Warning about cancellation loophole scam
We had a guest book a holiday weekend about 3 weeks in advance.
Our cancellation policy is Moderate, meaning:
- If cancelled 5 or more days before checkin our cancellation policy refunds 100%
- If cancelled less than 5 days before checkin, the refund is only 50% of the last day
So 4 days before cancellation, he sent a message that they had to cancel and he wanted a full refund.
But he didn't cancel at this point. We answered that he had to go through Airbnb for cancellation & we couldn't cancel for him.
Now 3 days before checkin, he still hasn't cancelled, but instead requested a 'rescheduling' for 2 weeks later.
Apparently Airbnb lets guests off the hook for cancelled bookings if they 'reschedule'.
Now here is the loophole & scam.
If we accept the rescheduling, he gets a full refund for the original booking because he's just rescheduling, not cancelling. Then in a week, he could cancel the new booking (more than 5 days prior to checkin) and receive a full refund for it.
And the scam is this - bottom line, he pays nothing and we're out 2 weekends of income because he knows how to play the system.
And if we decline the rescheduling, he can continue to request it again and again (he did) to keep us on the hook to decline his request or get dinged for slow response. We actually went around like this a few times until we figured out what he was doing. At this point, we didn't want this guest under any circ*mstances and there was a worry that since he didn't cancel, he might show up anyway and do something for revenge.
I finally called Airbnb and explained the situation. The agenthelped solve the issue,but didn't really get the problem. She kept explaining that everything was up to the host. I don't know what happens if the guest claims 'extenuating circ*mstances' and Airbnb accepts their proof. She made it sound like we didn't have to accept the ruling. Does anyone know how this works? We ended up offering a largerrefund if the guest cancelled that day. He did. Blackmail.
Until Airbnb fixes this loophole,hosts are basically forced to refund more money to unethical and savy guests who cancel. The cancellation policies we confidently attach to our listings are powerlessagains a guestwho knows his way around Airbnb.
Tags: cancellation, refund, hosting, scam
