All Forum Posts by: Andrea Cole

@Tara Scott You ask a good question and there's no good answer (that I know of). It's more a gentleman's agreement that I'll reduce the rate on their next stay if they reach out to me :/

@Steve K. I agree 100% about allowing to reschedule. I usually give this option. 50% refund is also put on the table. I think your expectations are reasonable and personally, I'd rather NOT have a disgruntled guest stay with us. My point was never to take money and run. I agree we must all share in this burden but unfortunately not all guests are approaching it this way.

Looks like I opened a can of worms here...

Just as an update, considering the WHO's elevation of CV to pandemic status and recommendations to limit travel, we've decided to offer credits towards future travel and refunds in other cases.

What people need to understand is that Airbnb is not a Hilton. You choose Airbnb to get a personal, non-commercialized experience. As such, a host's options are more limited due to their small size. I know the big guys set the tone but it burns me when we expect all businesses to work like big businesses. You can't have it both ways. You either want a more personal approach and accept that it comes at the cost of flexibility or you choose the big guys and forgo the personal touch. We're one location in one city. Not many locations in many cities. That means a credit with us is a lot more limiting, especially if you're not in a tourist area. So saying "hotels and airlines are offering credits" doesn't mean much to me. I'm not a hotel or airline where a credit is a good option to pacify guests. Cancellations present a totally different set of issues for me. Now, if Airbnb wants to step in and help allow hosts to "act" like big hotels by allowing those credits to be used for travel to places other than the original booking, that changes things. But that hasn't happened yet.

I'll end my rant. Guess the point is, we all need to decide for ourselves what works and stop expecting small to act big since that expectation is ridiculous. There needs to be more flexibility here. It's not cut and dry.

@Matt M. 

I think the point that's been made is that it's fair to neither party. In my situation, the guest did get a partial refund so we both (guest and host) lost money this weekend. 

Thanks for all your replies!!! It helped reaffirm what my gut was telling me. I decided to not process the refund. (They cancelled today for check-in tomorrow.) Here is the message I sent to the guest.

Hi [guest name],

I'm sorry to hear your event got cancelled. We do uphold a Strict cancellation policy which all guests agree to at the time of booking. If you're looking to recoup more of your funds, I would suggest contacting Airbnb. They have instructions on how to apply for an “extenuating circumstance" refund. Additionally, many credit cards offer travel insurance as a built-in member benefit. If you booked with a card, I suggest giving them a call.

Sorry we weren't able to host you!
Andrea & Travis Cole

According to all press statements, the event they claimed got cancelled is still happening so I'm not entirely sure they're being honest with me. For that reason, I decided to not offer a credit towards a future stay, which I would normally do. I'll update this thread if anything else worth mentioning happens.

We have a Strict cancellation policy but guests are asking for full refunds due to events that are cancelled in the area. We are not in a region of the US that Airbnb recognizes in the extenuating circumstance guidelines. I'm inclined to adhere to our cancellation policy but I'm having trouble putting into words the rational. Thoughts?? Am I being unreasonable?

@Sofia Sharkey Turnover BnB is actually where I found my cleaners. I didn't get a ton of quotes from the app though so there wasn't much to go on.

We run 2 Airbnbs out of a duplex in High Point, NC. Each are about 1,200 sq ft. One side is a 2 Bedroom/1 Bath. The other side is a 3 Bedroom 1 Bath. Both have queen beds except the 3rd bedroom--that has 2 twin. Our cleaning crew does all the normal STR stuff--cleaning, restocking, laundry, replace towels, reset beds, and will do the occasional odd job like replacing batteries. For the 2 Bedroom they charge $90 and for the 3 Bedroom they charge $100.

In our area, most Airbnbs charge $40-$60 so our fee is significantly higher. Our competition could be losing money on cleaning, cleaning it themselves, OR we're just being overcharged by our crew.

I'm curious what everyone else pays their cleaners and what your thoughts are on what our crew charges us.

We have ours set to Moderate but have been considering changing it to Strict. Ideally I wish you could set your cancellation policy based on season or date. We don't get many cancellations but there are key parts of the year that really hurt us if we do, which we're trying to safeguard against.

I use Turnoverbnb. It's actually how I found my cleaner. The fees are small and I prefer the peace of mind it gives me. We operate 2 STR and I hate the Google calendar integration. When someone books w/ TBNB, my cleaner accepts the turnover so I know he's seen it and will be there. I also get notices when he starts and completes cleaning, which means less communication is needed if someone wants to check-in early. And the app also processes payment once he's done cleaning and provides an invoice so all that is hands-off for me. Now, my cleaner is amazing but the app has also made the whole turnover process truly automated--especially the payment piece.