Cancellations

[Andrea5365]

Question.  

Goal: Change the check in and check out date.

Guest: Communicated to the host that the transaction that ended up being canceled was an accident and really the goal was only to change the check in date and check out date.

Host: 8 Minutes later.  Sends a message to the Guest, "I received your request to cancel and have accepted it."

Guest: ??? Wondering why it was canceled when communication was sent that it was accidentally canceled and the goal was to only change the check in date and time. 

Host: Too bad it's already canceled

Guest: I didn't want to cancel the reservation only wanted to change the check in date and check out date?  How come I can't do that?  OK .  I'll send a request for a refund of the trip less the service fee.  TRIP is booked for May 14, 2022.  Sent a request for trip only.

Host: Declined Request for Refund

Guest: Why did you decline my request for refund.  I am willing to pay the service fee.  

Host: You already canceled the reservation and your cancellation policy is not eligible for a refund.

Guest:  What??? Why.  This trip is well over 2 months away, I'm sure you can find someone to stay in the remaining nights that I won't be staying or even the entire stay?  I am still willing to stay for 4 nights and you can rent out of the other 4 nights.  I don't understand why you won't give me a partial refund for the other 4 nights or allow me the trip refund and rebook a new reservation for 4 nights.

Host: Too bad you already canceled it and I accepted it.

Guest: I sent you a message 8 minutes prior to you accepting my cancellation.  You already KNEW I didn't want to cancel my trip in the first place only change the date.  You Purposely accepted my cancellation request so you could make the quick buck KNOWING your refund policy did not allow me the funds back because you could have easily declined my cancellation request and send me a message back that this was NOT the way to change the date.  Instead you processed the cancellation request KNOWING that I only wanted to change the check in and check out date.  You fradulently and deceitfully processed the cancellation for your own financial gain.

Host: No reply.  

Guest:  I intend to involve Airbnb and my credit card company to assist with a resolution because I believe you had ample time to communicate with me and you knew my goal was NOT to cancel the reservation. We have more than 2 months for you to book your space and in the very busy months of the year.  I don't see any justifiable explanation as to why you are declining my refund for 4 nights as I already still would like to keep my reservation for the 4 nights or if your rates will change due to the less days. Issue me a refund for the full trip less the service fee and I can rebook the 4 nights again.  

Host: You can involve Anybody.  Declined request for compromise on anything.

What would any of you other host do in this situation.

[Emiel1]

@Andrea5365 

Did you cancelled on (received cancellation) request of a guest ?

If so, then this will apply:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/host-penalties-for-canceling-reservations

And guest will be refunded

[Andrea5365]

No, the guest sent a message on Airbnb site explaining that they made a mistake because what they were trying to do was change the check in date and check out date but accidentally canceled the trip.   

Host answered 8 minutes later and just canceled the reservation without commenting back on the message before the cancellation was processed and then accepted.

Guest requested a refund to rebook the reservation for only 4 nights rather than the 8 nights but Host Declined the refund.

Trip is booked for May 14, 2022. 

Would you issue the refund if you were in this situation? 

[Sarah977]

@Andrea5365  I assume you are the guest. 

What you are saying makes no sense. You said you accidentally cancelled the reservation. 

Then you say the host cancelled the reservation. It can't be both. 

And when guests cancel, hosts do not "accept" the cancellation. You cancel, it's cancelled.

And telling the host "I am wiilling to pay the service fee" is clueless. The service fee has nothing to do with the host. That is what Airbnb charges guests to book on their platform. The service fee doesn't go to the host, it goes to Airbnb  and Airbnb never returns it for a guest cancellation, unless the cancellation is made within 48 hrs of booking.

So you don't understand how any of this works.

Personally, I would refund a guest who accidentally cancelled 2 months before check-in, in answer to that question. But that doesn't mean I would judge another host for not doing so.

A host is not obligated to do that, nor are they obligated to accept a date change, nor are they obligated to refund a guest who cancels, in contravention of the cancellation policy. 

And it is very presumptuous of a guest to tell a host they can easily rebook the dates. You have no idea if they can or not. Many hosts have listings that guests tend to book months or even a year ahead.  

And if a guest wants to make a date change, the polite way to go about it and to ensure you know whether it will be accepted or not, is to first message the host explaining that you want to alter the dates and asking whether they will be willing to agree to that. 

[Andrea5365]

Yes.  I am the guest and the message back from the host was this...

*** You send me cancellation request. I accept it

**[Name hidden due to privacy concerns - Community Center Guidelines]

Because her reply to my message was that the cancellation request was sent and I accept it.  I assumed the host had the right to decline it?

Just wanted an understanding because I don't understand why she allowed the cancellation BUT now I see there was not option for the host to accept or deny.  I guess the best thing would have been for her to allow me the option to rebook and she process a refund???? Which clearly she was not willing to do.

I guess this is a really expensive lesson.  At the very least I have on my printed receipt under

Cancellation Policy.
Cancel before 4:00PM on May 7, and get a 50% refund, minus the service fee.

[Mark116]

@Andrea5365   You seem confused.  You say you cancelled but the host 'accepted it'?  This isn't how it works.  You can either 1) cancel in which case, the reservation is cancelled, or 2) you can request a host cancellation, which indeed the host has to accept or reject.  I'm guessing you did 1) because otherwise it is recorded as a host cancellation and you would have gotten all your money back automatically.

Assuming I am correct, and you accidentally cancelled the reservation, that is a serious mistake and your host is not required to give you any refund outside of whatever their cancellation policy is, which I am again guessing is strict.

You can contact Airbnb directly, but in this case, which is pretty cut and dried, that you cancelled and the host will now enforce the cancellation policy, I don't think there is much Airbnb can do here.

Do  you have any idea why the host has chosen this path?  Were there issues or existing misunderstandings already and possibly the host feels he/she has dodged a bullet when you cancelled?

[Andrea5365]

Hi Mark,

Thank  you for your reply.  Yes I did cancel but originally tried to change the check in and check out dates.  When I realized what had happened I immediately sent a message to the host explaining what I was trying to do and ultimately I ended up accidentally canceling the reservation. 

The host got my message 8 minutes prior to her reply stating that I canceled and she accepted it.  I don't know why the host canceled even though they would have been notified 8 minutes before that I did not want to cancel only modify the check out date?

I asked the host for a refund for the nights I would not be staying and the host declined.  I asked the host to reinstate my entire reservation and the host declined.  Host basically said too bad so sad and my reservation is not eligible for a refund.  

I contacted Airbnb for assistance because I had initially intended to send a message directly to the host through email but their policy states that all messages need to be on the site, it's best and safest for all parties.  I asked them for assistance and Airbnb said they have to uphold the host cancellation policy which I DON'T think applies here clearly because there was notification of what was trying to be accomplished 8 minutes prior to the transaction.  Host had the right to Decline my cancellation request and communicate with me what I should have done but clearly this host ignored my message and cancel my request KNOWING my reservation did not qualify for a refund for their own financial gain.  I have read about this host in the profile and this host has done this to multiple customer/clients travelers.

[Mark116]

@Andrea5365  You're still not understanding.  There is no host acceptance or decline of a cancellation, the host cannot ever, ever prevent a guest from cancelling.  The guest cancels and the Airbnb policies then apply.  

I can see why you feel it is unfair since you realized your mistake a few minutes later, but legally the host does not have to waive the policy.  You made a mistake and for whatever reason, the host is going to hold you to the policy.

Again, this host did not cancel anything, did not cancel your request, did not approve or deny anything.  YOU cancelled and the host has chosen to not make an exception to the policy, which, I don't think Airbnb can do anything about and your cc company may not be able to do anything about either.

[Andrea5365]

This trip was booked for May 14- 22, 2022.  I can see if it was next week or next month but we are well over 2 months.  I don't understand how Airbnb can uphold the host cancellation policy when clearly this was a fradulent act for financial gain.

[Mark116]

@Andrea5365  Not really.  The host has a strict cancellation policy.  You cancelled and the policy is being applied as written. That is not fraud.  It may be not very charitable or understanding, but the host holding you to the terms you agreed to when you booked isn't fraud of any kind.  

[Andrea5365]

Well it's fraud because the host knew about the goal and still went ahead and did nothing about accommodating the misunderstanding.   I can see if the host accepted the cancellation at the same time I was sending the message but the host clearly knew about what I was trying to accomplish and still went ahead and canceled the reservation.  At the very least, common courtesy would have been to decline the cancellation and send a message back that I processed the request incorrectly if I only wanted to change the date.

I think it was deceitful on the host part only because the were notified prior to processing the cancellation for financial gain because they knew their policy would not allow a refund?

[Mark116]

@Andrea5365   I give up.  The host did not 'accept' the cancellation, there is no accept of a guest cancellation, there is no way a host can either 'decline' a cancellation.  No host can force a guest to keep a reservation.

The host did not deceive you in any way.  You cancelled.  They said, okay, you cancelled my policy applies.  I can possibly imagine, since you seem incapable of understanding even the most basic things about the cancellation and how it works that your host decided he or she doesn't want to deal with you anymore.

[Andrea5365]

Thank you for the detailed information.  Unfortunately this was my first and last experience with Airbnb.  I have even asked the host if they will consider re-instating my cancellation and the host Declined that.  The only real refund I guess I can get back is the one printed on my receipt that if I cancel by May 7  I can get 50% of my trip less the service fee. 

I guess I learned a very expensive lesson.

[Sarah977]

@Andrea5365  You still seem to be confused. The host does not have the opportunity to either accept nor decline a guest cancellation. If a guest cancels, whether on purpose or by accident, the reservation is automatically and instantly cancelled by Airbnb. It has nothing to do with the host. 

You messaged the host and explained that you just were trying to do a date change but accidentally cancelled 8 minutes after  the cancellation was made. The host has no ability to reinstate the reservation after it is cancelled, even if they wanted to.

While I agree with you that the host could have been more accommodating rather than hard-nosed (you didn't answer Mark's question as to whether there had been previous communications with the host), they are under no obligation to refund. 

As Mark says, it isn't fraud for a host to uphold the terms of the cancellation policy you booked under.

If a guest could just be fully refunded by claiming they cancelled in error, all guests would use such a tactic, whether it was an accident or not.

[Andrea5365]

There were no previous communications because I had sent a message to host that I wanted to change check out date.  Half hour later nothing.  I looked online to see if I could not inconvenience the host by trying to see if there was instruction on how to do so. I found the link and followed the instruction.  I was not able to select the check out date because it was blocked.  I wanted to select the 18th of the month BUT the only date available was the 20th?  I assumed it was blocked due to my original reservation but thought no because the 20th was available.  My original reservation was from May 14-22, 2022.  If it was supposed to blocked off due to my original reservation why was the 20th available to select when I was trying to change the date to check-out on the 18th so then I thought it didn't have anything to do with that. I logged out and came back in and tried again and this time the cancellation window came up.

I proceeded to go through with the cancellation because clearly the change date was not working, during this time nothing back yet from the Host.  Finally went through the process of cancellation and when it asked how much of a refund.  I selected Other and put in the full amount of the trip value thinking that I would rebook the whole thing over.  Then I get a confirmation message from the Host 8 minutes after I told them what had happened accidentally and then message stating that you will be refunded $0.00.

Not sure what????