Cancellation of trip after completion

[David6965]

Dear Reader,

Have some issues with Airbnb related to a booking that was taking place during the summer of 2020 where Airbnb imposed special terms and conditions due to the Corona pandemic.

My booking was cancelled two months after it took place and I had already received the payment. 

Airbnb has requested me to pay back the funds even though the cancellation came two months after the completion of the booking.

Interested to hear if someone else out there has a similar experience and what the outcome was.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David6965 clearly this is ridiculous. I wonder if

1) Was the booking made prior to March 2020

2) Were you legally allowed to host in the Sumer?

If either are true then I guess Airbnb could refund the guest but even so it seems a bit rough to wait until months after the event to do so.

Without knowing all the details I fear your only recourse is via a small claims court.

[David6965]

Yes, the booking was made 3rd January 2020 for the period 10th - 17th July 2020.

The booking was cancelled on 23rd September which has been confirmed by Airbnb.

I have received a payment 17th August for another booking which was credited to Airbnb as well.

I was allowed to have guests yes.

Flat was cleaned, disinfected and ready to use and it is my permanent residence meaning I had to stay somewhere else during that period...

Guess a claim is the only way forward in this case....

It is my permanent residence 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David6965 So Airbnb allowed anyone booking pre March 2020 to cancel for a full refund. My suspicion is they didn't set a time limit on claims so your guest took advantage of this. Now by their own rules they did offer to pay hosts 25% of what they would have got if the guest cancelled by the normal rules. As such, as a minimum Airbnb owe you 25% of the full amount you would have been paid but they have probably forgotten this!

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  No, the compensation for those cancelled bookings wasn't 25% of the total, it was 25% of what the host would have received under the host's cancellation policy. So 25% of 50%=12.5%.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sarah977 I know. My theory was that as the stay was cancelled AFTER the booked dates then the host would have received 100% and hence Airbnb should pay 25% by their rules.

The really sad thing is that had the stay been cancelled earlier then the host would probably have rebooked the dates.

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I see what you meant now. But I don't foresee @David6965 being successful in claiming anything on that booking even though it's outrageous that it was cancelled 2 months after the booking dates passed. I think it would just be a frustrating and collosal waste of the host's time.

[Inna22]

Did you message the guest check in instructions? I would imagine you communicate with guests prior to check on if this is your home? Did you try to get in touch when they did not show up? I am a little surprised you did not know the guest intended to cancel and expected him. 

I know some guests were offered a voucher no questions asked but if they wanted cash refund, they had to send in documents. It is entirely possible that the guest started the cancellation process on time but it took airbnb two months to review it. 

Nevertheless if the cancellation did not happen and your calendar was blocked, airbnb should compensate you. Keep pursuing.