Cancellation as a host.

[Melanie224]

Hello fellow hosts

I am a newbie to airbnb and in my excitement I accepted a reservation before finalizing my pricing structure. Is there a way to cancel? Now I just about have a divorce on my hands : ( can anybody assist?

[Isabel203]

@Melanie224, Cancelling a confirmed reservation is almost the biggest sin a host can commit on AirBnB and it comes with some hefty penalties. If you cancel, the dates of the reservation will remain blocked by AirBnB and thus, you will not be able to book anyone else in to that spot, thus the cancellation will actually mean you are not earning ANY money during that period. The cancellation will also prevent you from obtaining Superhost status for at least a year. And the fact that you cancelled will be posted to your reviews, so that will be the first thing prospective guests will see, at least until you have built up some other reviews.

In short, I am guessing the best course of action is to suck this one up, follow through on the reservation, and move forward.  Take your partner out to a VERY nice dinner, explain how much you have learned and how you will prevent the error from occurring again. 

Good Luck!! Let us know what you decide to do and how it goes....

[Marie405]

Never cancel.  I made that mistake as a newbie months ago and paid dearly.  I found out that my second guest wasn't really the one who will be staying in my condo but his group of friends who "doesn't have an Airbnb account".  I got scared and worried so I cancelled the booking 2 hours later.  To make the story short - if you really need to cancel get Airbnb to do it and there'll be no penalty.

[Linda108]

@Melanie224  I agree with @Isabel203 and @Marie405.  Virtually every host has made some sort of pricing mistake because it takes time for a new host to understand how best to work this platform and this business to their advantage.  I see many improvements you can make on your listing and will ultimately make up for any loss you take on this first reservation.  Your goal with your first reservations is to provide more than the guest expects so you can get glowing reviews.

Meanwhile, as you tweak your listing, you might consider removing Instant Book so you can have control over reservations and not be blindsided.  Initially, your listing will be given a boost on the search by Air BNB but soon your activity with your listing will be a major factor in your position in the search results.

I hope you have found all the Help Center articles about hosting, especially about cancellations, and have read them.  There is a wealth of information on this site as well.  Just enter search tems and read various discussion threads.

Good luck to you!