Tag Archives: airbnb cancellation

Airbnb Customer Service Unprepared to Help

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This has nothing to do with my host, but everything to do with Airbnb’s horrible customer service. On Airbnb’s mobile site, it states I have to call an 855 number in order to change a current reservation. I did that and waited almost 30 minutes listening to the same song over and over and over again, and no one came on the line to help me. Then, when I went to the full site on my computer, I first learned that I could request a change through the site from the host. As a customer who has done a lot of business with them, I do not appreciate Airbnb putting me on hold for ages when I have a problem that can be resolved by the website. This isn’t the first time I have had a problem reaching Airbnb when I have had to call them myself. I am at the point where I am ready to stop using their service because of this.

After I was on hold for 15 minutes, a representative told me over the phone that she would contact the host and wait 12 hours for a resolution. Another representative tried to talk to me early the next morning after I was on hold for 20 minutes but the call got disconnected after two minutes! Then the second representative told me at 4:00 AM that only the first could help me and that she would call me back. Why can only one person help me? This person did not even know how many nights I asked to cancel! He didn’t seem that interested in taking the time to read through my file to familiarize himself with the case even though I took an hour of my time on hold to talk to him. After all that, I dug deeper into the website and learned I could cancel the remaining days of my reservation through the website itself.

Why don’t the customer service representatives tell you this while they have you on the phone so we don’t keep wasting each other’s time? Now I have to calculate 24 hours before the first night I want to cancel the reservation for. So when does the first night begin? If I put in my request a day too early, will I be kicked out the day before? Or if I put in the request too late, will I lose 50% of that extra night? What is the cut off point? Why does it have to be this difficult dealing with Airbnb?

Lying Host Leads to Last Minute Scramble in London

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So we have been using Airbnb for a few trips and all went quite satisfyingly until my husband, my 70 year-old mother-in-law, and I booked our trip to Europe. We always plan our trips a few months ahead just to avoid any unforeseen circumstances so we can sort everything out with the host earlier if something unfortunate should happen. The guy with whom we booked has a few properties listed with Airbnb and has remarkable reviews so we thought this one shouldn’t have any problems. Exactly a week before we arrived, I messaged him regarding exchanging the keys. He replied straight away saying he will give us the keys face to face. Then my husband started to realise that the address he put on Airbnb is actually not detailed, only showing the street name and the suburb. So I messaged him again requesting the address two days after our last communication (which was five days before we were set to arrive).

There was no reply for three days. We messaged him again… nothing. Obviously, we thought he was probably too busy to reply; we had his phone number so we thought we could call him when we arrived. While we were transferring from Dubai to London, we were informed that our Airbnb in London had been cancelled. Without a reason, without any messages from this host. We couldn’t do anything as we were about to take off. I honestly cried for the whole flight as we also booked a few other places with Airbnb for the rest of our trip in Europe. We called Airbnb again and again at the airport, seeking an outcome. Nothing. They only provided us a few links to similar properties (but cost much more than the one we booked) plus a 10% credit, which could only be used with Airbnb.

We eventually booked a hotel that cost much more, as around Europe in July everything cheap had already been booked. I was furious as my 70-year-old mother-in-law was extremely exhausted after the 25-hour flight so I messaged the host and asked him the reason he cancelled. He replied after my repeated not-very-nice messages, saying he found out Airbnb double booked him a week before we arrived and called them straight away to cancel but Airbnb got delayed. He wasn’t sorry. He also tried to make it sound like it was my fault blaming him during all communication (or should we say arguments). I then called Airbnb again but they told me a completely different story, saying that the only phone call they received from him was the day before and he asked to cancel without any explanation or reason. I cannot afford anything like this to happen again so we just cancelled my rest of our trips with Airbnb and deleted my account. I would rather pay the penalties than deal with these dodgy people. Such a relief. To anyone who is seeing this: please do not use Airbnb. Please also pass this on to your friends and family.

Death Threats from Airbnb Host in Caribbean

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A year ago, my girlfriend got me a birthday gift: a trip to a Caribbean island! However, we had to cancel at the last minute due to our Airbnb host sending us crazy private messages before we got a chance to get to the place where we wanted to go. We filed an appeal with Airbnb to get the refund then the host went completely insane on us: death threats, stalking, criminal harassment. We filed a police report and they could not do anything of course… Airbnb sided with their host, would not let us post a review, suspended the account, and covered up their mess as best they could after we provided a copy of the police report as well as all the creepy and harassing messages and death threats. We have shared our story with over a hundred people and they were completely freaked out and said they would never support Airbnb for covering up criminal activity. They are a joke and it is only a matter of time before people start dying then they might consider a screening and application process for hosts…. but I doubt it…

Host Cancels Two Weeks before Daughter’s Wedding

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I cannot believe the situation I am in. I carefully found an Airbnb near Washington DC nine months ago, paid $2400, and now I have no place for my guests. I am traveling for my daughter’s wedding. I found a place that has five bedrooms and near the wedding location in Virginia. I cannot possibly find a replacement with only two weeks to go and apparently this particular host has done it before. Airbnb thinks $200 will made up for this nightmare. There should be a class action lawsuit against this type of practice. This host apparently has defrauded others and now I’m one. I am beside myself. Can someone please help me stop this illegal practice?

Airbnb Cancellation Costs Guests Time and Money

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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.

No Country for Apartments: Airbnb in Berlin

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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!

Airbnb Cancelled due to Higher Bidder?

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This was my first time with Airbnb and a bummer of an experience. Several months ago, I reserved a “cabin” in Monterey, California with “Kirk” for eight nights for a retreat I was attending in late July/early August. I received a cancellation notice, with no reason (or compensation) given. However, given the desirability of Monterey, especially in summer, I’d wager the host was offered substantially more than I had paid and cancelled without penalty, as hosts are able to do with Airbnb. (I wonder if he’s done this before – firm reservation vs higher bidder? Hmm…) Now, the inconvenience is on me and I’ll have to cancel my retreat reservations with a penalty as I can’t find anything nearly as nice for twice the price.

Airbnb: Once bitten, NEVER AGAIN. Won’t do it. Beware. Major risk. Apparently, accommodations can be pulled and offered to the highest bidder.

Horror, Thy Name is Airbnb NYC

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We (a family of four) were travelling to New York for the first time. We tried to make bookings on the Airbnb site, but many hosts either did not reply or refused. The response time from hosts was a minimum of 48 to 72 hours. We then chanced upon a place on East 13th Street, Manhattan which was reasonably priced. We paid up in full two months (for our 5-night stay) before our proposed trip. We confirmed with the host the night before check in. We had an email also from Airbnb. Eight hours before check in, we get an email from Airbnb cancelling our reservation. The host informed us that the reservation was cancelled abruptly by Airbnb. We could not find a reasonably priced hotel. Airbnb was of no help. They just refunded the money after two months. We lost money on the exchange rate and conversion charges for no service provided. You are pushed in a loop on their website trying to contact them for a resolution.

I wish I would have read this before reserving!

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Wow! I paid for a full month and was going to spend three months with a host on air Bnb.  When my daughter and I arrived, the place was freezing even with the fireplace going. This is in 38 degree weather! My daughter and I could not even take our jackets off! Plus the place was grossly misrepresented in the pictures! I told the host and told him we could not live in that environment. I was still charged for three days, cleaning and a service fee totaling $500!  Then I was told that usually the whole amount is kept!

I couldn’t even post a review! You only see the good reviews! Bastards! Fakes!

The place is in Phoenicia NY.

This website summarizes it all: AirCrapNB Hell!!

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I recently had my trip cancelled, TWO DAYS BEFORE the trip. To add insult to injury, I was offered either a refund, or that if I re-booked with Airbnb, they would credit me up to $75 if the new host charged more- all this with TWO days notice. When I contacted the host directly, she said it was due to an Airbnb error in double-booking some of the days of my stay- and since they paid a slightly higher price, my reservation was the one chosen to be cancelled. I coudn’t find anything decent on AirCrapNB, so I ended up paying nearly $1,000 more to book a hotel with 2 days notice. Absolutely LOATH aircrapnb, and please think CAREFULLY before using, either as a customer (you WILL be screwed) or as a host (they are concerned SOLELY with maximizing THEIR income, and not concerned AT ALL with your finances OR reputation). DO NOT USE!!!!!!!