Cancelation from host side less than a month before my holiday

[Antonia435]

Me and 2 of my friends booked a place for 2 weeks in January, from 31 of May to 14 of June. All good and great until the host canceled today our reservation with no conversations or any sign, we just received an e-mail. We also payed more than half of the total cost back then, it says that we will get a refund, but it might take 14 days.. We had to pay the other part of the cost until 31st of May, so we still had time, that shouldn't have been an issue.

Now we are struggling to find accommodation for 2-5 of June due to Primavera sound festival. All the prices are insane, 1000 euro per night at least. We managed to book an apartment for the other days but we are scared that the new host might do the same thing, as the prices were normal.

We are really sad now since we have 3 nights where we have no place to stay yet, we booked so early because we knew we might be struggling afterwards.

 Is this allowed? I'm sure the host canceled and took the prices up, the put it back to rent. I saw the home is still to be rented and the dates in which we should have been there are occupied exactly when the festival is taking place. We didn't do anything wrong and it ruined our plans and vacation. Also, a host should not be allowed to do this, it's not our fault that the host forgot to raise up the prices from the beginning.

This is the place, you can see the bookings: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/41705110?adults=1&guests=1&s=42&unique_share_id=9b8e6030-ef50-4c49-a6... (Cool room for 3 in the Gothic Quarter rented by Mari). It has 4.2 and 30 reviews, weirdly, I am not allowed to write a review.

I'm not sure why, but I cannot access the page with the stay from the browser, only from the mobile app, it says "Service request authorization error: You do not have permission to access this resource. (status code 403)".

What can we do? Can we somehow get some help from @Airbnb  side?? 

#cancellation #hostcanceled #accomodationcanceled #accomodation #help

@Mari

[Anonymous]

@Antonia435   It unfortunately happens all the time (to be fair, I've also had airlines and hotels cancel my bookings on short notice, so it's not a uniquely Airbnb problem). Airbnb penalizes host cancellations by blocking the affected dates from new bookings and charging the host a fine. But it can't force the host to honor a reservation, and sometimes things legitimately come up where the host has no choice. 

All kinds of things can happen that throw our travel plans into chaos, often with no advance notice whatsoever, so it's fortunate that you still have some time to find other options. When planning a high-season trip in a place where an unexpected change can get very expensive, I like to get travel insurance that covers the difference. Fortunately I've never had to use it (some of the best side trips I've ever made have resulted from a last-minute re-routing) but it does ease the stress a bit to have that backup.

[Antonia435]

It is not fair an this should not happen. It's like we are not all humans and cannot think about the others, only about money. The host could have post the prices from the beginning, not cancel our booking less than a month before we should arrive, when it's very hard to find a place at a decent price.

Also, the fact that the host canceled our booking and then listed it back, and could rent it normally like nothing happened afterwards, really pisses me off. He/she should not be allowed to rent during that period. 

And ok, Airbnb penalizes and the host has to pay a fee, than he raises the prices to 3x-4x bigger so they don't even care about that fee, therefore it's easy for a host to cancel anyway.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Antonia435 the host, as well as being fined, will have the listing dates blocked on Airbnb. They can sadly just list on another platform though.

What sort of listing was it? If it is a hosts with many listings they seem more likely to stiff the guests than a host with only 1 or 2 listings

[Antonia435]

Indeed, it was an apartment with 3 rooms, and the host was listing each of the rooms individually. But I checked out that room we booked, and out of 14 days 10 of them looked like they were already booked. It's very sad that these things happen. The host could have not accept our reservation and not block our money for 4 months and leave us with the idea that we will have a place to stay. It's very rude. 

[Anonymous]

@Antonia435  Like most things in life, it's not fair, and I can understand your need to vent. But some perspective, please - a disrupted 2-week trip with your friends is still a 2-week trip with your friends, which is an extraordinary luxury most people never get. May this rude host be the greatest of your worries.

The link you shared is not working - the error message is the same as the one that comes up when Airbnb suspends or de-lists a listing. A host trying to circumvent cancellation penalties is one reason that could happen. Yes, they can still list it on another platform and make a tidy profit, so it's not exactly justice. But It's not like you're going to get them thrown into jail for bumping you out of their guestroom.

FYI, cancelled stays aren't eligible for reviews unless the cancellation was on the date of check-in. For earlier host cancellations, AIrbnb posts an auto-review warning "this reservation was cancelled by the host __ days before arrival."  If you see any of these on a listing, don't book it. I notice from the later update to your original post that the listing was only rated 4.2 stars, which is actually very low, and only 30 reviews, which shows me that this is not a professional with an established, good reputation, and you're not the first person he's disappointed. Guests who book with highly experienced hosts with lots of great reviews are far less likely to have experiences like yours; the extra costs involved with booking a higher-quality listing and buying travel insurance are more than worthwhile if you're not the kind of traveler who can simply roll with it whenever things don't go to plan.