Hello, we have a guest now. They originally scheduled an 11 night booking 3 months ago. They reduced it to 8 nights about a month ago. Less than 24 hours after check in, they are now wanting to reduce it by 2 nights.
I’m not thrilled of obligated. What would you do?
Gbcarch98
Hello. You are not forced to accept. You Can say it was finalized like this and that you already used the gp. As it’s personnal case, please see with the support if necessary
From 11 to 8 nights it’s ok, from 8 to 6 after check in is unacceptable. Say you already used their GPs. I’m also not sure if you can modify an exchange once it’s in progress.
On this issue, my opinion is very clear: a home exchange involves a personal commitment. Once an agreement has been reached, I believe it should be honoured. Neither the host nor the guest should find themselves under pressure to accept the return of GuestPoints or a cancellation, whether the request is made a month before, a week before, or even after the exchange has already begun.
If there is a genuine case of force majeure that makes the exchange impossible, then the right course of action is to contact HomeExchange Support so that they can assess the situation. If they decide the reason is valid, they should apply the appropriate guarantees and refund the GuestPoints to the person cancelling, while allowing the other party to keep theirs as planned. It shouldn’t matter whether those GuestPoints have already been spent or are still available.
In my view, a commitment should only be broken in exceptional circumstances, and it should be HomeExchange—not the host or the guest—who decides whether those circumstances genuinely justify a cancellation.
Otherwise, we’ll end up with the same situation that already exists on many vacation rental platforms, where people make reservations, cancel them whenever it suits them, and face no consequences. I don’t believe that’s in keeping with the spirit of HomeExchange.
So fully agree with you!