I booked an Airbnb two months before a business trip with my children. The Airbnb host cancelled my reservation less than five days before my trip. I spent a full workday investigating alternative accommodations and communicating with Airbnb. The only available hotel room I could find was three times the price of my Airbnb property but without the amenities of my previously reserved (and paid for!) accommodations. Airbnb refused to compensate me for the full additional cost I incurred because of the host’s unprofessional cancellation. Customer service was slow and borderline rude. This organization clearly is not interested in customer satisfaction or host accountability. I will never use their services in the future.
Tag Archives: airbnb cancellation policy
No Country for Apartments: Airbnb in Berlin
My 13-year-old son and I had the trip of a lifetime planned to Germany and Austria. I travel to Germany often so I know my way around. We stayed in Hilton hotels in most of the cities in which we only stayed for three or four days before going to Berlin. We both love Berlin and stayed in apartments the last two times we were there. Unfortunately, the company I used to use to book the apartments has gone out of business due to a new law in Germany restricting the renting of apartments due to tax issues. I decided to book through Airbnb and found a great apartment for 16 days. I booked with the owner and paid for the apartment several months ahead of time. I printed the instructions from the owners a week before the trip and started our trip to Germany on June 15th, 2016.
We were having an enjoyable time until we showed up to pick up the keys from a bar in Prinzlauerberg after a nine-hour train ride from Vienna. It seems that Germany, or at least Berlin, has just enacted a law that doesn’t allow people to rent apartments using any service like Airbnb legally for less than 30 days. Now, any company that truly cares about its customers would make sure it notifies you about a cancellation with more than an email to your account… which went straight to my spam folder. They would call to notify you of such a problem or at least make sure you got an email. Airbnb did nothing more than send an email, so my son and I were stuck in Berlin for 16 days with no apartment.
I want to be fair to Airbnb and say when I called them they tried to help and offered to pay for two nights here in Berlin up to $200. They offered to try to get us another place here but every listing that was available online was not able to take us. We tried eight new ones. They were sorry about the fact that I did not get notification of the cancellation but would not take responsibility for not making sure I got the notification. I had printed the instructions a week before I left and therefore thought everything was ok. The money was refunded but not until a month later and my wife just got our statement with the credit yesterday.
Luckily, I am a seasoned traveler and was able to get us in to a Hampton Inn for the last two nights and was able to book the same hotel for all but the next three days here. My problem with Airbnb is that they did not make sure I got the notification of the cancellation in the first place. This is my first and last experience with Airbnb. A company as large as this should make sure that customers get notification of cancellations and not blame it all on the customer. A phone call would have solved the entire problem. I will never use Airbnb again. They have ruined the experience that they so want you to have as advertised online and on TV. We were so looking forward to staying in that apartment in Berlin.
WARNING: If you are trying to reserve anything in Germany from Airbnb, don’t! The laws here have basically made it illegal to rent through Airbnb unless the stay is over 30 days. GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER Airbnb or you will soon be the next Internet company to go bankrupt!
Excessive Cancellations and BDSM at Airbnb
Three cancellations in my last few trips and each time Airbnb treats me like i am trying to cheat them. I had to make a total of four reservations (now maybe five) for this three-week trip! The first was a very nice, complete apartment at a great price for the full three weeks. Apparently too good to be true, as they cancelled a few days later. I could not find anything even close, but there was an apartment that had a weekend hole in the middle. It was nice, so I booked both sides.
Airbnb argued that I didn’t deserve the available credit from the cancellation because I had to make two separate reservations instead of one and neither one individually qualified. REALLY? Airbnb treated me like I was stealing! But then, the “instant book” host cancelled the second leg of my stay. Back to the computer AGAIN! At that point, there was nothing even close to the original reservation I made. I found a complete apartment for a decent price and filled the hole and second leg. But Airbnb’s system didn’t allow me to apply the two credits I received trying to make THIS reservation. Airbnb said I must use it on a future reservation. I understand Airbnb wants me tethered to their sorry policies, but I would rather lose the credit than go through that mess again.
I can’t believe that Airbnb thinks that by treating me poorly I will be a loyal and happy customer. I am frustrated and angry and I have lost way more in time and frustration than the $120 credit they wouldn’t let me use. And I have no confidence at this point that those reservations will be there when I travel. For example, in my penultimate (second to last) reservation in Florida via instant book reservation, I called the host on my way over from the airport car rental and she screamed at me that she was not an Airbnb host and I would not be able to stay, blaming Airbnb for not cancelling her account. When I talked to Airbnb, I was again treated like I was the one who caused the problem. They have Horrible policies that force their customer service people to treat customers roughly and unfairly.
On my last trip to Florida, I got stuck in a house of a couple (as in a man and woman) of dominatrixes who were in the process of building a dungeon in their garage and had two “slaves” come over a couple nights before I left. As I was trying to watch TV, I heard many smacking sounds and screams coming from the garage. Funny, but not what I bargained for.
Airbnb Property Sold 10 days before Arrival
Our family of five booked our holiday to Montreal, four months before our planned date with Airbnb. Ten days before our arrival date, I received an email from the host and Airbnb stating the host had sold her condo. Of course, ten days before our arrival, there was not another suitable spot to rent in the Montreal area- we wanted to stay in. We are out the costs of train tickets, and very disappointed. If we had cancelled our reservation ourselves, we lost would have lost 50% of our booking costs, but obviously Airbnb not does feel that cancelling ten days before the arrival date demands any type of compensation. If I had known the condo was up for sale, I never would have rented the property. I sent an email to Airbnb, with no reply. All in all, very, very disappointing. I would never recommend Airbnb.
Airbnb: Lousy Customer Service and Booking System
The idea is great but the company leaves much to be desired. The listings are mostly beautified and nobody can guarantee what you get. When you ask for a refund you need to waste two days just to clarify why and what. The customer service sucks. The line was disconnected many times and no one called me back. I asked to cancel my reservation and they said they will get back to me within 24 hours. That never happens and I lost money. I highly recommend not using Airbnb and their system. The reviews system of Airbnb is confusing: regardless of whether you were a good or bad guest, the other person could write the opposite review and deceive others.
Early Contact with Aggressive Airbnb Host
After great experiences with Airbnb 95% of the time, I had a truly horrible experience with a host today in Brisbane. I booked an apartment automatically – no contact with the host – so I then messaged them to confirm I would collect the key on Thursday afternoon and also ask what time we could leave on Sunday. There was no reply and I was flying up to Brisbane at lunchtime to stay with a friend. I wanted to have the details on the keys to print before I left – I called the number given and left a message. Then a man rang back on my phone. He did not introduce himself but was very rude about the fact that I called and shouted, saying “he would call in a few hours.” I asked why it was not possible to confirm the details on getting the keys now. He replied they would “get back to me when they felt like it.” Then he accused me of being “too wound up for their liking and I should cancel the booking.”
His tone was then very aggressive, very rude, and to be frank, scared me. Details of access are usually provided asap after the booking so I was not being unreasonable plus this man really frightened me especially as he now has my mobile number and has rung twice and hung up then rang again and yelled at me for having the nerve to message the site to say I felt I was put in a position where I had to cancel and I was advising Airbnb that another person was accessing the account and making rude phone calls. I therefore will have to pursue a formal complaint as it looks like this is the only way I will get my money back given their unreasonable behaviour and cancellation policy. Anyone thinking of booking in Brisbane: message me first and I will advise which apartment this is, so as to not give yourself the scare I had.
Airbnb Should Pay More for Last-Minute Cancellation
I booked a trip through Airbnb on February 1st, 2016, and this morning – April 20, 2016 – I got a text from Airbnb stating that Lindsey Secor had cancelled my reservation. I had booked a two-night stay in Mancelona, Michigan. The host Lindsey Secor just texted me, stating “…personal circumstances have caused me to remove my home from Airbnb. I am very sorry. Thank you for understanding.”
I understand that is not Airbnb’s fault for the host pulling out, but i think the host should be charged at least one thousand dollars for doing this; I wasted many hours and now of course the prices are much higher. My best friend is visiting from Australia and i wanted to show him around. I also booked a trip to Niagara Falls, so I hope that host does not cancel this trip. Airbnb should charge each homeowner a large fee for cancelling on their guest: not just $50 or $100… I would say $1000 or more. I am very disappointed.
Last Minute Cancellation for a Year-Old Booking!
I made reservations for an “Artist’s Hideaway” in New Orleans a year in advance of my son’s law school graduation. The host confirmed the reservation and gladly accepted full payment in advance. Today, three weeks before our arrival she cancelled saying “my calendars didn’t sync.” It was already booked. My family has already made expensive travel plans and accommodations will be hard to come by. She had almost a year to see that she double booked. Why are we the ones to suffer for this? It seems that as a potential guest, there is no place on Airbnb to write a negative review for her so I am posting here. Do NOT book the Artist’s Hideaway in New Orleans or be prepared to be screwed.
Beware of Strict Cancellation Policies and Hosts that do not help you Cancel
I was a novice Airbnb user and did not understand that the onus was on me to cancel a reservation that I wanted to change. My traveling companion had to cancel her trip with me to Hawaii due to an unplanned chemo-treatment and my Airbnb host in Honolulu was not willing to change my reservation. I incorrectly presumed that she would cancel the reservation when she refused to alter it. Her communication skills were not great and I feel she mislead me about Airbnb’s policies on cancellation. Bottom-line – I paid for three nights in Honolulu that I did not get and Airbnb will not let me review the host in terms of her communication skills. She also promised a partial refund which was never sent. Needless to say, she is not very honest and future Airbnb users who fall for her very high rating may regret that they chose her. Airbnb deserves credit for refunding to me their commission; but the trust system does not work well if they do not allow me to leave a review on my experience with her. Filtering out low ratings makes everyone look “way above average.” Suggest Airbnb allow all cancelled guests who end up paying for the accommodation to review the host on the host’s communication skills.