Warning about cancellation loophole scam

[Pat-and-Dennis0]

Warning about cancellation loophole scam

We had a guest book a holiday weekend about 3 weeks in advance.

 Our cancellation policy is Moderate, meaning:

1. If cancelled 5 or more days before checkin our cancellation policy refunds 100%
2. If cancelled less than 5 days before checkin, the refund is only 50% of the last day

So 4 days before cancellation, he sent a message that they had to cancel and he wanted a full refund.
But he didn't cancel at this point. We answered that he had to go through Airbnb for cancellation & we couldn't cancel for him.

Now 3 days before checkin, he still hasn't cancelled, but instead requested a 'rescheduling' for 2 weeks later.
Apparently Airbnb lets guests off the hook for cancelled bookings if they 'reschedule'.

Now here is the loophole & scam.
If we accept the rescheduling, he gets a full refund for the original booking because he's just rescheduling, not cancelling. Then in a week, he could cancel the new booking (more than 5 days prior to checkin) and receive a full refund for it.

And the scam is this - bottom line, he pays nothing and we're out 2 weekends of income because he knows how to play the system.

And if we decline the rescheduling, he can continue to request it again and again (he did) to keep us on the hook to decline his request or get dinged for slow response. We actually went around like this a few times until we figured out what he was doing. At this point, we didn't want this guest under any circumstances and there was a worry that since he didn't cancel, he might show up anyway and do something for revenge.

I finally called Airbnb and explained the situation. The agent helped solve the issue, but didn't really get the problem. She kept explaining that everything was up to the host. I don't know what happens if the guest claims 'extenuating circumstances' and Airbnb accepts their proof. She made it sound like we didn't have to accept the ruling. Does anyone know how this works? We ended up offering a larger refund if the guest cancelled that day. He did. Blackmail.

Until Airbnb fixes this loophole, hosts are basically forced to refund more money to unethical and savy guests who cancel. The cancellation policies we confidently attach to our listings are powerless agains a guest who knows his way around Airbnb.

Tags: cancellation, refund, hosting, scam

[Seun48]

I just witnessed first hand, the fraud that Airbnb is. Today I booked a 2 bedroom apartment with free cancellation before 3:00pm on November 30th. My friends found a more spacious villa and we decided to change, I booked the villa and cancelled the previous booking all in the same day, just a few hours. I request for a refund And Airbnb hits me with a service fee, I see in the refund invoice that they changed the cancellation policies. (See attached initial receipt and cancellation receipt). This is pure fraud, I wrote to customer support and I was referred to an article. Who reads all the articles before booking ? I read through the community and I see both hosts and guests are being scammed by airbnb and we need to act. I’m trying not to ruin my holiday, I’ll will press charges if I don’t get my full refund by the time I get back. This needs to stop!!

Cancellation receipt

Initial receipt

[Susan151]

@Seun48  The cancelation fees were not refunded because you had two bookings for the same dates. This prevents a guest from booking numerous places to hold them for the 48 hours, making it impossible for other guests to book.

[Seun48]

I clearly understand the idea, which makes sense. However, there’s time-money value. The initial booking was paid for, I doubt anyone would just like to give their money to Airbnb to hold for them for days. Well, I don’t. Is the service fee going to the host? I don’t think so. If a guest has any bad intentions or knowing that this is the way it is, could they not have had another member of the group do the new booking? 

the second booking I made clearly stated 50% non-refundable and I agreed to that. Which is more sensible than having “FREE CANCELLATION” and then turning around to give excuses for charging a fee. I believe it’s that simple. 

[Sarah977]

@Seun48  Airbnb holds host's money not just for days, but sometimes for months. For one thing, I don't know if you're aware, but hosts don't get paid for a reservation until 24 hours after a guest checks in. Until then, Airbnb has the guest's money and collects interest on it. Imagine how much this adds up to with millions of listings. And if the guest books 6 months in advance, they're holding that money for 6 months.

On top of that, many many hosts have trouble getting paid at all, waiting weeks or months after a guest has completed their stay, and scores of calls to Airbnb just result in them saying it's some kind of glitch and they're working on it.

[Seun48]

OMG!, this is sad to hear, there’s a need for a consumer protection council (as it’s called where I’m from) of some sort. Hosts have bills to pay. They offer a convenient service but these terms could be better. I hope they take feedbacks seriously. 

[Sarah977]

@Seun48  No, they don't. They pretty much totally ignore host feedback. Which is really stupid, because hosts have a much better idea of what works well and what doesn't about the platform than Airbnb employees do. And the suggestions that hosts make are just as relevant to a good guest experience, because without happy guests, it's not worth hosting. 

To give you an example, Airbnb has hidden the hosts' House Rules way down at the bottom of the listing page, where only the most savvy and diligent of guests will bother scrolling down to. So the guest arrives, not having read the rules, is surprised or irate about one or more of them, leading to bad energy and bad rviews between the host and the guest. We want everything to be clear and transparent to guests, so they make sure to book a lsting which meets their needs, which ensures that the stay goes well for the guest and the host. But Airbnb insists on doing things their way, which leads to a lot of problems. 

[Seun48]

I agree, the hosts have more experience as they receive several guests each year and are in a better position to advise. Ignoring feedback is really sad, I believe there’s always a match for everyone, if rules aren’t clear, everyone will find their match. The guests should be allowed to decide and  there could be trade-offs and compromises.  But these days, the manipulation is at an all time high, they don’t care what happens on-ground, they just get paid. 

[Sarah977]

@Seun48  I do see that it doesn't mention that the refund will be minus the service fee on the cancellation info on the original reservation, which is definitely sneaky- but what happened when you clicked on "More details"? Or did you not bother to do that? Because I think if you had, it would have told you that the service fee won't be refunded. 

Now, there is a caveat that a guest can cancel 3 times in a year and get the service fee refunded, but if you fail to cancel the first reservation before you book the alternative one, then you don't get the fee back. 

Yes, they should make this clear to guests. But it is typical marketing technique to bury information- not just Airbnb does this, many companies do. It's like if you see a product advertised for "From 39.99! * ", like a car rental ad. If you look at what is written in the fine print when you look at what is written under the asterisk, you find that that $39.99 is before taxes, insurance, and other costs.

Consumers, of course, consider this click bait advertising, which it is, but it is done extensively.

[Seun48]

Yeah, sadly. I doubt people like car salesmen very much. 

I’ve been told “Your Airbnb Contract probably says you can't sue Airbnb in any court except Small Claims Court, thanks to an arbitration clause”. Oh well, sad world we live in. Lessons learnt, We must read through every agreement online.

Thanks for the responses. I feel better this morning 🙂. Can they however pass on this service fee to the host? 

[Sarah977]

@Seun48  Oh, no. The service fee has nothing to do with the host- that's Airbnb's cut. Hosts don't even know how much of a percentage Airbnb is going to charge on a reservation- we're not privy to that info.

Here's a interesting one for you- if a host cancels a reservation, they get all kinds of penalties-  if they have Superhost status they lose it and aren't eligible for it for a year, they get "Host cancelled this reservation XX days before check-in" on their review page, which makes guests wary to book with them, and they get a $50-$100 fine. Hosts would at least like that fine to go to the guest for the inconvenience of having the reservation cancelled, but Airbnb just adds that fine to their coffers.

[Seun48]

I saw that automated message on a couple of bookings and yes they served as deterrents. The terms should be clearer and all parties know what penalties they would have to pay. Airbnb shouldn’t just penalize everyone, acting as both judge and jury and end up being the ones getting settled. We could drive local policies that could change this sort of treatment. 

[Wende2]

Hi all.......as a responsible host, I'm sorry for all the monies some of you have lost.  I just did a search for lawsuits, they're right there, I suggest you do the same.

[Mary361]

This is a perfect example of what is not wrong with Airbnb necessarily but society.  You want instant gratification.  You do not bother to read the terms, even most times reinforced in writing by the Hosts.  you go about this with no regard for others or their lives or income just to save a buck.  I have had miserables ding my location after they chose it so if I have a complaint it would be with that as I can hardly move my home to please you.  Why don't you learn to read and have consideration for the people killing themselves to please you before you go about your day carelessly?  You will win nothing in a suit rightfully so.  Stop ruining others lives for your own greed or mistakes please.