't tolerate it and they left 2 days early. They didn't request any refund as it was their issue and I can't control wildfires.

The other was due to an elderly family member dying suddenly (not at our house) and they had to leave. I refunded the remaining days in full to them. I know they could have been pulling the wool over my eyes, but it was only 3 days and I wasn't going to make a stressful situation worse.

[Jon Martin]

Quote from @Christine Cho:

Yes, it was the penalty I paid for not being firm and not knowing what do to...it seems like alteration request being used as way to get more refund is not new issue, and until Airbnb fixes this hosts have to be aware and plan for the course of action and stick with it.

Agreed with the above- unless there is an extenuating circumstance where the blame falls on you then you don't owe them anything. They've already blocked dates off your calendar that you most likely will not fill on short notice. These types of people are never satisfied and probably make everyone around them miserable with their constant back and forth with everything. 

The only times that I've allowed this was a situation where there was a cleaning or a maintenance issue, which ultimately falls on me.  In that case I don't go back and forth, I simply tell them they can have a refund for unused nights if they leave immediately. 

[Andrew Steffens]

You cannot make everyone happy unfortunately.

I typically do not go out of my way for guests unless it is minor and it makes them 100% happy.  If they are any less than 100% happy you will get a negative review anyways.

[Jonathan Greene]

I agree with everyone that you handled this perfectly and went out of your way to be nice. People who think they can cancel the last four days only care about themselves. You offered a reasonable alternative.

This used to happen a lot, before Airbnb, when I was doing STR 20 years ago through just Homeaway. There wasn't as much systemization so we were always dealing with odd requests and we did what you did, tried to make the best of it and offer something fair.

I think as operators we have become too scared of reviews (but they do totally tank you) and the companies should be able to review the back chats to determine if the review was valid.

[Marie Thomas]

Hi there! I own 3 furnished rentals/STRs in downtown Mystic, CT, and have been running Airbnbs there for the last 3 years. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens with short-term rentals, especially when you are new to hosting and trying to be nice. The customer always thinks they're right and they're used to dealing with customer service reps from large corporations like Amazon etc. and don't always understand the perspective of the host as an actual person. 

If I were you, I would log into your Airbnb account and re-review your cancelation policy. Airbnb has several options to choose from (Flexible, Moderate, Firm, Strict and Super Strict). I would never allow a guest to cancel mid-stay unless they have a very very good reason. Even at that, if you have left all your contact information in the house for them, I would advise a phone call immediately so that you can personalize the situation and get a better understanding from them as to why they need to cancel. For example, I created an information book in Canva that has all the house details and my personal contact information.  

You were accommodating and polite. If you do receive a bad review - I would 1. Reply to it stating brief facts (don't get petty other people will see it). Guests review you based on 3 categories, cleanliness, house rules, and communication. If you're rating falls short due to communication, your reply can be specifically about that. If you need to go to Airbnb perhaps they can assist you with removing it etc. 

Hang in there, there are also wonderful perks to being a host! I have had people leave me Christmas ornaments and lovely notes in my guest book. Keep at it and try not to let one bad experience ruin it for you! 

[Patricia Andriolo-Bull]

Hi.  I agree with what others have said but I do have a question given the timing of this.  Did the guest check out early because of the recent hurricane?  While I do tell people they should have travel insurance, especially planning a trip to SWFL during hurricane season, I also try to be understanding under special circumstances.  I know a lot of people hold tight on their policies but I also believe this is a hospitality business and look at every situation uniquely. I had someone staying at my condo last week during Helene.  They had an option to leave 3 days early and go to family in Orlando.  They decided to stay and hunker down.  I would have let them out with a 100% refund given that I wouldn't want it on my conscience if they stayed and had any issues.  But I have a guest coming on 10/12 that is already trying to get a refund because an unnamed storm *may* materialize.  I said no but I'm happy to revisit if things change.

[Christine Cho]

@Patricia Andriolo-Bull I agree, under those circumstance I would have been lenient, but I'm in Colorado and we weren't affected by weather. From our exchange of messages the guest booked with possibility of canceling to begin with. However, cancellation during stay is pretty unique situation and I don't think airbnb app is equipped to handle those cases well. The guest chose alteration request over cancellation as it gave more refund. This put me at a difficult position having to explain the difference between cancellation and alteration request, and why alteration request is not in line with cancellation policy. The guest didn't understand why I wouldn't accept the request when is was "possible" on their end in the app.

[Christine Cho]

@Michael Baum @Jon Martin

Thanks everyone for your comments, I really appreciate it - I shouldn't let myself be emotionally affected by these incidents. The guest did leave a review and I have yet to see what it is but pretty sure it will be negative. Hoping to be able dispute it and I will follow up here on how that goes.