Refuse to refund service fee for double booking

[Emily1437]

I accidentally booked a second reservation for the same time period before cancelling the first reservation. I immediately went and cancelled the first reservation after booking the second one. But they deducted the service fee.

They are now refusing to refund the €60 service fee. It seems really harsh. It's natural for people to make multiple reservations with free cancellation and then cancel the one they don't want.

Never using Airbnb again.

[Emiel1]

@Emily1437 

" It's natural for people to make multiple reservations with free cancellation and then cancel the one they don't want."

IMHO this is not natural...

If the cancellation policy allows also refundung of the Airbnb Service Fee, it is limited to maximum 3 times in a 12 month time period.

[Colleen253]

@Emily1437 The terms and conditions of all Airbnb policies are fully available to you before proceeding with booking. That you didn’t avail yourself of the details of the one applicable in your case is unfortunately on you alone. 

re “ It's natural for people to make multiple reservations with free cancellation and then cancel the one they don't want.” It’s not natural. Rather, it’s bad form to tie up a host’s calendar when you have no intention of staying.  Also, not believing you ‘accidentally’ booked the second listing, based on your statement above. It seems Karma got you this time.

“Note: Guests won’t get a refund of the Airbnb service fee if they’ve received 3 service fee refunds in the last 12 months or if the cancelled reservation overlaps with an existing reservation.”

https://www.airbnb.ca/home/cancellation_policies

[Emily1437]

Yeh, thanks, obviously I know that now.

When I said I accidentally booked the second reservation, I don't mean the second reservation was the accident (duh). I mean it was accidental that I didn't cancel the first one before booking the second one.

I am also a host who offers free cancellation. I have had many people cancel on me. When it's done promptly, it's no inconvenience whatsoever.

"It’s not natural. Rather, it’s bad form to tie up a host’s calendar when you have no intention of staying."

I fully expect that when I offer free cancellation, people will book my place as a safety option, then cancel if they find something better. It's not bad form. It's normal consumer behaviour. It's also something that's allowed on other booking websites. 

It would be so so easy for Airbnb to introduce a warning system when someone is about to book a second reservation with overlapping dates. But they don't. Instead they just let people fall into the trap that's laid for them.

No one is going to read beyond "free cancellation before [month, day]".

[Jennifer1773]

@Emily1437 @Elise410 

According to Emily, "It would be so easy for Airbnb to introduce a warning system when someone is about to book a second reservation with overlapping dates. But they don't. Instead they just let people fall into the trap that's laid for them."  I was concerned about your statements that the "double booking" cancellation rule was so hidden, so I tried to double book over an existing Airbnb reservation I have next month to see what would happen. Here is a screen shot of the reservation page just above "confirm and pay" where Airbnb explicitly warns of the penalties immediately before you “double book”:

I would like to add that I have the most lenient cancellation policy, because life does happen and I want to be flexible, not because "I fully expect that when I offer free cancellation, people will book my place as a safety option, then cancel if they find something better" as stated by the OP.  So far none of my guests, including a few cancellations, have disappointed me in this respect, perhaps partly due to the penalty imposed by Airbnb if they do.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jennifer1773 but it is still not fair. Expecting guests to read the text before they double book is just so unreasonable. I guess @Emily1437 was exhausted having read all the rules in the listing and just clicked through the booking pages.

Thanks for this interesting bit of research - Airbnb is often said to be unfair but in this case it seems to be totally fair and upfront with the consequences of a double booking.

[Jennifer1773]

@Mike-And-Jane0  🙂 Fair... as a mother and a teacher, "fair" is a word I hear a lot! According to Merriam-Webster's  "fair" is in a manner that is honest or impartial or that conforms to rules. As both a host and a guest, I feel that Airbnb is treating us fairly, at least in respect to double bookings. I am not saying that it is not possible to make a mistake or be in error on a booking... just that you might have to pay a penalty for your mistake. Once I forgot to sign my tax return before mailing it in to the IRS. You can be sure I paid a penalty on that one, even though I meant to sign it before submission... :).  I did not make that mistake again...

[Susan1188]

This guest was clearly booking multiple properties, knowingly, in order to "get the best deal" and cancel.
This is extremely harmful to hosts.
Most of whom are private families, not hotels or property managers, individuals who take you seriously when you book our places.

Please do not book multiple properties just to be sure to "get the best deal", only to cancel last minute.  We've all been through the pandemic and behaviour like this is just not decent.

[Brian2036]

@Emily1437 

I thought the system was supposed to prevent guests from booking multiple times for the same dates. 

Looks like I was wrong.

Thanks for the information.

This opens up an opportunity for juvenile pranksters to book 2,4,6 or more listings just for fun. Why not a hundred?

What a lovely joke on Airbnb.

[Jill159]

Hi Emily

i think many hosts would not appreciate their calendar being tied up by guests playing the market 

it certainly isn’t normal behaviour as far as I and fellow hosts are concerned 

You may be hosting in different circumstances - not pre arranged holiday stays and multiple bookings in some circumstances may be ‘normal ‘

But when running a business with several listings this behaviour would not be acceptable especially after the disadvantage hosts have had to endure with Covid 

[Anonymous]

It's natural for people to marry two spouses at once and then divorce the one they don't want!

It's natural for people to order two main courses at a restaurant and send one of them back to the kitchen!

It's natural for people to book simultaneous vacations to two destinations so they can cancel one when they see rain in the forecast!

It's natural to give the less attractive twin up for adoption!

Nature has given us a lot of awful things, like mosquitoes and Ebola. It's overrated.

[M199]

@Emily1437 

Being a host, you should know better.  Do you even have an idea of how many hosts use this platform as their sole source of income. I agree, mistakes happen, I would be embarrassed to admit this globally.

[Sarah977]

@Emily1437  Wow. You sure live a different reality than most of us. Booking more than one place for the same dates so you can pick and choose, while the host thinks they actually have a booking, is the epitome of rude and entitled, rather than a "safety measure". A safety measure is purchasing travel insurance in case something falls through. Hosts are not your travel insurance.

I don't know anyone who would consider this to be normal. 

[Elise410]

We are dealing with the same thing right now. Our plans changed and we needed to book a different spot. I made the mistake of not canceling the first booking before booking the second, but I canceled it the same day, A month before the original cancellation policy said that I needed to to receive the full refund. I have screenshots of the cancellation policy that was stated to me. This is a classic bait and switch and Airbnb is going to have a class action lawsuit on their hands. 

[Elise410]

I’ve been on the phone with customer service for weeks. It’s impossible to get someone who doesn’t talk like a robot. They just keep re-stating the double booking policy to me over and over again. It’s very difficult to find it on the website yourself. Very much hidden. My problem is not with the policy is that it was never stated to me before booking. I’m being charged $151 service fee because I “double booked” for a couple hours