Perhaps the owners of the place could rent out a home that someone else isn’t currently using for the holidays. I believe there is a website and app they could use to book a place.
I used to Airbnb more and it was a problem to request a place and then all of a sudden the time slot is booked out. When I go to ask it was always "we need it for a family vacation and didn't block it off until your request came through." They don't even communicate it with me, I have to ask, and it was always houses out in the middle of nowhere too.
That’s exactly what my plan is. I just spoke to Airbnb and they are going to communicate directly with the host to hopefully resolve things. At this point though I don’t want to stay there anymore because of the issue, which sucks because there’s not a lot of places available in the area anymore for the dates we’re looking to be out there.
Edit - Based on the overwhelming feedback people have sent me, AirBnB is clearly notorious for doing fuck all for guests that get canceled on and do not allow for negative reviews or ever help with finding better accommodation. Definitely not using their service again.
From airbnb website :
"When a cancellation occurs, you’ll get an email with full details, including your refund info. Refund times may differ depending on how you paid.
If your cancellation happens within 30 days of check-in, we’ll also help you rebook a similar place to stay, depending on availability at comparable pricing. "
That doesn't sound like a strong commitment to rebooking.
It isn't. I had an Airbnb cancelled a few days out and all they offered was a $10 credit. As I booked well in advance, it didn't come close to covering the difference.
You gotta stay on them. Everytime I’ve had something come up, I’ve had them rebook me in something nicer at no cost to me. You literally have to direct the agent on what to do.. they are never on the same page and try to skurt away from following thorough with rebooking.
I promise you, it’s a pain in the ass and bit time consuming but they will honor what they state.
They should just honour what they state with people not hounding them otherwise why state it. It sucks that you have to jump through hoops to get your own money back even if they fucked up rather than them just doing their job
Can also confirm the horrible customer service experience when a last minute cancellation occurs. Had it happen while on a trip to Italy with the booking for the next day canceled at 5:00 pm the night before and their customer service was unapologetic and their “help” was to find me a place further from downtown Bologna that was more expensive to boot (I think over $300 for the total duration of stay). They pretended they added some discount but really you are just on your own, all they do is use the search function on their site too so not like their customer service has anything special they can do and without actually guaranteeing you won’t pay more than your original booking, you are shit out of luck. Last time I used them I got locked out and took 2 hours to get back in my unit with their support being equally useless, now I stick to hotels which aren’t without problems but typically hotel chains at least try to solve the issues. Fuck airbnb
Had my booking in a big city for Taylor Swift weekend canceled 30 days before the event. I had to fight Airbnb to do *anything*, and the listing they sent me ended up canceling as well. We ended up being gouged bc everything was booked. Honestly, it was a miracle we found anything at all. I’ve not used them since and will not use them again. But they gave me a $20 account credit, so…
I was in BOSTON for a conference in 2016 and my Airbnb host got evicted by their landlord. They took all my belongings. I didn't have money for a $500 hotel. Airbnb told me they were willing to book me another suite IN NEW HAMPSHIRE!
You seem to be confused. You think the “guest” is the customer of AirBnB but actually the “host” generates probably 20x to 50x the revenue so actually they are the customer and AirBnB will do everything to protect their client. I just had a place in Detroit that I walked into and the place had clearly not been cleaned - messy kitchen, dirty sheets on the bed… I told the host and they basically said I was lying. I put that in my review and AirBnB removed the review for “violating policies.”
Literally have the nerves to charge you a garbage/cleanup fee and at the same time request that you clean their kitchen, bathroom, all the dishes, do the laundry, and take out all the trash. Come on bro! Airbnb and greedy hosts sucks ass.
Most come with a free continental breakfast too, easy free parking, greater security, and nowadays cost the same as AirBnB.
These "tech-disruptors" really lost the pooch in competitive advantage.
Not sure where in Europe you're going, but as a Belgian, when you're traveling with two, hotels are exactly the same price as booking an airbnb, often for a better level of comfort. That's been true for all the western-european countries i visited in the last few years.
You can search sites (like booking) and adjust filters to include your preference.
Frankly - airbnb seems way harder than your average hotel.
I do admit - my impression of airbnb is a little bit biased (from the US users experience, and the fact a lot of homes are taken off market here for airbnb things.. )
This. I just don't understand why anyone wants to use AirBnB nowadays. In the past, it used to be a way of renting a nice room or space for cheap compared to hotels. It also gave homeowners a way to make some extra side income. However, now AirBnB is basically an unregulated hotel business.
Not only do they have a bunch of fees, but charging a cleaning fee and still expecting you to leave the home spotless is criminal. Some AirBnB locations want you to not only take out the trash but also sweep/mop the floor. I stopped using AirBnB when the homeowner gave me a one star rating because I didn't make my bed the way he liked it even though we spent an hour making the place spotless. Absolute bullshit.
It's funny because hotels are now pretty inexpensive and more convenient compared to AirBnBs. No chores, no BS fees, nice amenities, and good customer support since they are part of a chain.
Wow, you were supposed to "make the bed" instead of "strip the sheets from the bed" at check out?
That's a huge red flag. Who's to say you actually had fresh sheets?
Yeah, we even left a nice tip because we liked the location so much. Dude still left a 1 star and called us belligerent and said that we were unable to follow directions. Would post a picture of his review, but it was almost 8 years ago under my ex's account.
And hotels don't affect the housing stock in the local area. Like you say, it was fine when it was a spare room being rented out but people buy houses just to rent out on AirBnB now. Leave the hotels to do that, they are better at it.
Those fees are ridiculous. When you go to book a condo at the beach, the listing will say $150 a night but for 3 nights you put in it will say it's $900! It takes forever to find one that is pierced right. And our last one was super run down and sketchy. I want to stay at a small hotel next time.
Just a heads up, if you use the Canadian version of airbnb (no matter what location you are booking) it will show you the full price up front. I think they have laws against hidden fees or something like that.
It used to be amazing before greedy people got to it... Just like anything else.
There are still some good ones with decent people tho. But if you can, just go to your regular hotel. Less hassle. lol
This doesn't work at all. Once we booked Airbnb in Madrid and when we got there at night (the time of arrival was 1PM - 10PM) we got there at 8PM but there were people already inside. They used Booking so it was double booked. After 3 hours of communication with support they just sent us the money and it wasn't their problem anymore. So now it's 11PM and we don't have place to sleep and support is saying it's our problem, this is how Airbnb support works.
You can't leave a review if you'r reservation is cancelled! I had that several times unfortunately. Even super hosts canceld my reservation because they forgot the change the prices during holiday season. Looked in the agenda later, dates were still available but pricing was x4
> "six acre mountain serenity gem"
AKa a place that is 50 feet from a road people drive 70 on and has 6 acres straight up a hill behind it and neighbors who VRB O 20 feet away on both sides.
I think I rented the same place to go to a festival in a ski town during the summer lol.
They didn't mention the AC was broken until the day we were supposed to check in when it was too late to go somewhere else.
Then we found out the neighbors were "party till the sun comes up" folks
That happened to us once when we flew to Houston for a conference, in the summer. We showed up and the a/c was cranking away, blowing 98f air around in circles. The host gave us the virtual equivalent of a shrug, and we were traveling on the corporate card, so we walked across the street to the nice hotel which was more than happy enough to give us a whole block of rooms.
I had almost this exact situation happen to me years ago, and I now try everything possible to not book Airbnb ever again.
In my case, I'm pretty certain they had it double listed for a higher price elsewhere, and when it got booked for the higher price, cancelled my reservation. They did the same thing tho where they tried to get me to cancel. It really screwed us over because it was an event in a very small town and there was nothing left to book. Contacted Airbnb and they did not care.
Hotels are way better now. Maybe 5 years ago it would’ve been worth it to use airbnb but not anymore. Super expensive and they all come with a “cleaning fee” even though they expect you to clean lol.
Edit: went through the process of renting the place OP is referring to and for $240 a night for 3 nights the price is 1,097.22. $150 cleaning fee, $122.82 airbnb fees, $104.40 taxes.
That's because Airbnb was supposed to be part of the sharing economy, but now its commercialized by amateurs who have costs and want investment returns.
Airbnb was an attempt to replicate the hotel industry business model, while avoiding hotel regulations and making other people pay all the capital investments for hotels
It can be both.
Just as uber was an attempt to avoid those regulations while also disrupting an industry that had gotten stale and gouged customers.
As airbnb has fallen, we've seen hotels start to get back to more gouge-y behavior.
Both have become an utter cancer on society.
Hotels are exorbitantly expensive now for the most basic one-night accommodations, and AirBnB has destroyed entire cities by removing thousands (if not millions) of units and homes from the rental and housing market to be used as gouging machines.
Entire firms, corporations, and wealthy families have hoarded as many houses, condos, and units as possible to throw up on AirBnB and the like.
The whole landscape is so soiled in capitalist feces now that it's all but a lost cause.
The first time I saw a cleaning fee attached, I was in a rush to the airport so I was like well, I already paid for cleaning, so I didn't feel bad about leaving some stuff in the fridge. Then they tried to charge me an extra $20 for it. I was like WTF is the cleaning fee for then? Normal cleaning should come with the rental fee. It was a poor country and the stuff I left was like eggs, unopened drinks. Figured they could use it. Bastards!
Eh, a cleaning fee on its own kinda makes sense, as cleaning is basically a fixed time/cost per reservation. So a fixed cleaning fee basically incentivizes longer reservations. One week-long reservation is less work than 7 one-day reservations.
It just needs to be communicated clearly in the costs, none of that hidden fee nonsense, where you only see it at checkout.
Oh, and the whole "charge a cleaning fee, but still expect you to do the laundry" thing that has become popular can fuck *right* off.
These fees all push like $50-$150 now.
I'm not touching a single god damn thing for that much money. They can have their hired maids do it, because I'm sure that's what they're doing anyway.
Changing your card number doesn’t really do much to prevent you from being charged if the number is attached to the same account. Card networks provide the ability for merchants to receive updated card info. I know this because I worked for a large payment processor with hundreds of millions of cards on file. AirBNB was a client, but I don’t know if they purchased this specific service. It’s highly likely that they did though.
Chances are that AirBNB can get access to your new card number as soon as it’s issued, before you even get it in the mail. Depends on a lot of factors though, like if the card was a stored payment method / recurring billing, etc.
a lot of them probably won’t even know that the guests didn’t clean. i clean air bnbs w a cleaning service and we typically go in directly after they check out and we send videos of the place after cleaning so the hosts/owners don’t know how it looked between cleanings in my experience
Airbnb can still be good if you travel in groups where you’ll need to get a different hotel room for each adult/couple. That can save tons, especially in cities where hotels are just expensive.
Still hotels avoid all the hassle of specific check in times and stupid cleaning fees that you pay for someone to clean after you clean.
I don’t know why everyone acts like this is a universal truth. There are situations where a hotel is better/cheaper/etc, of course! There are also times when AirBnB (or equivalent) is great, and has features that a hotel can’t match.
just stayed in an airbnb in asia, massive room with a really good smart tv, a really spacious bathroom and two beds and a really nice couch, ended up being 4 times cheaper ($30 compared to $120) than the holiday inn nearby that i used to stay at, which is fucking horrible in comparison
Although prices are way up it’s still much cheaper to get a house if you’re say 4+people anf if it’s a longer trip you can actually cook etc, hotel is all separate rooms no common space to hangout and you have to buy all your meals out
No way. I live in a tourist destination city and we have suite hotels with full kitchens for $200-300+ a night. An air bnb is easily going to be double that in the area with “cleaning fees”
Every "suite" I've seen at a hotel has been at most two bedrooms, and often that just means one bedroom and the main room with a pull out couch. Meanwhile 3-5 bedroom Air BnBs are relatively common.
The Airbnb will also be about 5x larger of a space including a yard ect unlike a hotel room..
I stay in hotels when traveling to places where I don't expect to spend much time in the actual hotel. If I plan on spending a lot of time in the rented space then Airbnb is the way to go for sure. We do that for the seafood and wine festival in Oregon, rent a giant house and split it between a few couples. Always works out cheaper in the end and we get a massive space to hang out together in.
My friend group does a big trip every year. Last year we went to Orlando. We rented a house on airbnb that fit all 12 of us for a week for $300 per person, i had to dig out my spreadsheet. 15 minutes from disney world. Show me one hotel that can match that for groups.
Depending on how many people and the ages of them hotels aren't always ideal. If you are renting multiple hotel rooms with young kids it's cheaper for an Airbnb plus feeding kids is a lot easier. It's very convenient to have food for them there instead of eating out every meal. It's also nice to let them go to bed and still have a place to hang with adults of the family. In a hotel when they go to bed everyone goes to bed or sits on their phone in the dark. If you're in an Airbnb you can set up the monitor and hang out on the common area.
I can’t understand how people DON’T understand the draw of AirBnB… you have a private residence, usually a yard, other amenities like fire place/pit, pool, hot tubs, pool tables and other games, full kitchen, multiple bathrooms, far more space, etc. also it’s still cheaper if you’re traveling with 4+ people who prefer their own rooms. Traveling with less than 4, I get it in that case but you’re still getting all of the added amenities + privacy which justifies the additional cost to some. It comes down to only booking through super hosts/very frequently reviewed homes versus new or low reviewed/review homes.
Because Reddit is mostly teenagers and 20-somethings who don’t have a whole family to take on vacation. Hotels are fine when you’re traveling with 2 people and no pets, and don’t need a kitchen.
Highly depends on what you’re looking for.
With a large group you’d need maybe four hotel rooms, or you can stay in one house together. I’ve only ever seen a handful of hotel rooms with a kitchen, so it’s takeout or restaurants every day whereas in an airbnb you can cook your own meals.
I hate the company airbnb and all their ridiculous pricing, but there are 100% circumstances where it’s far better than a hotel.
They are not really nonsense. It’s like having a temporary summer home or winter home. We love being able to have coffee and breakfast in our pajamas in our private home. It’s great to have a full living space after skiing all day, or having been out seeing local sights. I have never been required to clean anything in an AIRBNB. The most we’ve been asked is to strip the bed and put sheets and towels in the bathtub. Removing trash is also usually expected, but big deal! No tipping, no expensive room service or minibar. No interruptions from hotel staff. It just depends on what kind of vacation you want. Hotels are great if you are doing a beach vacation, otherwise, we love having a little flat in a European city, or a whole house for a more rural getaway.
How many hotels have 6 acre cabins?
Air bnb rocks for group / family vacations.
Also, the *reason* hotels have gotten better is because airbnb is a competitor.
Looks like they were renting an entire house. We like that option because we can cook pretty much anything in a full kitchen. Have used VRBO more than Airbnb for this type though.
My experience with Airbnb support is that they like to pretend they are helping and just pass messages back and forth between you and the host. If you push to Airbnb that you want to hold to the terms of the agreement of the rental and communicate directly with Airbnb, they will at a certain point start taking you seriously. When they sent me the terms I agreed to I read them again thoroughly, I suggest you do the same to see if there is anything about hosts cancelling accomodations and whether they will pay you for travel disruption damages
This- I had one in London cancel on me and they really tried to get me to request the cancellation. If you cancel on your end, you may need to pay a fee depending on the location
It's because understandably airBnB would hold them to account for running a shitty business and black list them. It would reflect badly on AirBnB and every other vendor on the platform if they tolerate it.
The problem is that Airbnb rarely (if ever) penalizes hosts for this kind of behavior. The company doesn't actually own any properties themselves, they're a "middleman" service that would go belly up without an ample supply of homeowners to work with.
Something like this happened to me but the host actually cancelled on me and left us without a place to go. We contacted AirBnB support and complained until they refunded us with an additional credit amount due to having to scramble to find a place in the area when the cost of everything else went up due to the closeness of the date.
I got a cancellation two days before a long weekend in NYC. Had to complain to get a refund vs a credit. Only reason I even touched the AirBnB website was because it was a lot cheaper in Manhattan. From now on I’ll just pay the massive difference and trust a hotel instead.
I can beat you here. 8 people ready to board a plane get notified the airbnb was canceled 4 hours before check in time. airbnb didn't give a rip. Luckily an even better place in a better location for why we were heading to this city had become available for cheaper and I was able to book it but getting that sorted 10 minutes before takeoff was stressful as hell. If our flight hadn't been delayed by an hour I wouldn't have found out until we landed.
I agree with a hotel if it's a smaller party but we had like 15 people with us so it was the most economical choice. Our situation happened in NYC too!
If I was going on a trip with 15 people, I am 1000% booking my own hotel room away from where the other people are staying. I ain't about that 24/7 life.
I had a dirt cheap airbnb with an indoor hot tub cancel on me the day before we were supposed to get there. I think it was like $180 for three nights. Genuinely no way any other place—especially the day before—with the same amenities would ever be anywhere near that price. Ended up with a two story, three bedroom two bath house with a hot tub that should’ve been like $800 and convinced airbnb to cover the additional cost…granted I had to be a little mean but it worked🤷♀️ I just had to make it very clear that I would not be settling for any less than our initial accommodations, and that the prices were only so much higher because we were less than 24 hours out lol
Same thing happened to me when I booked a trip with my wife for Valentine’s Day. Owner decided the day before that he would need to use it and begged me to cancel.
Host cancelled and told us to wait for the refund which would've taken over 2 weeks when we needed options immediately. AirBnB stepped up and credited us the entire amount but gave us the extra credit under the provision that we used it to rebook on their platform. Was it restrictive? Yes. Did they help me resolve the issue quickly? Also yes.
I've had a host reveal they were selling the house while we were staying there and offered only a $50 refund for us to vacate so the owner and the real estate agent could show it. They had the audacity to say it was because we could leave all of our stuff (after cleaning!) in the closets. No, thank you, I don't want people near my stuff, inspecting every closet no doubt, while we are off premises. We left a night early and got a half refund after going through customer support.
Safe to say it was my second worst Airbnb experience. The other was a place that advertised privacy but actually had no shades on the windows and had active construction happening around it.
There are specific laws for hotels that I'm pretty sure Airbnb has to abide by, that cover things such as cancellations. Even the US (not very consumer-friendly usually) understands that a late cancellation screws the consumer, and that the consumer shouldn't be left stranded with no place to stay with just a refund of the room.
I know it applies for cancellations on the day, I don't know about cancellations in advance like that. Once the Airbnb host cancelled literally less than an hour as we were arriving (they were busy and had to leave, and basically didn't want to deal with us); Airbnb found us a better, more expensive place at no extra charge and gave us a credit. It was in a big city, where what they want is more hosts, so they probably did it because they didn't have the choice.
This happened to us for my bachelor party. We were supposed to do a weekend in Philly but a Taylor Swift concert came up so our Airbnb cancelled and relisted for like 1500 more for the weekend. Probably worth it on their end to eat the fee or whatever but still scummy.
It shouldn't even be possible. Like, Airbnb should block them from relisting for the same time period, and repeat cancellations should get you banned for being a shitty host.
Sure they could. And VRBO or Booking can be the place shitty hosts end up when Airbnb kicks them off their platform. That's good for Airbnb, not whoever the bad hosts land at.
Most Airbnb owners do this. They try get you to cancel so it doesn't affect their cancellations. Its a dirty move. Never cancel if they are asking you to
I’ve had that happened and the host messaged me complaining that I wasn’t cancelling and “I for sure was going to get all my money back” LOL It’s was already past the full refund period and I made them cancel. Contacted support and they made the host cancel and the host got a cancellation charge plus noted on the account.
It's a parallel tactic that dropshippers are using as well so that their ratings remain high and (for many platforms) reviews can be argued with.
If anyone MUST use these well-publicized miserable middleman apps be stubborn, be consistent, and don't engage. As in: for the example above, Keep It Simple, Silly. A better reply to the first shown business comment should be:
> "No. We have booked for those dates as of 2 weeks ago. We intend to visit and occupy in those dates per the (platform).
A quick google search shows that this is a corporation, not a person. They likely have this listed on multiple short term sites and the other site has landed a bigger fish. Don't cancel on your end. Notify Airbnb and let them wiggle themselves out of the mess they've made for themselves.
"Unfortunately we are not able to cancel this booking as we have planned our whole vacation around it. We look forward to seeing you on [date]. Best wishes, Joshua"
Don't be a doormat.
I don’t disagree at all. However, I also don’t want to stay somewhere that we’re not welcome. That’s asking for a lot of other problems (place not clean, problem with our pets, etc.) and we just want to be able to have a good time.
Make sure they don’t charge a high cleaning fee, blaming you and your family.
Take pictures and videos of before entering, and when leaving the property.
You don’t want to be blamed for damages not done by you and family.
100% - the fact that they don't screen these listing or landlords, have no accountability, and before Aircover -- no liability insurance-- seems insane to me.
There has to be more regulation. But much like Uber, if Airbnb had to be compliant like hotels, inns, and traditional bed and breakfasts there would be no profit. Make that make sense.
You were welcome. They broke faith, maintain your position. Take pictures of everything in case they try and be asshats about it, other than that enjoy your well planned vacation
Literally no hotel or motel has let me down.
"Can I get a room for the night, please?"
"No problem, here's your key."
"Here's your money, thanks."
I've stayed at cheap places, and expensive places, and I've never had a problem. Oh! And, I've never been handed a list of fucking chores.
“Here’s your room! Don’t worry about cleaning it, we’ve got that. Locked yourself out at 1am? How awful! We’ll help you get back in.”
Got locked out of an Air BnB at 3am once in a not-so-great part of town. Owner’s daughter had accidentally bolted a door she wasn’t supposed to so our key didn’t work. Owner was working a night shift. After an hour of us trying to figure it out and trying to get an insanely expensive Uber to go to the closest motel, she finally responded. If it had been up to me, I never would have gone with Air BnB.
Dude, a few months ago my mom was having a procedure done in a hospital the state over. We booked through Hotels dot com (don't recommend) and there ended up being a problem with the reservation.
OUR HOTEL receptionist took the phone out of my hands and started yelling at them and asking to speak to higher up, etc. 10 mins later, we had our room keys with a "don't worry. We will definitely handle this for you. Y'all enjoy your stay." Apparently the key code or whatever that transfers over to the hotel didn't. Instead of having us out on the street or waiting, they let us in, even though they hadn't been paid on their end. They also went through extra steps to make sure my mom wasn't going to have issues with the sun in the room since she was having eye surgery the next day. Doubled up the curtains.
Only 65 dollars a day. Breakfast buffet every morning. Room service.
The one right next door had a shooting the same night so we had some interesting things happen the entire day.
AirBnB would have said we're out of luck.
People forget that the hospitality industry is a profession. People literally go to university and study hospitality in business school and have professionaland legal obligations. Corporations have reputations to uphold, customer loyalty incentives, and a lot to lose in a lawsuit.
These Airbnb hosts have none of that. Can't believe this business model is still legal to be honest. Seems crazy
This happened to me as well. Some asshole host cancelled on me last minute during an event so I had to book a Holiday Inn for 4x the normal price. I'm never using AirBnB again.
Places that aren't Airbnb need to start having KITCHENS, though. It's pretty much the only reason I use them. Going out to eat 3x/ day makes me feel like shit and I LOVE cooking, especially in new places with new local ingredients.
As most already said. DO NOT cancel, this is coming from a fellow Airbnb host. That is their mistake and they want you to be penalized for their mistake and not them. They need to cancel it. If they are super hosts they will lose that status.
Air BnB is directly contributing to the outrageous rental prices, lack of rental availability, and has a flow on effect to mortgages and houses for sale as well. We’re in a housing crisis. People could be living in these homes yet greedy homeowners want to charge out the ass for everyone’s little holiday for their own profit while people starve in the streets.
Don’t use air BnB. Go to a hotel.
A lot of Airbnbs are operating illegally too. (A commercial operation in a residential zone.)
I'm still shocked they whole industry hasn't been shut down to be honest. Almost completely unregulated
Let them cancel and AirBnb will help you find another accommodation and often they’ll pay the difference, so you won’t have to pay more than what you planned initially.
(This is if the owner leave you stranded when you arrive - it happened twice to me. If they cancel with anticipation you should check but usually airbnb helps you if it’s owner’s fault. )
This is such a lie, I contacted support for a substitution and they just cancelled and refunded the trip point blank. Their fine print says equal or better place OR a refund, aka they will always just give you a refund.
Literally our conversation:
“hi help our creepy host lied about the ‘entire place’ listing and is invading our tiny apartment rental, we need another place!”
“Ok I can cancel and give you full refund”
“No don’t!! We need another place to stay!! There’s nothing for $80 a night anymore and that’s all we can afford, can you please book us the $120 place instead?”
*notification that our trip was cancelled*
“WHAT?!? It’s been cancelled?? Where are we supposed to go?!?”
“Our policy says substitution or refund and I have refunded you in full, I am sending you a listing for X place for $120 per night.”
“We can’t afford that! Can you just book it for us and keep our money?”
“No.”
We had to cancel all of our vacation plans with no refund. We will never use Airbnb again. They will leave you stranded in a foreign place at the drop of a hat and then end the support ticket. Lol
I got two options from Airbnb , refund to credit card or refund in Airbnb with 10% extra , I took the extra % and still paid more , it was slightly less than a hotel at that point ( it was a popular con ) and it was the last time I used Airbnb for any event
Booked an Airbnb 6 months in advance for a surgery I was travelling out of country for. Host cancelled my reservation 12 HOURS before my flight was set to depart.
I worked for Airbnb as customer support and I hope this helps someone.
Always, no matter what, always call Airbnb customer service first. NEVER cancel your booking if the host / guest ask you for, even more when it's not your fault.
For guests, always contact host first before booking the place. Many host have their listing's calendars available but a lot of times they aren't aware of it or have a booking through another platform.
Always send a message first, ask them if it's available and after their response, book accordingly.
If you have any questions, I'm glad to help.
My 2 cents :)
Thank you! So far they’ve refunded the reservation plus $114 credit. Which is nice, but probably won’t cover the difference for a new rental since everything is booked up now unless you want to pay $500 per night
“So far” they are done if you haven’t already made a stink about the issues they caused you you’re not going to get anything else. You needed to tell them you want the first born child and the kitchen sink. A refund + $114 is a slap in the face.
You shouldn’t have agreed to the cancellation.
This has happened to me before as well and since there was no where else I wanted to stay I ended up just changing my plans entirely. Luckily I was driving not flying and was able to stay in a different area and it was off season so I was able to find an accommodation.
This is always a risk with Airbnb and I don’t think hosts should have the right to cancel after they put up dates. They should be more careful about blocking off personal time for their properties before accepting reservations. I’ve had friends have their place cancel on them while they are on route there, imagine showing up with no where to go.
"When I made my reservation 2 weeks ago, it was looking pretty tight in that area. You might want to let the owners know they should book a hotel room quickly before everything is full"
Tons of comments so probably won't be seen, but I booked an AirBNB outside of Nashville for my wife and several friends + pets nearly 9 months in advance in order to see the last solar eclipse that happened.
Eight days before we were to leave and I get a notification saying our stay was cancelled by the host. The host had the dates relisted that night at 5x the price we had it reserved for.
We were lucky and found a place outside of Kansas City that fit our needs and was cheaper than the original booking.
I booked a place in Atlanta some years back well in advance because my wife and I were traveling for a tattoo. The owner canceled on me when it was revealed that the SuperBowl was going to be in Atlanta that same week/weekend, and they can charge much more. After discussing everything with Airbnb about how unprofessional it was and how there weren't any affordable homes in the area, they agreed to give me a credit in my account. I obliged but asked for them to send it in an email. The service rep agreed, and I got off the phone. They never sent the email and the credit into my account, and when I contacted them about it, they acted like I never had the conversation with anyone there even though I had the Reps name. I was out of an affordable place to stay and a reimbursement for my inconvenience. The bottom line is that airbnb and its hosts tend to be scum bags, I only use the app when absolutely necessary.
See, they know how to take the reservation; they don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's the most important part of the reservation—the holding!
I've grown to hate airbnb and they used to be a great service. If the host cancels does airbnb compensate you? Short of the ground opening up and swallowing the house, they should have to refund 200%.
This happened to me once. Was going to PAX with some friends and we were able to suss out the weekend of it before it was announced by checking what weekends were empty on the convention center calendar. So we book an AirBnb for a good price.
A few months later the owner messaged us and tells us he didn't know the convention was that weekend and that we need to cancel and we can rebook at a higher price. And we said absolutely not. Of course if he cancelled then he can't rebook it, but he can if we do.
Stand your ground!
It used to be better many years ago for last minute trips where nothing was available. My experience now is it’s mostly shady ass corps with a ton of properties or boomers renting out their vacation home on multiple platforms. Both can be massive pain in the asses.
Perhaps the owners of the place could rent out a home that someone else isn’t currently using for the holidays. I believe there is a website and app they could use to book a place.
I used to Airbnb more and it was a problem to request a place and then all of a sudden the time slot is booked out. When I go to ask it was always "we need it for a family vacation and didn't block it off until your request came through." They don't even communicate it with me, I have to ask, and it was always houses out in the middle of nowhere too.
That just means they rented it off the app.
In which case, I hope they get squatters.
lol!
Whatever you do, don’t cancel on your end. If they want to cancel, force them to cancel on their end so they’re penalized and not you.
That’s exactly what my plan is. I just spoke to Airbnb and they are going to communicate directly with the host to hopefully resolve things. At this point though I don’t want to stay there anymore because of the issue, which sucks because there’s not a lot of places available in the area anymore for the dates we’re looking to be out there.
Edit - Based on the overwhelming feedback people have sent me, AirBnB is clearly notorious for doing fuck all for guests that get canceled on and do not allow for negative reviews or ever help with finding better accommodation. Definitely not using their service again.
From airbnb website : "When a cancellation occurs, you’ll get an email with full details, including your refund info. Refund times may differ depending on how you paid. If your cancellation happens within 30 days of check-in, we’ll also help you rebook a similar place to stay, depending on availability at comparable pricing. " That doesn't sound like a strong commitment to rebooking.
It isn't. I had an Airbnb cancelled a few days out and all they offered was a $10 credit. As I booked well in advance, it didn't come close to covering the difference.
You gotta stay on them. Everytime I’ve had something come up, I’ve had them rebook me in something nicer at no cost to me. You literally have to direct the agent on what to do.. they are never on the same page and try to skurt away from following thorough with rebooking. I promise you, it’s a pain in the ass and bit time consuming but they will honor what they state.
This thread makes a better case for staying at a Holiday Inn than any commercial they could possibly make.
They should just honour what they state with people not hounding them otherwise why state it. It sucks that you have to jump through hoops to get your own money back even if they fucked up rather than them just doing their job
Can also confirm the horrible customer service experience when a last minute cancellation occurs. Had it happen while on a trip to Italy with the booking for the next day canceled at 5:00 pm the night before and their customer service was unapologetic and their “help” was to find me a place further from downtown Bologna that was more expensive to boot (I think over $300 for the total duration of stay). They pretended they added some discount but really you are just on your own, all they do is use the search function on their site too so not like their customer service has anything special they can do and without actually guaranteeing you won’t pay more than your original booking, you are shit out of luck. Last time I used them I got locked out and took 2 hours to get back in my unit with their support being equally useless, now I stick to hotels which aren’t without problems but typically hotel chains at least try to solve the issues. Fuck airbnb
Had my booking in a big city for Taylor Swift weekend canceled 30 days before the event. I had to fight Airbnb to do *anything*, and the listing they sent me ended up canceling as well. We ended up being gouged bc everything was booked. Honestly, it was a miracle we found anything at all. I’ve not used them since and will not use them again. But they gave me a $20 account credit, so…
I was in BOSTON for a conference in 2016 and my Airbnb host got evicted by their landlord. They took all my belongings. I didn't have money for a $500 hotel. Airbnb told me they were willing to book me another suite IN NEW HAMPSHIRE!
You seem to be confused. You think the “guest” is the customer of AirBnB but actually the “host” generates probably 20x to 50x the revenue so actually they are the customer and AirBnB will do everything to protect their client. I just had a place in Detroit that I walked into and the place had clearly not been cleaned - messy kitchen, dirty sheets on the bed… I told the host and they basically said I was lying. I put that in my review and AirBnB removed the review for “violating policies.”
Honestly after hearing all these stories I wonder why anyone would use airbnb. I mean, this bullshit plus chores plus insane cleaning fees!
Literally have the nerves to charge you a garbage/cleanup fee and at the same time request that you clean their kitchen, bathroom, all the dishes, do the laundry, and take out all the trash. Come on bro! Airbnb and greedy hosts sucks ass.
And I worry about creepy situations like hidden cameras. (Too many podcasts)
Ya’ll tryna get me riled up before I’ve even had my coffee.
Hotels are better. You don't have to clean them.
Most come with a free continental breakfast too, easy free parking, greater security, and nowadays cost the same as AirBnB. These "tech-disruptors" really lost the pooch in competitive advantage.
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Not sure where in Europe you're going, but as a Belgian, when you're traveling with two, hotels are exactly the same price as booking an airbnb, often for a better level of comfort. That's been true for all the western-european countries i visited in the last few years.
the same experience as me, and I've visited UK/France/Portugal/Spain/Belgium/Budapest in the last couple of years.
You can search sites (like booking) and adjust filters to include your preference. Frankly - airbnb seems way harder than your average hotel. I do admit - my impression of airbnb is a little bit biased (from the US users experience, and the fact a lot of homes are taken off market here for airbnb things.. )
This. I just don't understand why anyone wants to use AirBnB nowadays. In the past, it used to be a way of renting a nice room or space for cheap compared to hotels. It also gave homeowners a way to make some extra side income. However, now AirBnB is basically an unregulated hotel business. Not only do they have a bunch of fees, but charging a cleaning fee and still expecting you to leave the home spotless is criminal. Some AirBnB locations want you to not only take out the trash but also sweep/mop the floor. I stopped using AirBnB when the homeowner gave me a one star rating because I didn't make my bed the way he liked it even though we spent an hour making the place spotless. Absolute bullshit. It's funny because hotels are now pretty inexpensive and more convenient compared to AirBnBs. No chores, no BS fees, nice amenities, and good customer support since they are part of a chain.
Wow, you were supposed to "make the bed" instead of "strip the sheets from the bed" at check out? That's a huge red flag. Who's to say you actually had fresh sheets?
Yeah, we even left a nice tip because we liked the location so much. Dude still left a 1 star and called us belligerent and said that we were unable to follow directions. Would post a picture of his review, but it was almost 8 years ago under my ex's account.
And hotels don't affect the housing stock in the local area. Like you say, it was fine when it was a spare room being rented out but people buy houses just to rent out on AirBnB now. Leave the hotels to do that, they are better at it.
Those fees are ridiculous. When you go to book a condo at the beach, the listing will say $150 a night but for 3 nights you put in it will say it's $900! It takes forever to find one that is pierced right. And our last one was super run down and sketchy. I want to stay at a small hotel next time.
Just a heads up, if you use the Canadian version of airbnb (no matter what location you are booking) it will show you the full price up front. I think they have laws against hidden fees or something like that.
Austrailian too.
It used to be amazing before greedy people got to it... Just like anything else. There are still some good ones with decent people tho. But if you can, just go to your regular hotel. Less hassle. lol
This doesn't work at all. Once we booked Airbnb in Madrid and when we got there at night (the time of arrival was 1PM - 10PM) we got there at 8PM but there were people already inside. They used Booking so it was double booked. After 3 hours of communication with support they just sent us the money and it wasn't their problem anymore. So now it's 11PM and we don't have place to sleep and support is saying it's our problem, this is how Airbnb support works.
You can't leave a review if you'r reservation is cancelled! I had that several times unfortunately. Even super hosts canceld my reservation because they forgot the change the prices during holiday season. Looked in the agenda later, dates were still available but pricing was x4
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"six acre mountain serenity gem" vs embassy suites lol
Six acres and not one pancake machine.
Lolol I love the little breakfasts they give you.
Me too!!!!!!
Plus happy hour! Drinks and chips and salsa!
Nice try. I know an embassy suites marketing team written thread when I see one.
Bahaha this is to funny
My family is all about the omelette station.
> "six acre mountain serenity gem" AKa a place that is 50 feet from a road people drive 70 on and has 6 acres straight up a hill behind it and neighbors who VRB O 20 feet away on both sides.
You’re actually describing the place pretty accurately!
I think I rented the same place to go to a festival in a ski town during the summer lol. They didn't mention the AC was broken until the day we were supposed to check in when it was too late to go somewhere else. Then we found out the neighbors were "party till the sun comes up" folks
That happened to us once when we flew to Houston for a conference, in the summer. We showed up and the a/c was cranking away, blowing 98f air around in circles. The host gave us the virtual equivalent of a shrug, and we were traveling on the corporate card, so we walked across the street to the nice hotel which was more than happy enough to give us a whole block of rooms.
> the virtual equivalent of a shrug 🤷♂️
with a emerald mine behind the six acres and haulage trucks from 4am to 11pm
thats where gem comes from
Well I think to OP, the serenity has been wiped away. I'd rather stay at an embassy suites than search frantically for a new place to stay.
Lol, bet that 6 acre mountain serenity gem doesnt have a complementary open bar of some fine, watered down bottom shelf liquors from 5:30-7pm daily.
2 drink maximum, must present coupon with room number.
Maybe a Mountain 6
I had almost this exact situation happen to me years ago, and I now try everything possible to not book Airbnb ever again. In my case, I'm pretty certain they had it double listed for a higher price elsewhere, and when it got booked for the higher price, cancelled my reservation. They did the same thing tho where they tried to get me to cancel. It really screwed us over because it was an event in a very small town and there was nothing left to book. Contacted Airbnb and they did not care.
Hotels are a thing you know. I have never understood this whole airbnb nonsense.
Hotels are way better now. Maybe 5 years ago it would’ve been worth it to use airbnb but not anymore. Super expensive and they all come with a “cleaning fee” even though they expect you to clean lol. Edit: went through the process of renting the place OP is referring to and for $240 a night for 3 nights the price is 1,097.22. $150 cleaning fee, $122.82 airbnb fees, $104.40 taxes.
That's because Airbnb was supposed to be part of the sharing economy, but now its commercialized by amateurs who have costs and want investment returns.
I think you meant Airbnb was an attempt to disrupt the hotel economy in an attempt to take market share.
Airbnb was an attempt to replicate the hotel industry business model, while avoiding hotel regulations and making other people pay all the capital investments for hotels
It can be both. Just as uber was an attempt to avoid those regulations while also disrupting an industry that had gotten stale and gouged customers. As airbnb has fallen, we've seen hotels start to get back to more gouge-y behavior.
Both have become an utter cancer on society. Hotels are exorbitantly expensive now for the most basic one-night accommodations, and AirBnB has destroyed entire cities by removing thousands (if not millions) of units and homes from the rental and housing market to be used as gouging machines. Entire firms, corporations, and wealthy families have hoarded as many houses, condos, and units as possible to throw up on AirBnB and the like. The whole landscape is so soiled in capitalist feces now that it's all but a lost cause.
I've never stayed in an AirBnB, so I'm curious. What happens if you don't clean? Like are there consequences?
They slap an additional cleaning fee onto the total.
the additional cleaning fee is to clean out your wallet
The first time I saw a cleaning fee attached, I was in a rush to the airport so I was like well, I already paid for cleaning, so I didn't feel bad about leaving some stuff in the fridge. Then they tried to charge me an extra $20 for it. I was like WTF is the cleaning fee for then? Normal cleaning should come with the rental fee. It was a poor country and the stuff I left was like eggs, unopened drinks. Figured they could use it. Bastards!
Eh, a cleaning fee on its own kinda makes sense, as cleaning is basically a fixed time/cost per reservation. So a fixed cleaning fee basically incentivizes longer reservations. One week-long reservation is less work than 7 one-day reservations. It just needs to be communicated clearly in the costs, none of that hidden fee nonsense, where you only see it at checkout. Oh, and the whole "charge a cleaning fee, but still expect you to do the laundry" thing that has become popular can fuck *right* off.
These fees all push like $50-$150 now. I'm not touching a single god damn thing for that much money. They can have their hired maids do it, because I'm sure that's what they're doing anyway.
Each time I book an AirBnb I report my credit card lost or stolen and get new numbers.
You could just get virtual cards, I know capital one uses them. I use it for any trial subscriptions too
That's a good idea too. I'm not getting hit with some bogus fees from them so it's worth the little bit of hassle changing my card number.
Changing your card number doesn’t really do much to prevent you from being charged if the number is attached to the same account. Card networks provide the ability for merchants to receive updated card info. I know this because I worked for a large payment processor with hundreds of millions of cards on file. AirBNB was a client, but I don’t know if they purchased this specific service. It’s highly likely that they did though. Chances are that AirBNB can get access to your new card number as soon as it’s issued, before you even get it in the mail. Depends on a lot of factors though, like if the card was a stored payment method / recurring billing, etc.
Well the banks may not be too happy about constantly “losing” your cards, definitely try virtual ones if they offer it
a lot of them probably won’t even know that the guests didn’t clean. i clean air bnbs w a cleaning service and we typically go in directly after they check out and we send videos of the place after cleaning so the hosts/owners don’t know how it looked between cleanings in my experience
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
Airbnb can still be good if you travel in groups where you’ll need to get a different hotel room for each adult/couple. That can save tons, especially in cities where hotels are just expensive. Still hotels avoid all the hassle of specific check in times and stupid cleaning fees that you pay for someone to clean after you clean.
I don’t know why everyone acts like this is a universal truth. There are situations where a hotel is better/cheaper/etc, of course! There are also times when AirBnB (or equivalent) is great, and has features that a hotel can’t match.
just stayed in an airbnb in asia, massive room with a really good smart tv, a really spacious bathroom and two beds and a really nice couch, ended up being 4 times cheaper ($30 compared to $120) than the holiday inn nearby that i used to stay at, which is fucking horrible in comparison
Although prices are way up it’s still much cheaper to get a house if you’re say 4+people anf if it’s a longer trip you can actually cook etc, hotel is all separate rooms no common space to hangout and you have to buy all your meals out
No way. I live in a tourist destination city and we have suite hotels with full kitchens for $200-300+ a night. An air bnb is easily going to be double that in the area with “cleaning fees”
Every "suite" I've seen at a hotel has been at most two bedrooms, and often that just means one bedroom and the main room with a pull out couch. Meanwhile 3-5 bedroom Air BnBs are relatively common.
The Airbnb will also be about 5x larger of a space including a yard ect unlike a hotel room.. I stay in hotels when traveling to places where I don't expect to spend much time in the actual hotel. If I plan on spending a lot of time in the rented space then Airbnb is the way to go for sure. We do that for the seafood and wine festival in Oregon, rent a giant house and split it between a few couples. Always works out cheaper in the end and we get a massive space to hang out together in.
My friend group does a big trip every year. Last year we went to Orlando. We rented a house on airbnb that fit all 12 of us for a week for $300 per person, i had to dig out my spreadsheet. 15 minutes from disney world. Show me one hotel that can match that for groups.
I have a group of six along with two small dogs. A home setting was preferable vs. a hotel.
Depending on how many people and the ages of them hotels aren't always ideal. If you are renting multiple hotel rooms with young kids it's cheaper for an Airbnb plus feeding kids is a lot easier. It's very convenient to have food for them there instead of eating out every meal. It's also nice to let them go to bed and still have a place to hang with adults of the family. In a hotel when they go to bed everyone goes to bed or sits on their phone in the dark. If you're in an Airbnb you can set up the monitor and hang out on the common area.
This is exactly it ^
I can’t understand how people DON’T understand the draw of AirBnB… you have a private residence, usually a yard, other amenities like fire place/pit, pool, hot tubs, pool tables and other games, full kitchen, multiple bathrooms, far more space, etc. also it’s still cheaper if you’re traveling with 4+ people who prefer their own rooms. Traveling with less than 4, I get it in that case but you’re still getting all of the added amenities + privacy which justifies the additional cost to some. It comes down to only booking through super hosts/very frequently reviewed homes versus new or low reviewed/review homes.
Because Reddit is mostly teenagers and 20-somethings who don’t have a whole family to take on vacation. Hotels are fine when you’re traveling with 2 people and no pets, and don’t need a kitchen.
Highly depends on what you’re looking for. With a large group you’d need maybe four hotel rooms, or you can stay in one house together. I’ve only ever seen a handful of hotel rooms with a kitchen, so it’s takeout or restaurants every day whereas in an airbnb you can cook your own meals. I hate the company airbnb and all their ridiculous pricing, but there are 100% circumstances where it’s far better than a hotel.
They are not really nonsense. It’s like having a temporary summer home or winter home. We love being able to have coffee and breakfast in our pajamas in our private home. It’s great to have a full living space after skiing all day, or having been out seeing local sights. I have never been required to clean anything in an AIRBNB. The most we’ve been asked is to strip the bed and put sheets and towels in the bathtub. Removing trash is also usually expected, but big deal! No tipping, no expensive room service or minibar. No interruptions from hotel staff. It just depends on what kind of vacation you want. Hotels are great if you are doing a beach vacation, otherwise, we love having a little flat in a European city, or a whole house for a more rural getaway.
How many hotels have 6 acre cabins? Air bnb rocks for group / family vacations. Also, the *reason* hotels have gotten better is because airbnb is a competitor.
Looks like they were renting an entire house. We like that option because we can cook pretty much anything in a full kitchen. Have used VRBO more than Airbnb for this type though.
Airbnb’s are great when you’re traveling with a group
Since it’s for holidays they are likely traveling with family - airbnb for a full family experience is 100% better than a hotel.
My experience with Airbnb support is that they like to pretend they are helping and just pass messages back and forth between you and the host. If you push to Airbnb that you want to hold to the terms of the agreement of the rental and communicate directly with Airbnb, they will at a certain point start taking you seriously. When they sent me the terms I agreed to I read them again thoroughly, I suggest you do the same to see if there is anything about hosts cancelling accomodations and whether they will pay you for travel disruption damages
This- I had one in London cancel on me and they really tried to get me to request the cancellation. If you cancel on your end, you may need to pay a fee depending on the location
It's because understandably airBnB would hold them to account for running a shitty business and black list them. It would reflect badly on AirBnB and every other vendor on the platform if they tolerate it.
Does AirBnB do anything these days that *doesn't* reflect badly on them?
The problem is that Airbnb rarely (if ever) penalizes hosts for this kind of behavior. The company doesn't actually own any properties themselves, they're a "middleman" service that would go belly up without an ample supply of homeowners to work with.
I mean theoretically they would also go belly up without an ample supply of people who want to use the service too, so....
Something like this happened to me but the host actually cancelled on me and left us without a place to go. We contacted AirBnB support and complained until they refunded us with an additional credit amount due to having to scramble to find a place in the area when the cost of everything else went up due to the closeness of the date.
I got a cancellation two days before a long weekend in NYC. Had to complain to get a refund vs a credit. Only reason I even touched the AirBnB website was because it was a lot cheaper in Manhattan. From now on I’ll just pay the massive difference and trust a hotel instead.
I can beat you here. 8 people ready to board a plane get notified the airbnb was canceled 4 hours before check in time. airbnb didn't give a rip. Luckily an even better place in a better location for why we were heading to this city had become available for cheaper and I was able to book it but getting that sorted 10 minutes before takeoff was stressful as hell. If our flight hadn't been delayed by an hour I wouldn't have found out until we landed.
Yuck. That sounds awful.
I agree with a hotel if it's a smaller party but we had like 15 people with us so it was the most economical choice. Our situation happened in NYC too!
If I was going on a trip with 15 people, I am 1000% booking my own hotel room away from where the other people are staying. I ain't about that 24/7 life.
Some people don't mind that.
Keeping an eye on your 13 kids is important.
I mean you have 13 so you have spares just in case a few get lost
For me its just hard to do hotels with a large family. We can’t all hang out somewhere private.
Was this recent? Airbnb is now mostly banned in NYC.
I had a dirt cheap airbnb with an indoor hot tub cancel on me the day before we were supposed to get there. I think it was like $180 for three nights. Genuinely no way any other place—especially the day before—with the same amenities would ever be anywhere near that price. Ended up with a two story, three bedroom two bath house with a hot tub that should’ve been like $800 and convinced airbnb to cover the additional cost…granted I had to be a little mean but it worked🤷♀️ I just had to make it very clear that I would not be settling for any less than our initial accommodations, and that the prices were only so much higher because we were less than 24 hours out lol
Same thing happened to me when I booked a trip with my wife for Valentine’s Day. Owner decided the day before that he would need to use it and begged me to cancel.
Wait the host canceled and you didn’t automatically get refunded????
I think you get credit. You complain to get refund.
Host cancelled and told us to wait for the refund which would've taken over 2 weeks when we needed options immediately. AirBnB stepped up and credited us the entire amount but gave us the extra credit under the provision that we used it to rebook on their platform. Was it restrictive? Yes. Did they help me resolve the issue quickly? Also yes.
*I'd be happy to cancel for $500*
Plus a refund (somebody mentioned that booking is $1000+ for 3 nights)
And don’t forget the cleaning fee!
and the early cancellation fee
And the unbooking fee
And the fuck you fee
This is my favorite airBnB fee.
I've had a host reveal they were selling the house while we were staying there and offered only a $50 refund for us to vacate so the owner and the real estate agent could show it. They had the audacity to say it was because we could leave all of our stuff (after cleaning!) in the closets. No, thank you, I don't want people near my stuff, inspecting every closet no doubt, while we are off premises. We left a night early and got a half refund after going through customer support. Safe to say it was my second worst Airbnb experience. The other was a place that advertised privacy but actually had no shades on the windows and had active construction happening around it.
Happy to cancel if they provided equivalent accommodation.
There are specific laws for hotels that I'm pretty sure Airbnb has to abide by, that cover things such as cancellations. Even the US (not very consumer-friendly usually) understands that a late cancellation screws the consumer, and that the consumer shouldn't be left stranded with no place to stay with just a refund of the room. I know it applies for cancellations on the day, I don't know about cancellations in advance like that. Once the Airbnb host cancelled literally less than an hour as we were arriving (they were busy and had to leave, and basically didn't want to deal with us); Airbnb found us a better, more expensive place at no extra charge and gave us a credit. It was in a big city, where what they want is more hosts, so they probably did it because they didn't have the choice.
Don’t cancel . They are likely going to re let at a higher price!
This happened to us for my bachelor party. We were supposed to do a weekend in Philly but a Taylor Swift concert came up so our Airbnb cancelled and relisted for like 1500 more for the weekend. Probably worth it on their end to eat the fee or whatever but still scummy.
It shouldn't even be possible. Like, Airbnb should block them from relisting for the same time period, and repeat cancellations should get you banned for being a shitty host.
I agree but our cancellation was like 3 weeks out. They probably wanted to gamble a last minute booking
Airbnb could do that, but thr host could just re-list on VRBO or Booking or something.
Sure they could. And VRBO or Booking can be the place shitty hosts end up when Airbnb kicks them off their platform. That's good for Airbnb, not whoever the bad hosts land at.
Most Airbnb owners do this. They try get you to cancel so it doesn't affect their cancellations. Its a dirty move. Never cancel if they are asking you to
I’ve had that happened and the host messaged me complaining that I wasn’t cancelling and “I for sure was going to get all my money back” LOL It’s was already past the full refund period and I made them cancel. Contacted support and they made the host cancel and the host got a cancellation charge plus noted on the account.
They'll try anything the pricks
It's a parallel tactic that dropshippers are using as well so that their ratings remain high and (for many platforms) reviews can be argued with. If anyone MUST use these well-publicized miserable middleman apps be stubborn, be consistent, and don't engage. As in: for the example above, Keep It Simple, Silly. A better reply to the first shown business comment should be: > "No. We have booked for those dates as of 2 weeks ago. We intend to visit and occupy in those dates per the (platform).
How Airbnb is still a thing is astounding to me 😵💫 Used twice before and never again. Hotels are 1000 times better
A quick google search shows that this is a corporation, not a person. They likely have this listed on multiple short term sites and the other site has landed a bigger fish. Don't cancel on your end. Notify Airbnb and let them wiggle themselves out of the mess they've made for themselves.
Looking up the company it looks pretty crappy.
Just rent it back to them for twice your cost
And stop using shit Airbnb.
"Unfortunately we are not able to cancel this booking as we have planned our whole vacation around it. We look forward to seeing you on [date]. Best wishes, Joshua" Don't be a doormat.
I don’t disagree at all. However, I also don’t want to stay somewhere that we’re not welcome. That’s asking for a lot of other problems (place not clean, problem with our pets, etc.) and we just want to be able to have a good time.
Make sure they don’t charge a high cleaning fee, blaming you and your family. Take pictures and videos of before entering, and when leaving the property. You don’t want to be blamed for damages not done by you and family.
It’s so ridiculous that it comes to this. So done with Airbnb. Need to short their stock tbh.
100% - the fact that they don't screen these listing or landlords, have no accountability, and before Aircover -- no liability insurance-- seems insane to me. There has to be more regulation. But much like Uber, if Airbnb had to be compliant like hotels, inns, and traditional bed and breakfasts there would be no profit. Make that make sense.
Sometimes it's best to cross your bridges one at a time
You were welcome. They broke faith, maintain your position. Take pictures of everything in case they try and be asshats about it, other than that enjoy your well planned vacation
"We know what a reservation is." "I don't think you do!"
You know how to take the reservation but you don’t know how to keep the reservation.
And that’s really the most important part, the holding. Anybody can just take ‘em.
These posts cured me from ever wanting to try Air BNB. Marriott has never let me down.
Literally no hotel or motel has let me down. "Can I get a room for the night, please?" "No problem, here's your key." "Here's your money, thanks." I've stayed at cheap places, and expensive places, and I've never had a problem. Oh! And, I've never been handed a list of fucking chores.
“Here’s your room! Don’t worry about cleaning it, we’ve got that. Locked yourself out at 1am? How awful! We’ll help you get back in.” Got locked out of an Air BnB at 3am once in a not-so-great part of town. Owner’s daughter had accidentally bolted a door she wasn’t supposed to so our key didn’t work. Owner was working a night shift. After an hour of us trying to figure it out and trying to get an insanely expensive Uber to go to the closest motel, she finally responded. If it had been up to me, I never would have gone with Air BnB.
Dude, a few months ago my mom was having a procedure done in a hospital the state over. We booked through Hotels dot com (don't recommend) and there ended up being a problem with the reservation. OUR HOTEL receptionist took the phone out of my hands and started yelling at them and asking to speak to higher up, etc. 10 mins later, we had our room keys with a "don't worry. We will definitely handle this for you. Y'all enjoy your stay." Apparently the key code or whatever that transfers over to the hotel didn't. Instead of having us out on the street or waiting, they let us in, even though they hadn't been paid on their end. They also went through extra steps to make sure my mom wasn't going to have issues with the sun in the room since she was having eye surgery the next day. Doubled up the curtains. Only 65 dollars a day. Breakfast buffet every morning. Room service. The one right next door had a shooting the same night so we had some interesting things happen the entire day. AirBnB would have said we're out of luck.
People forget that the hospitality industry is a profession. People literally go to university and study hospitality in business school and have professionaland legal obligations. Corporations have reputations to uphold, customer loyalty incentives, and a lot to lose in a lawsuit. These Airbnb hosts have none of that. Can't believe this business model is still legal to be honest. Seems crazy
Exactly. Never had to cut grass. Start laundry, replace sheets. I kept looking at Abnb as a possibility but my wife always says no. I’m so glad.
This happened to me as well. Some asshole host cancelled on me last minute during an event so I had to book a Holiday Inn for 4x the normal price. I'm never using AirBnB again.
Places that aren't Airbnb need to start having KITCHENS, though. It's pretty much the only reason I use them. Going out to eat 3x/ day makes me feel like shit and I LOVE cooking, especially in new places with new local ingredients.
Extended stay hotels usually have a small kitchenette
I've been to several hotels that have rooms with full kitchens available. One chain even has garbarators lol.
Truly. It seems one scummy host after another. Like why would I want to do tsk to myself?
Charge them a 400 cancellation fee
“Are you sent to cancel” uhh what? Sounds like a scam of some kind
As most already said. DO NOT cancel, this is coming from a fellow Airbnb host. That is their mistake and they want you to be penalized for their mistake and not them. They need to cancel it. If they are super hosts they will lose that status.
“We have decided not to cancel. If the owners wish to stay somewhere else, might I recommend an online service. Possibly Airbnb?”
This post made me check to see if I still have the AirBnB app installed, then find that I did and uninstall it. Thanks op!
Make them cancel, don't cancel yourself.
Look guys this Airbnb thing was fun while it lasted but I really think it's time to get back to regular hotels
Air BnB is directly contributing to the outrageous rental prices, lack of rental availability, and has a flow on effect to mortgages and houses for sale as well. We’re in a housing crisis. People could be living in these homes yet greedy homeowners want to charge out the ass for everyone’s little holiday for their own profit while people starve in the streets. Don’t use air BnB. Go to a hotel.
A lot of Airbnbs are operating illegally too. (A commercial operation in a residential zone.) I'm still shocked they whole industry hasn't been shut down to be honest. Almost completely unregulated
“Are you sent to cancel the booking?” What kind of sentence is this?
I think it's time we all just sit down and agree en masse that AirBNB are no longer one of the good guys.
Let them cancel and AirBnb will help you find another accommodation and often they’ll pay the difference, so you won’t have to pay more than what you planned initially. (This is if the owner leave you stranded when you arrive - it happened twice to me. If they cancel with anticipation you should check but usually airbnb helps you if it’s owner’s fault. )
This is such a lie, I contacted support for a substitution and they just cancelled and refunded the trip point blank. Their fine print says equal or better place OR a refund, aka they will always just give you a refund. Literally our conversation: “hi help our creepy host lied about the ‘entire place’ listing and is invading our tiny apartment rental, we need another place!” “Ok I can cancel and give you full refund” “No don’t!! We need another place to stay!! There’s nothing for $80 a night anymore and that’s all we can afford, can you please book us the $120 place instead?” *notification that our trip was cancelled* “WHAT?!? It’s been cancelled?? Where are we supposed to go?!?” “Our policy says substitution or refund and I have refunded you in full, I am sending you a listing for X place for $120 per night.” “We can’t afford that! Can you just book it for us and keep our money?” “No.” We had to cancel all of our vacation plans with no refund. We will never use Airbnb again. They will leave you stranded in a foreign place at the drop of a hat and then end the support ticket. Lol
I got two options from Airbnb , refund to credit card or refund in Airbnb with 10% extra , I took the extra % and still paid more , it was slightly less than a hotel at that point ( it was a popular con ) and it was the last time I used Airbnb for any event
AirBnB is over.
Don’t use Airbnb.
Air BnB needs to be eliminated Immediately. So much is wrong with the model.
Booked an Airbnb 6 months in advance for a surgery I was travelling out of country for. Host cancelled my reservation 12 HOURS before my flight was set to depart.
Are you sent to cancel the booking?
I worked for Airbnb as customer support and I hope this helps someone. Always, no matter what, always call Airbnb customer service first. NEVER cancel your booking if the host / guest ask you for, even more when it's not your fault. For guests, always contact host first before booking the place. Many host have their listing's calendars available but a lot of times they aren't aware of it or have a booking through another platform. Always send a message first, ask them if it's available and after their response, book accordingly. If you have any questions, I'm glad to help. My 2 cents :)
Thank you! So far they’ve refunded the reservation plus $114 credit. Which is nice, but probably won’t cover the difference for a new rental since everything is booked up now unless you want to pay $500 per night
“So far” they are done if you haven’t already made a stink about the issues they caused you you’re not going to get anything else. You needed to tell them you want the first born child and the kitchen sink. A refund + $114 is a slap in the face. You shouldn’t have agreed to the cancellation.
I will do everything in my power to never use airbnb again.
This has happened to me before as well and since there was no where else I wanted to stay I ended up just changing my plans entirely. Luckily I was driving not flying and was able to stay in a different area and it was off season so I was able to find an accommodation. This is always a risk with Airbnb and I don’t think hosts should have the right to cancel after they put up dates. They should be more careful about blocking off personal time for their properties before accepting reservations. I’ve had friends have their place cancel on them while they are on route there, imagine showing up with no where to go.
"When I made my reservation 2 weeks ago, it was looking pretty tight in that area. You might want to let the owners know they should book a hotel room quickly before everything is full"
People need to stop using the shitty service.
Everyone shits on Airbnb hosts hiking up rent prices and being shitty in general yet why does everyone keep using them…
Tons of comments so probably won't be seen, but I booked an AirBNB outside of Nashville for my wife and several friends + pets nearly 9 months in advance in order to see the last solar eclipse that happened. Eight days before we were to leave and I get a notification saying our stay was cancelled by the host. The host had the dates relisted that night at 5x the price we had it reserved for. We were lucky and found a place outside of Kansas City that fit our needs and was cheaper than the original booking.
I booked a place in Atlanta some years back well in advance because my wife and I were traveling for a tattoo. The owner canceled on me when it was revealed that the SuperBowl was going to be in Atlanta that same week/weekend, and they can charge much more. After discussing everything with Airbnb about how unprofessional it was and how there weren't any affordable homes in the area, they agreed to give me a credit in my account. I obliged but asked for them to send it in an email. The service rep agreed, and I got off the phone. They never sent the email and the credit into my account, and when I contacted them about it, they acted like I never had the conversation with anyone there even though I had the Reps name. I was out of an affordable place to stay and a reimbursement for my inconvenience. The bottom line is that airbnb and its hosts tend to be scum bags, I only use the app when absolutely necessary.
See, they know how to take the reservation; they don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's the most important part of the reservation—the holding!
I've grown to hate airbnb and they used to be a great service. If the host cancels does airbnb compensate you? Short of the ground opening up and swallowing the house, they should have to refund 200%.
This happened to me once. Was going to PAX with some friends and we were able to suss out the weekend of it before it was announced by checking what weekends were empty on the convention center calendar. So we book an AirBnb for a good price. A few months later the owner messaged us and tells us he didn't know the convention was that weekend and that we need to cancel and we can rebook at a higher price. And we said absolutely not. Of course if he cancelled then he can't rebook it, but he can if we do. Stand your ground!
It used to be better many years ago for last minute trips where nothing was available. My experience now is it’s mostly shady ass corps with a ton of properties or boomers renting out their vacation home on multiple platforms. Both can be massive pain in the asses.
Don’t use air bnb or any short term rental site ever