Host wants me to cancel my trip

[Marin5]

Hello, 

I booked trip to France 2 days ago. 
Apartment had an instant book option so I picked my dates and my credit card was charged. 
Host started conversation with me and everything was fine. 

But, today he sent me message and said that he can't host because his family comes on weekend I booked. 

He asked me to cancel my reservation and said that he can refund service fee. 

I haven't been in this situation yet, but I think he has to cancel that reservation?!
I'm not the one who wants to cancel trip. 

What is the best (safest, easiest) way for me to get my money back? 

Thank you! 
Best regards, 
Marin 

[Paul389]

You have to tell the Host to cancel to get the refund. Do not cancel yourself. This is a real problem with AirBnb as they seem not to help at all. When I had this problem I searched for a phone number to call Airbnb but could not find one and there was no email help or live chat anywhere.  Perhaps I am wrong but if it is there it certainly is not obvious or accessible from the website.

I think their attitude is your on your own once you have paid.

Best of luck

Paul

[Hanis1]

Hi there. I am having the same problem. Booking has been accepted by Host, but now he wants to cancel the booking. I have sent cancellation request via the option 'my host needs to cancel', but he said I should click the 'I no longer need accomocation' instead which then my money will be refunded straighaway. Is that true? How do I resolve this? 

Help me, please. TQ! 

[Huma0]

@Pruthvi0 @Paul389 or anyone else still having problems reaching Airbnb in the UK, what number are you using to try to get through to Airbnb? So far, I have never had a problem reaching them and they normally answer very quickly. Try 020 33181111 if you haven't already.

[Beverley27]

Hello, I'm having exactly the same experience.  The host accepted by booking and is now telling me to cancel and Airbnb has taken the money from my account.  The host is yet to cancel and therefore I have no accessible funds to rebook my trip.  Any advice please?   I find the site very robotic and not helpful in this situation.  It's not a good first experience.  

[Marit-Anne0]

@Beverley27

I suggest you contact airbnb for assistance - hopefully such unprofessional hosts can be weeded out if reported.  If the host needs to cancel, they should do so from their end to ensure you get a full refund.  

[Beverley27]

Thanks for responding.  I'm finding it really hard to contact Airbnb via the site.  How can I do this?   I've requested that the host cancels the reservation and they are given 48 hours to respond and after this we will be given the option to find a new space or request a refund.  This is not helpful at all, as I now need to try and find alternative accomodation and am required to pay for it.  We are going next week.    

[Marit-Anne0]

@Beverley27

There should be a contact number on your booking confirmation.

[Beverley27]

Hello,  just to say Airbnb has been fantastic in helping me sort out the issues with my host and I am very happy with the resolution.  I'm new to Airbnb and will continue to be a future customer as I now know Airbnb will support and assist you when needed.  One happy customer.  Thank you Airbnb.  Very impressed. 

[Deb125]

Wow.. what happens if a host cancels?  They're frowned upon by AIRBNB,  threatening emails go out to the hosts.. NO host wants to cancel, I am surprised to read here that several hosts do cancel, some definitely are beyond their control, maybe the calendars were mismarked, bookings overlap,  who knows.   The threatening emails from airbnb is why a host would ask you the guest to cancel, and the host would rather pay you AIRBNB's fee, (AIRBNB's  fee comes out of the hosts pocket)  they'd rather refund you than get "banned" from airbnb.. which is one of the threating emails that AIRBNB sends the host if they cancel a reservation.  Childish as it sounds, its true, they have a punishing platform, rather than a business platform.  No other website does this,  makes it hard for guests and hosts..  

[Paul389]

I am due to stay in Sydney next week now my confirmed and paid for accommodation host says they have moved out and want me to cancel. I have replied that they need to cancel as I want a full refund. I am now wondering what happens if they do not cancel and I have nowhere to stay and have already paid for the stay. There seems to be no way to contact any Airbnb office to help which is completely unsatisfactory.

Please can someone help me.

Thanks

Paul

[Drew20]

I just had a similar experience. Slight difference was that the host asked me to cancel because they were uncertain about their own future vacation plans. The decline should be on their side, not mine as a requester. 

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

If they do not cancel, you should expect to be a guest there.  Most likely they are trying to avoid the penalties that Airbnb impose on hosts who cancel.  However, should anything happen, you can contact Airbnb and they will assist you in finding new accomodations.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Marin5 @Pruthvi0 @Drew20 @Paul389

As this is the host's problem and not yours, I would play the ball back to the host.  Ask them to send you the the fee refund in advance through the resolution center - then and only then would you agree to cancel at your end.  Otherwise there is no guarantee that you will get your refund at all.  These are seriously unprofessional hosts.

Nest time pay a little more and seek out the superhosts.  Among other things they get this status because they do not cancel confirmed reservations and leave the guests in the gutter.

[Joshua71]

Clearly this is a long-running problem with Airbnb. I just had (on my first foray into Airbnb) a host "cancel" on me via a message. Of course, she didn't actually cancel but instead told me that she could no longer host me and that I needed to cancel. I pushed back letting her know that I would assume my reservation is valid and show up for my reservation unless she officially canceled the reservation through the offical channel. She later did. I should also note that mine is a "superhost" so this is no guarantee of a decent host. I surely hope she loses this status. 

What a hassle. The penalties should be more severe and there needs to be an option for guests to inform Airbnb when a host is "canceling" without officially canceling. The messages come through the system so Airbnb has access to them and could easily view and approve guest cancelations that are actually a result of host "canceling" informally. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Joshua71

There are steep penalties and these are the very reason a host would ask a guest to cancel.