BEWARE OF THIS HOST: Kelly in London, UK

[Melissa1730]

This person is a scammer. They knew I would lose out on my money, and Air Bnb supported them. I lost $6400 CAD because Air BNB support did not have my back, and favoured a host who ended up getting her money twice. Mine, and someone else's who rebooked the stay after I cancelled. I had booked the place, but then a week in advance of the stay, I told the host that I had a medical issues arise, and I was not able to stay anymore. She assured me that she understood, and that because the Air Bnb refund policy was not going to give me the entire refund back, SHE would refund me the entire thing if someone else rebooked the stay. So SHE advised me immediately to cancel it so someone could have the opportunity to rebook. So I cancelled, and a few days later someone else booked the place. I noticed this and messaged her, excited because that meant she would refund me, so it felt fair all around. The rest is a series of very long, tiring back and forth messages with the host, claiming she never promised me the refund, then opening several cases with air bnb support, then silence when Air bnb would not acknowledge that my host LIED to me and ghosted me, and that there were NO REPRECUSSIONS for the host, even though Air BNB support can see my ENTIRE MESSAGING CONVERSATION with my host on the app.  I lost out on $6400 CAD because of this host who lied to me. Please beware and spread the word. I have photo evidence of my entire conversation with the host, and Air Bnb support which was entirely not helpful, and closed my case without resolving it multiple times, and even once closed it without saying a single thing to me. I will never support Air bnb again, and will be telling this story to all of my friends and coworkers. 

[Sarah977]

@Melissa1730  No, you lost your money because you cancelled a reservation and were subject to the terms of the cancellation policy you agreed to when you booked, not because the host is a scammer. Had she not said she would refund you, you still would have lost the money. When you book a place, you are entering into a contract and are subject to the terms of the cancellation policy.

I am by no means condoning the host telling you she would refund you if she got the dates rebooked and then reneging on that. There's no excuse for lying like that, promising something and then not honoring it. 

But guests are bound by the cancellation policies when they cancel. The host is under no obligation to refund, regardless of what they may say they will do.

Had the host never made that promise in the first place, how would that have changed you losing the money? You apparently couldn't keep the booking due to your medical issue. So how would her not offering to refund have changed that situation? Would you have kept the booking and stayed there? 

Another thing to understand, although it may not apply in this case, is that just because you see dates you cancelled subsequently blocked on a host's calendar, that doesn't necessarily mean they got rebooked. Hosts can block dates themselves for all sorts of reasons. They may decide that since the dates got cancelled, they will use that time to do some renos, or to take a holiday themselves, they may have friends or family coming to stay. 

So the host may have lied to you, which is certainly unethical, but she didn't scam you out of your money- that happened because of the cancellation policy. 

This is what travel insurance is for- to cover yourself if you have a travel issue. Had you spent an extra $60 on travel insurance, you would not have lost all that money.

[Huma0]

@Melissa1730 

@Sarah977 is correct. When you cancel, you are subject to the cancellation policy that was in place at the time of booking. You can find this on the listing and should always check it before you book. When you book, you enter a contract which includes paying whatever is owed under that policy should you cancel. You need to feel comfortable with the possibility of losing that money, or take out travel insurance that will cover it, or look for a listing that has a more flexible policy.

So, whether the host offers to refund any money beyond that policy, e.g. if they rebook the nights, is totally up to them and optional. Airbnb technically has no right to force the host to do so. It is a shame that the host lied to you and I can see why you think it's unfair, but from Airbnb's perspective, she is not obligated to refund you anything. 

I also normally offer to refund guests if I get nights rebooked and do encourage them to cancel asap so there is more likelihood of that. However, I always stress that there is no guarantee of that. I think I am going to stop though, because it can be very tiring to have guests chase and chase for that additional money, which I never had to refund them in the first place and am just doing out of goodwill, or be disappointed because it's not as much as they expected, e.g. I am not able to refund the Airbnb service fees as hosts don't get paid that.

As @Sarah977 mentioned, there may be other reasons why the calendar is blocked. I am not sure if you were travelling alone or with a group or for how long, but the amount you wrote makes me think that this may have been a long term booking (i.e. 28 days or longer). I host long term guests and normally have a minimum stay of 28 days. Once the window between bookings falls below 28 days, the calendar will automatically block the remaining 27 nights. There is also a setting that requires two days' notice for bookings, so actually, the calendar will automatically block at 29 days, unless I change my minimum stay requirement.

I am not sure if the host claimed that the nights had not been rebooked, or just that she never promised you a refund, but this is something to consider. You can't know the full story just by looking at the calendar.