Tag Archives: airbnb cancellation

Innkeeper Finds Faults with the Review Process

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We own a beautiful inn in Britsih Columbia, Canada that is rated five stars across all the board and is also a winner of awards. We placed our inn on Airbnb to attract millennials to our island and show them nature and the wonders of a protected environment. We have been on Airbnb for three years.

We had an emergency and had to cancel one reservation which the guest took very well and very kindly. This was our first cancellation on Airbnb. The next thing we know, we saw that the guest’s review had been posted on the page like a ‘wall of shame’. Shame on Airbnb. This is disgusting.

We will be removing our inn from Airbnb as we are appalled. We also use Expedia and Booking.com – professional, supportive organizations. I do understand this process for hosts that constantly cancel but not Superhosts with one cancellation in three years and excellent reviews. Airbnb should remember that they don’t catch flies with vinegar. They have too much money and swollen heads.

Host Cancelled Less than 24 Hours Before Arrival

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Our host cancelled on us less than 24 hours before we were due to stay. This left us with no accommodation in London and our travel was all booked to North of London. It was difficult getting in touch with Airbnb and once I finally got through a person, he was just reading from a script and only offered £27 to help us which I felt was completely unacceptable. They showed us five alternative properties and four were so far south of London they were unacceptable. The final one we tried to get but were rejected due to it being so last minute. After we got rejected, we tried to contact Airbnb again. We got no reply until the next day, which was too late as we were traveling. We had to book alternate and much more expensive accommodation through another website and have been offered no other apology or compensation. The host has removed the property from Airbnb.

Host Cancelled 48 Hours Prior to Our Stay

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We booked a trip for Dana Point, Calfornia on Airbnb. The host cancelled the booking 48 hours prior to the arrival time. He had double booked the property with another site. We booked the property at least 30 days in advance and called us the last couple days mentioning that he had double booked and cancelled our reservation.

We feel cheated and discriminated against. He probably got a higher price for the property and rented to the other parties. Another reason is because of our race. If we would have been white or Caucasian, then I am sure he wouldn’t have cancelled our trip. He lied and mentioned that the other party had booked the trip seven months ago.

Airbnb couldn’t do anything except to transfer the credit to another property, for which we needed to find a host ourselves. They weren’t very helpful in finding a host for other properties so we are stranded with a big group without any place to stay for a long holiday weekend. People have paid for airline tickets for the gathering and all they could do was apologize. Their policy is favoring the host and leaving the guest stranded. I would never trust or use Airbnb again. I would recommend others not use this service as there are other sites that are more helpful.

I had the worst experience of my life booking with Airbnb

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I’ve got the worst experience of my life booking with Airbnb. My host cancelled my stay the day I landed in New York. After 2.5 hours spent chatting with the customer care without finding a solution, I was told by my representative that she would have finish her journey shortly and another person would take care of my situation soon. I was contacted two days later after opening a complaint against them.

It isn’t over yet. Since I had no place to go I decided to book a hotel (only 3% were available that day), then asked Airbnb for a full refund of the difference I had to pay between the hotel and my room ($600). After about ten days of emails back and forth they agreed to a payment of $300. Be aware your host can cancel your reservation; you won’t have a full refund and potentially no place to go.

Beware Airbnb’s Cancellations and Currency Conversions

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I used Airbnb a few years ago for accommodation in New Zealand and it couldn’t have been better – easy to book and great accommodation. The second time I used Airbnb was to book accommodation in Perth last Christmas. I booked months in advance, but the booking was cancelled by the host a few weeks before the trip because he suddenly “wasn’t going to be around.” In other words, best of luck to the customer – go sort it out yourself.

The third time I booked accommodation in Melbourne for July and was stung by Airbnb’s trick of charging in USD (same as many others by the look of it on a “com.au” website. It’s not unreasonable to expect to pay in AUD unless it’s as clear as dog’s balls that you’re not. I requested a refund. The host was okay with it but Airbnb was going to keep over $200 for their so-called service fee. I agreed with the host to shorten my stay to reduce the pain.

A couple of weeks later, my booking was cancelled by the host as they’d decided to “no longer offer short stays.” I wasn’t even informed that it was cancelled; I saw a refund appear in my bank account and had to ask what was going on before they confirmed that it had been cancelled. Classy on every level. This has been the worst online accommodation booking experience ever.

The system used by Airbnb is shakier than my mum’s 12-year-old dog trying to go to the toilet after she’d got to those burritos she shouldn’t have had. The biggest shame is that their website is really good and easy to use. My suggestion is if you find a place you like on Airbnb, see if you can book it via a different booking agent (e.g. one with some principles) as many of these places are also listed on other sites.

To summarize, here are some analogies for you: if Airbnb was buying your Secret Santa gift, you’d get a voucher for a store somewhere in a foreign country that you’d be unable to use, and it would be expired already. If Airbnb was your girlfriend, she’d walk up to you wearing lingerie, tell you to wait in the bedroom for her, then leave you waiting there whilst she went and married someone else. If Airbnb was a rock band they’d be Nickelback.

Last Minute Cancellation, No Response From Airbnb

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Our first ever Airbnb booking was cancelled this morning, two days before we were due to land in London. Airbnb sent a text message saying they had emailed us with an offer of 10% off an alternative booking. No such email arrived. I called them; they said a Case Manager would call me to assist. I called back again two hours later and there was no Case Manager to speak to. I was told a refund could take more than two weeks.

When I made this booking, had I cancelled it even an hour after having made it, I would have been charged 50% of the fee I paid but there is no meaningful compensation for the host having cancelled at the last minute. I have now had to book a hotel in London, costing a lot more, and Airbnb cannot even be bothered speaking to me about what is literally a breach of contract. I have other bookings with Airbnb for this trip throughout Europe and now don’t know whether we will even have accommodation when we get there. This is thoroughly unprofessional, skewed in the hosts’ favour and I will never, ever use Airbnb again.

Last Minute Cancellation by Host in the High Season

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I booked an apartment in Brussels for a seafood expo in April 2018 more than two months in advance knowing that it was high season and all. The host was very responsive at first after we paid through Airbnb, telling us to inform him of the arrival details as soon as possible. Two weeks into the stay, I contacted the host advising him of the arrival details and asked for check in information. I have used Airbnb only in the US – never for Europe – and this time I did not get a prompt reply. I sent again another message and there was still no reply. I tried to call the host and there was no answer. I contacted the host on Whatsapp and after a few days he answered saying that he would give me the information on Sunday, the day I will be flying into Europe from Asia. My stay was for that Tuesday, please bear in mind.

Sunday came and no information from the host. I sent him a message on Whatsapp again; the message was read but there was no reply. On Sunday close to midnight when I was transiting, a message from Airbnb came in saying my host had cancelled. I panicked; it was the busiest season in Brussels and I had no place to stay. I tried calling the host. He did not answer, but just replied: “Sorry, I’m busy!”

I scrambled to find a hotel room at the last minute but the prices were exorbitant or they were full. We ended up paying for a small one-star hotel for five times the price. It was a nightmare for us and for sure we would never recommend Airbnb to anybody. We tried to contact the help center through email and for no replies whatsoever. The conclusion is that we have been lucky with Airbnb all this time and if you ever get into a problem with your booking, well, good luck.

Canceled my booking while I was on my way

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I would not book with this host or Airbnb ever again. She canceled on us five hours before our planned check in. I reserved her apartment eight months in advance. She had even confirmed with me three days prior to the cancellation. I got the text message canceling our reservations on my way to the airport. I was baffled; I thought this must be a mistake.

I called her and she said there was “damage” to the apartment. Airbnb did credit my account and gave me a larger credit than the original price but other than that their customer service was a total fail. I called them three times and spoke to three different representatives; I was disconnected twice. The representative who finally did help me told me to open the app or the website and use the credit to find a replacement myself.

This would have been okay even 24 hours in advance but I was basically at the airport now for a 45-minute flight. The customer service representative asked me for the URL of the other apartments I was looking at. I was using the app; there are no URLs in the app. I told her the name of the listing and she put me on hold for 13 minutes. In the meanwhile, another friend of mine coming on the trip called and booked two rooms in a hotel.

The woman I got on the phone was trying to help me but it was clear that the customer service representatives are not trained in troubleshooting a cancellation on the day of. I was very lucky that we were able to get a place to stay on such short notice. It was high travel season for the city. Most of the accommodations on Airbnb that were available were too small or huge and expensive which the $80 bonus credit was not going to cover.

I really wanted to like Airbnb, but the experience made me appreciate commercial hotel chains. I do not plan on using the app again unless I have a backup place to stay. It’s been four days and I am still waiting for my refund. Even though this cancellation was the fault of Airbnb and they couldn’t adequately address the issue, I still have to wait up to 15 days for my refund.

Cautionary Tale: Reservation Alteration by Guests, for Hosts

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Here is a little known Airbnb policy we got screwed by: hosts who cancel a previously booked reservation do face some sort of penalty or automatic bad review. For a complete host cancellation, there is a 10% credit from Airbnb for the guest to rebook with another host. However, hosts that only partially withdraw the reservation are not penalized, the guest does not get the 10% rebooking credit, and when the reservation alteration feature is initiated by the guest (due to the host’s circumstances) to receive a refund, the recalculation formula for reducing the number of days penalizes the guest, not the host. This process did allow me a refund, but several days later my credit card was fraudulently charged again for the amount of my refund.

Forget about getting any help from customer service; they just keep passing you off to another case manager for another go around. If you do get someone who knows how to correctly apply a refund, it takes up to 15 business days to get it. I finally went to my bank to submit a fraudulent charge report.

We learned a hard lesson. It was not possible to find another house with similar amenities in the same location with such short notice. My suggestion to others is before you book with any host, ask if the house is currently on the market, or undergoing renovation. Also, I suggest that you review carefully Airbnb’s “reservation alteration policy.” Unless the host cancels the entire reservation, the guest gets screwed. I was instructed by an Airbnb case manager to “alter” my confirmed reservation for the reduced number of days the host could accommodate us. Do not do this if the reason for alteration is due to the host’s circumstances, not the guest’s. Have the host cancel the reservation and start over, either with the same host or a new one.

Stranded for my Bridal Shower and Birthday Celebration

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Today would’ve been the first time I’ve ever used Airbnb. Instead, my birthday celebration and bridal shower were ruined. The last minute cancellation by my host could’ve been handled a lot better by the Airbnb Account manager. They had no integrity and should be banned. They canceled my Instant Book reservation after telling me they were double booked because of spring break and then I found that the same property that left eight women traveling from six parts of the US stranded reposted on the Airbnb website at least five additional times under different descriptions and different names.

After discovering this with several Airbnb staff, this host was charged a $100 penalty while I missed my flight waiting on the promise of help by Airbnb’s customer service team. The olive branch given by Airbnb was expediting my refund which I won’t revive for at least three to five business days and $350 to cover my airline ticket. Honestly that’s not enough to make up for ruining one of the most precious moments I will have in my life, the celebration of my marriage. This will now be the memory I will tell about the bridal shower I never had. I’ll make sure to add the costs of lost plane tickets for my bridesmaids and those who made there flight to the story.

Due to me waiting for a promised call at 9:00 AM EST that never took place I was not able to inform them of the lack of resolution by Airbnb so they would not get on their flight. By the time I finally received a call from a supervisor to provide an update on if additional funds had been approved to secure lodging it was past 12:00 PM, three hours past the time they promised to call me. It took my third time requesting a call back to actually speak to someone and by that time I’d missed my flight.

I am in the process of receiving my funds back (which would happen anyway since the host cancelled) with an additional credit of $350 after I finally got in touch with someone in customer service 3 1/2 hours past the promised time (after requesting a call back via the site). That does not make up for the ineffectiveness of Airbnb to resolve my issue, nor the airfare my guests lost, nor the costs incurred for the guests who made their flights and had to pay for another to return because Airbnb could not step up and assist someone who is a first time user with their platform.

Eight women who made plans to celebrate my life event since November 2017 were displaced and I’m still waiting on my phone call from the account rep in California as promised by Airbnb. Help me understand how I should feel as a first time customer using Airbnb?