I drove all the way out to "Cozy Cottage in Downtown Terrell!" only to get cancelled t 12:15AM

[Cressandra0]

I was driving across  the country and I drove all the way out to "Cozy Cottage in Downtown Terrell!" in Terrell Texas so my mom who is 88 years old and my two dogs could stay the night -- we paid $387 for this home -- however when we finally go there -- DREW, the host cancelled at 12:15AM - at 2AM I finally found a room at the La Quinta in Ennis, TX and it was ONLY $120, they allow dogs, they had great parking, big clean rooms and it was so quiet - AFTER two LOUSY airbnb experiences - I'm gonna pause -- it's too dangerous to be stranded , driving around when you're exhausted because another airbnb person flaked

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Cressandra0 what were the reviews of the property like?

[Cressandra0]

4.90 · out of 10 reviews

[Sarah977]

@Cressandra0  Could you give a little more detail? Were you in communication with this host before setting out on your road trip, or did you just Instant Book it and plan to show up at the door? What reason did the host give for cancelling?

[Cressandra0]

I notice you work for airbnb - is it a good company to work for?

[Sarah977]

@Cressandra0  What on earth are you talking about? I most certainly don't work for Airbnb. I'm just a host with a private room listing. 

[Cressandra0]

This is what the host said when they cancelled @ 12:22AM

Drew12:22 AM

Hi! So sorry. Unfortunately the home is not ready. We were fixing a couple things with the home and were not expecting a guest tonight. I can issue a full refund no problem but unfortunately I cannot allow the stay

[Sarah977]

@Cressandra0  Sounds like a  very discombobulated host. Is it a new listing? He doesn't even seem to understand that he will receive penalties from Airbnb for cancelling (many guests think a host gets off scot-free for cancelling, which isn't true at all) He wasn't expecting a guest? It certainly doesn't sound like you made the booking a day before check-in, did you? Why would he not have been expecting you?

I may be wrong, but this sounds like a new host who doesn't understand how anything works. If you Instant Booked this, he probably didn't even know he had IB turned on, or how IB works (there are posts here all the time from new  hosts asking for help, saying someone was allowed to book without their approval, thinking that was some kind of error).

None of this is a valid excuse for the host's behavior, it's part of his responsibility to read about everything before he takes bookings. It just sounds like a naive host, rather than some sort of uncaring scam.

Did he actually cancel, or just say he couldn't host you and would issue a refund? He has to cancel, then your refund will be automatic.

I'm sorry you found yourself in this situation. It can take awhile for Airbnb to issue a refund.

[Ann72]

@Cressandra0  I would be fit to be tied.  I had a guest this summer who messaged me after he left to say the next place he checked into, an Airbnb Plus, was filthy, the kitchen hadn't been cleaned, the beds were unmade, the trash was overflowing...he left and Airbnb got him his refund and a hotel room.

My grown daughter and I are leaving tomorrow for our cross-country trip and although she's the daughter of an Airbnb host, she absolutely insisted on hotels the whole way and I didn't argue 🙂  I did not want to be in your situation and the fact is, it's too uncertain and too much work for one-night stays.

[Cressandra0]

right now Hotels are empty and willing to give good rates.  As I mentioned it was late at night - I was exhausted.  It's especially dangerous to be stranded, late at night, driving across the country trying to find backup plans.  For my own safety and peace of mind I will now go back to booking hotels -- if I knew that Drew was penalized for his unacceptable behavior of cancelling on me then sure, I'd go back to booking on airbnb - but this behavior is acceptable and supported within the Airbnb Family, so much so that I'm still trying to get my $387 back - 

[Sarah977]

@Cressandra0  What do you mean this kind of behavior is supported by the Airbnb Family? You seem to make a lot of presumptions based upon nothing, like that I work for Airbnb.

The majority of hosts hate to read about hosts cancelling last minute on guests- it's totally unacceptable, is a huge inconvenience to guests and gives the platform a bad name.

Unless the host had some kind of unavoidable emergency, either got sick or had an accident, or the plumbing in the rental burst, etc. there's no excuse for this kind of behavior..

Penalties for hosts cancelling are:

A fine of $50-$100.

The dates for the booking are blocked by Airbnb so they can't be rented to anyone else.

The host has "This reservation was cancelled by the host XX days before check-in", put on their review page, which will make potential guests reluctant to book with them, and

Loss of Superhost status, if the host currently has that.

All of those penalties are applied to a host cancellation specifically to discourage a host from doing what was done to you.

[Cressandra0]

And just to be clear - I have NOT received my  REFUND for $387

This is what the host said when they cancelled @ 12:22AM as I was driving across country with my 88 year old mother and two dogs -- 

Drew12:22 AM

Hi! So sorry. Unfortunately the home is not ready. We were fixing a couple things with the home and were not expecting a guest tonight. I can issue a full refund no problem but unfortunately I cannot allow the stay

[Anonymous]

@Cressandra0  If the host actually processed the cancellation, it will show as Cancelled under your Trips tab and you will have received an automated notification email from Airbnb about it. That email would include confirmation that a refund has been issued to your payment method (though it probably won't appear in your account for a couple days).

If you only got the message from the host and not an official cancellation, you can force him to push it through by following these steps precisely: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1250/if-your-host-needs-to-cancel

The host will be penalized, but Airbnb won't disclose this to you as the guest. 

Though it's no excuse for the host being so disorganized, his having only 10 reviews means you're still dealing with a novice in this trade - definitely no guarantee that he has the slightest idea what he's doing. If he said he was "not expecting a guest tonight," that seems to indicate that you hadn't exchanged any correspondence with the host before setting out on your road trip, and presumably Instant Booked close to the arrival date (?) These things all add up to a much riskier-than-average booking.  From your reviews, it looks like you've had some good experiences with more established and experienced hosts, so maybe you might consider either sticking with those in the future or asking a few questions before taking a chance on a newer listing. 

I've also had some really inconvenient host cancellations as a guest, all new or new-ish listings that didn't last long after. I don't want to be too prejudiced against them (I see you have a new listing yourself), but they do account for most of the stories like yours that we see here.