New Cancellation Policy and Process

Peerspace Updates
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BEST PRACTICES

There is a reason why the venue rental business has developed industry-wide “Best Practices” that have worked through time and millennia. In a nutshell:

INQUIRY
HOLD
BOOK

This works because it gives the potential renter (aka Guest) the opportunity to change their mind before committing to purchasing a date/s. The HOLD also allows the venue the opportunity to let other potential renters know that the date could become available again and therefore the second potential renter (aka Guest) should place a “2nd HOLD” on the date.

Should the first party RELEASE the date, then the 2nd HOLD automatically becomes a 1st HOLD. As the date of the event/shoot/party/meeting gets closer, the first potential renter (aka Guest) knows that they better get around to booking the date soon because if they don’t, they are going to get “CHALLENGED”.

A BIRD IN THE HAND…
A ‘Challenge’ is when another party tells the venue that they want the same date that is on HOLD with the first party; and that they are wiling to purchase the date NOW! (aka go into contract) So the venue then contacts potential guest #1 and tells them “S#*t or get off the pot”. If potential renter #1 is not ready at that moment to book, then the venue releases the HOLD and provides the Rental Agreement (aka contract) to the ‘Challenging’ party for immediate signing. The thinking here is that potential renter #1 (aka Guest) has had plenty of time to mull over the dates, was given “first right of refusal” and has allowed the HOLD to get stale.

HUBRIS
Peerspace comes along and decides that its mission “ …is to create a delightful experience for both hosts and guests ” and begins to mess with proven industry-wide best practices. PS has determined in all its great wisdom and experience that they are going to reinvent the wheel.

Apparently the leadership at Peerspace has been in the trenches themselves as seasoned “Hosts” and have invested heavily in their own private venues and have years and years of experience dealing with all the problems and challenges that come with Hosting…yes?

NEW METHOD

INQUIRY
BOOK
CANCEL
REBOOK (maybe or maybe not)

Does anyone else see a problem with this newly designed method or is it just me?

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42

The new cancellation policy is bad for hosts, and not in keeping with Peerspace’s commitment to space providers. It’s a lose-lose situation, where we have to choose between protecting our investment on our space, or getting better visibility.
Peerspace ought seriously re-consider this move. The old policy was perfectly equitable to both hosts and guests.

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44

Doubling back, I agree with the others that the other options were also less than appealing, unnecessary or in the interest of the host. The language is quite frankly punitive and telling the guest that we are “too strict” therefore, “stay away” from this host. People shy away from difficult businesses whether it be hosts or guests… IMO, this language is not in the best interest of growth for any business.

I too am happy to have the site to list on and for that, I pay out a predetermined %. Seems a good business partnership with benefits extended to both sides. As others noted, anything less than 14 or even 30 day cancellation without stiff penalties seems a major negative to the host and an incentive to flake off for the guest. Clients need to be nudged with less confusion to commit, otherwise they run the marketplace and run everyone ragged.

Differentiation happens naturally with regards to location, space, and amenities. Anything further via the web seems a negative to all except for the highest bidder. In the end, it would be impossible to stay in business, give clients the options & amenities they need, & to provide space for all budgets with such policies.

In a related industry I’ve been in for 15 yrs, 30 days is typical for final payment, (tho deposits much sooner) & once contract was signed even if 6 months out, we were reliably booked. This way we can count on an income, feed our kids and plan our lives accordingly. Setting a standard to protect the hosts who pay out to the site creators seems like a partnership we can all get behind.

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45

Hi Rony,

Thanks for providing clarity to the recent changes in the Peerspace Cancellation Policy. We really appreciate the automation aspect as it makes the process a lot smoother compared to the cumbersome nature of before. While we understand Peerspace’s need to best serve guests and provide more transparency in the cancellation process, we feel that such consideration for guests has come at the hosts’ expense.

With that said, we have a couple of suggestions that may help to quell some of the concerns we have as hosts:

  1. Elimination of the 24 hour full refund cancellation option altogether. Please know your industry better. This is not Airbnb, and therefore, not an applicable protocol or “protection” for anyone. Our guests are not spontaneous travelers looking for a last-minute getaway; our guests are organizers with complex projects and events that require thorough planning including the securing of locations, vendors, contractors etc. The very nature of their job is to to book in advance, and if a last-minute emergency arises where a cancellation must tae place, then that is theirs to eat, not the venue.

Allowing guests the option to cancel 24hrs before will simply invite bad behavior and abuse of such leniency. You will be allowing guests to hold a space(s) with no real intention to book. Consider those location scouts and/or event planners who, to appease their client and keep as options open, will shop and book up as many “flexible” spaces as possible to secure their desired holds, then cancel all of the unwanted spaces at the last minute with no penalty. What a nightmare!

Not to mention that with only a 24-hr window remaining to rebook the date, it would be nearly impossible to fill with another booking, especially considering the space would be removed from searches while it is being held up by the original booking. And even if the host was able to secure another booking, we all know how last-minute bookings usually go-- unorganized and unprofessional.

  1. Retitling the current “Moderate” option to “Flexible” or similar and changing the terms from “between 7 days to 24hrs” to “between 14 days and 7 days for a 50% refund & between 7days - 24 hrs no refund." Given that a large majority of bookings are made more than 7 days out from the booking date, this would give more leeway for hosts to get their space re-booked in the event of a cancellation. It must be emphasized that since a space is eliminated from searches when it is booked, there needs to be an adequate amount of time for the space to reappear in searches after a cancellation and to accommodate the scheduling of location scouts in advance of a potential new booking.

  2. Remove all verbiage containing “strict” & “very strict” given that such practices are industry standards and therefore, should not be used as scarlet letters deterring guests from wanting to book. Such inaccurate language makes the hosts out to be the bad guys when we are not. We are business owners reasonably protecting our interests while still trying to be as fair and accommodating as possible. Being accommodating means doing our best to service our customers, yes, but does not mean allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of in doing so.

What’s most frustrating is that it seems the hosts were considered last, if at all, when restructuring this new policy. The guests’ interests came first (clearly), then Peerspace (you still conveniently get your fee either way), then the host.

I know it’s impossible to keep everyone 100% happy, but c’mon guys. This is almost a slap in the face. We need to come together on this and do what works for all three parties of the transaction given that all three are necessary for a booking to even take place-- the people, the place and the platform. I sincerely hope you consider implementing the changes outlined throughout this forum as the current new policy will not suffice for the host experience.

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46

I just got one today that had asked twice to speak outside of Peerspace. When I politely declined, she specifically asked to go around Peerspace. People are bold :slight_smile:

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Hi Hosts,

Thank you to everyone here who gave input on the new cancellation policy. I’m humbled that our host community is as passionate about Peerspace as we are here internally. We’ve spent the last few days reading your feedback, and we’ve made some updates to the policy as a result.

Before I dive into those, I want to share a little more on why we’re making these updates. Over the past five years, our platform has grown tremendously. We now have over 10,000 spaces which range from traditional event venues, to lofts, to board rooms (and everything in between). It has become clear that our original cancellation policy is unable to support the growing diversity of spaces on our platform.

We surveyed a large population of our hosts with the four proposed options and the results demonstrate that there was no consensus on any one policy:

Flexible: 14%
Moderate: 30%
Strict: 19%
Very Strict: 25%
Other: 12%

Every space had different cancellation needs, and to navigate this, we needed to create more options so you could pick the policy that was right for your space.

That said, I now realize that many of our most loyal venues feel disadvantaged by the terminology and structure of the proposed policies. After reading your posts and speaking with many of you directly, we have made the following changes:

  • Rename the “Strict” and “Very Strict” policies so they don’t penalize your policy selection
  • Create a new policy that protects against cancellations starting 90 days out (which is consistent with our existing cancellation policy)
  • Reduce the grace period cancellation from 48 hours to 24 hours
  • Block guests from booking multiple spaces for the same day/time

Please read the details of the resulting policies below.

We are working to incorporate these changes into our system, and we will email you all with next steps and updates to timing in the near future.

Thanks,
Rony

All Bookings are subject to Peerspace’s Grace Period policy which provides a full refund for Bookings cancelled within 24 hours from receipt of a Booking Confirmation but no later than 48 hours prior to the Event start time. [note: we will not allow guests to book multiple spaces for the same day/time]

Very Flexible

Guests may cancel their Booking until 24 hours before the event start time and will receive a full refund (including all Fees) of their Booking Price. Booking cancellations submitted less than 24 hours before the Event start time are not refundable.

Flexible

Guests may cancel their Booking until 7 days before the event start time and will receive a full refund (including all Fees) of their Booking Price. Guests may cancel their Booking between 7 days and 24 hours before the event start time and receive a 50% refund (excluding Fees) of their Booking Price. Booking cancellations submitted less than 24 hours before the Event start time are not refundable.

Standard 30 day

Guests may cancel their Booking until 30 days before the event start time and will receive a full refund (including all Fees) of their Booking Price. Guests may cancel their Booking between 30 days and 7 days before the event start time and receive a 50% refund (excluding Fees) of their Booking Price. Cancellations submitted less than 7 days before the Event start time are not refundable.

Standard 90 day

Guests may cancel their Booking until 90 days before the event start time and will receive a full refund (including all Fees) of their Booking Price. Guests may cancel their Booking between 90 days and 14 days before the event start time and receive a 50% refund (excluding Fees) of their Booking Price. Cancellations submitted less than 14 days before the Event start time are not refundable.

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48

Hi Rony,
Thank you for listening to us and making these changes.

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49

At first read this is looking good, and I appreciate the timely and thoughtful response. Hosts want to feel that we are in this together, and that Peerspace has our backs. Thanks @Rony_C.

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Peerspace! (@Rony_C)
Thank you for listening and offering a new and much more host friendly policy.
:slight_smile:

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51

Thanks for taking the time for the revise. It seems a great change for the better. If it’s up for further input, it seems there are too many options still in place. Guests are going to have trouble cross referencing a space they might want to compare with some others, and so many options might create confusion about which is which. Is there any way to just offer the one option… ? Is there a way to take this a step further so we facilitate guests to easily commit in a solid way? Perhaps just leave the 30 day and 90 day… maybe the flexible? On second look, I’d likely dump the Very Flexible so any available options are simple and easily understood. Wonder if that’s in any way possible?

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Hi @Trish_H, thanks for your message. There’s a specific reason we need the “Very Flexible” policy - we have a lot of “turn key” meeting rooms listed with us. Think of a small conference room in a downtown building. These spaces are accepting a high volume of bookings that are often short duration and require a higher level of flexibility than a shoot or event. The very flexible policy is created specifically for those types of spaces, not necessarily for production/event venues. I hope that helps clarify why we need a range of policies.

Best,
Rony

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53

Hello All,

I am glad to see I am not alone in my concern that Peerspace is actually encouraging cancellations with their policy changes. I have been renting space for 10 years on my own and the people who visit my venue, book and they don’t cancel. I ask for 50% up front if it is more than 30 days away and the balance 21-30 days in advance. No refunds! If a necessary change in date happens I will do my best to accommodate. This probably occurred maybe twice in ten years. For bookings fees of $500 or less. it’s paid in full at booking.

Right now on Peerspace In just the last month. I have 24 offers to renters who let the offer expire after much back and forth in messaging and even site visits which they appeared very interested in the space. Today I had a visit from a guy who inquired for 4/5. 6-9pm. I had others who were interested in this date but he reached out and made an appt to see the space It is a brand new Urban Chef’s kitchen so I knew he would like it no question. He showed up on time. He likes it. Whats to do a class but…he said he just entered the day and time because the site would not let him message me without the booking inquiry. So dumb me…I held the date believing it was a serious inquiry.

Peerspace has done themselves and Hosts a great dis service by creating a culture of incognito renters who are not serious. Fielding all these bogus inquiries have become almost a full time job.

I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is when I have so many bookings that there are far less dates available for people to play me.

Weddings, reunions, anniversaries and birthdays. These are specific dates and tend to be booked 3-6 pos in advance. I n my experience out side of Peerspace. Once one of these has been booked, I have allowed the Renters into my space to plan sometimes 2-3 times by the 30 days prior. I have given them lots of free advise and allowed them to make changes to my space. I do not schedule an event the day before so they can set up that afternoon or evening and come to their event refreshed. So I agree with the others that even the 30 day cancellations are unfair to us. We have blocked that day to other potential parties. In my experience hosting 30 days or less is considered Last Min booking.

I think most of us would agree that If Peerspace matches our unique and thoughtful space with equally thoughtful renters we’d all get off other platforms and use Peerspace all day every day. As it is now, my booking to inquiry ratio is poor in my opinion.

I need to start asking that they book in order to see my space. I may get fewer bookings that way but I know what I have to offer.

I hope Peerspace is listening!

love you all! : )

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54

This is great! I along with everyone can appreciate this feature.

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55

It’s interesting to know what distinguishes those spaces? I may rent out my space this way too. Short duration as in how long? 2 hours? Is there a way those spaces can be sorted & in a category, so it makes sense to guests who see those cancellation options as specific to conference rooms or short duration rentals?

56

I agree this would be optimum!

57

Hey Rony, any idea when the revised language will go live on the site? When I went to update our cancellation setting it still showed the initial revised version: Strict, Very Strict, etc.

Thanks!

58

Within the next few hours :slight_smile:

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59

And… Is there a way that a guest is penalized? On Airbnb, if a guest (or host) cancels, it’s a big mark on their profile.

60

Hi @Sharon_R, welcome to the forum and congrats on your first post.

Yes, we will put controls in place to limit the number of times a guest can cancel within a certain time frame.

By the way, the updated policies are live on the site and they will go into effect starting April 1st.

Thanks,
Rony

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Yes, please let us know! Never dealt with this in Airbnb as it’s not necessary. I’m finding that some “industry professionals” are not so professional.

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