Sue Airbnb

[Bianca492]

I’ve had a guest whom booked for a month full in advance for $3100 being my pay out. 2 weeks before her stay she changes her minds & asks me to send her a full refund, due to her changing situation. I contacted Airbnb & was advised that if I want to abide by the long term cancellation policy they have to abide by it as well. I receive another call from Airbnb asking do I want to cancel the reservation. I tell them no. I log onto Airbnb & see that “I cancelled the Airbnb.”  I was never notified that they would be cancelling the reservation on my end. And they have also blocked out the dates for the month. I was want to sue them for the inconvenience, now for that entire month nobody can stay in the unit being I am missing out on my payments for an entire month. 

[Normen0]

Well this is very upsetting.  Are you able to unblock the dates?  It may have been an automatic block that you can undo. I would start there and then contact AIRBNB and escalate this issue. I would ask if the calls are recorded.  I don’t know why we even bother with cancellation policies at this point. 

[Sarah977]

@Bianca492  Take a breath and a step back. Have you contacted Airbnb to say there was an error made, that you never cancelled this reservation from your end, and that you specifically said no when  the agent called you? 

If not, this is the first thing to do. I've read of this happening to other hosts, and the host penalties were removed. It might  take some time, but if you are persistent, you will likely prevail.

Do not phone them. Use their messaging option so you have a written record of the exchanges.

And I doubt it would be worth your while to try to sue them for errors or inconvenience.

[Bianca492]

I have contacted Airbnb & they told me I have to wait for the person who handled my case to call me. After calling they sent me a confirmation message stating “I wanted to abide by my cancellation policy.” The agent was confused as to why it was cancelled on my end. 

[Emiel1]

@Bianca492 

If this guest just changes her mind (so there is no extenuatng circumstance here), then she need to cancel the reservation. The long term cancellation policy will not refund the first 30 nights (but she can always ask you for some partial refund, but you are not obliged to it)

It is rather weird Airbnb cancels the reservation on your behalf and penalised you

[Bianca492]

Very weird & I also thought when they do cancel wether it’s on your end or the guest. They notify you. I never received a notification.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Emiel1 @Bianca492 @Sarah977 

well, it just reminds us to never ever speak with a CS agent on the phone.  Always messaging.

[Bianca492]

After calling they sent me a confirmation message stating “I wanted to abide by my cancellation policy.” The agent was confused as to why it was cancelled on my end. 

[Helen3]

You will need to pursue this with Airbnb and state you should not be penalised for their error.