guest cancelling 4 days prior to check in

[Jennifer Asuncion]

Hi there! I have been trolling this site for awhile now, eagerly learning from all the discussions and blogs this site has to offer. I gather that most of the people who posts here has had been experienced in short term rentals so i decided to seek your wisdom on the current dilemma i have. just for background info: i have an STR in big bear ca that i have been operating for a year now. i had utilized evolve to handle all marketing and reservations and it has been ok so far. i have an upcoming guest that is supposed to check in on december 26 with a reservation for 4 nights. those dates are the highest priced days in big bear. i has been my routine to email my guests check in instructions 3-4 days prior to check in. when i did that to her, she responded back stating that she was trying to cancel for a couple of weeks because of sickness in her family and was trying to cancel. i checked with evolve if that was true, they said she never reached out to them and that she opted to not get travel insurance so we are not liable to refund her anything but it is up to me if i want to give her back a portion of what she paid. now this is not the first time this happened to me, another guest tried to cancel last minute to me a couple of months ago requesting that they get refunded even without travel insurance which i did (a portion) since she did it a week prior and the dates were not so pricey as this one. and she had a sick relative too!! now, should i do the same again? or should i stick with the contract that i dont get to refund them anything? i fear that i wont be able to book it anymore since it is so close to her check in date but i also fear that i am burning my bridges with this guest already if i do that. thanks for any help you guys can give me. i appreciate it!!!

[Jon Crosby]

Hi @Jennifer Asuncion, I have had this happen a few times (and also use Evolve for booking).  My rule of thumb now is if it's less then 2 weeks notice, they cannot get a refund, however I will offer them the ability to come stay at the property at a later date that works better for their situation.  I have done this twice and while it may not be exactly what they want, it is more than fair and offers little room for argument from the guest.  

Then I usually do a Facebook post to friend's and family letting them know there was a last minute cancellation and they can book the property at a friends and family discount (usually 15% off) so the weekend doesn't go wasted.  

Hope that helps!