I need help

[Maria12289]

I booked two places by mistake. Last night I requested one. It was not answered. This morning (I have very bad mornings due to a nervous system injury), I instant booked another and got accepted by the first one at the same time ! I tried to call air b and b right away, they would not do anything. I canceled the instant book, for sure the host would return my 1600.00 , I thought. She refused. It is 1600.00. She did nothing to earn that money, it was a mistake. It was canceled right after.  What can I do? I am dead broke.  I just started recovering from this brain injury and this is all the money I had. I cant get over a person keeping 1600.00 just like that.  It was a mistake and this is theft. Please help. 

[Maria12289]

@Anonymous  I had 0 idea that this was illegal, only trying to get my money back do I realize all of this.  What would you do without any money now , and finding out it was done illegally? I am livid.  

[Anonymous]

You're livid because you lost money, not because you suspect that the rental was illegal. And since you didn't actually stay in the property, the allegedly illegal short term tenancy technically didn't occur, which makes it rather hard to prosecute as a crime.

Believe me, I do know how awful it feels to lose a lot of money over a mistake. I've been there too. But you're in no position to say you're the victim of a scam operation when you voluntarily cancel the booking. If you had kept the booking and found that the property didn't exist, then you could truly say that you were scammed.

What would I do without any money now? Well, pretty much what I'm already doing - like over 100 million people around the world, I've lost months of income to the pandemic situation, and while I'm fortunate enough to have a roof over my head I dont have a bunch of spare cash to throw away. So what I would do is be as careful as possible with what I do have and not travel across the country and book two different properties for the same date. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Maria12289 

"I need help" normally only means one thing.

As difficult a situation it might be, If I was the host who failed to confirm your booking in a timely manner, and Airbnb informed me that you had already needed to book elsewhere because of the short timescale, I would refund you.

You have every right to feel as though you have been ripped off. You have been.

What STUPID booking system allows 2 bookings from one person for the same dates ?!!! 

Airbnb does not allow a member to book accommodation for any other person apart from themselves, so unless you were attempting to book illegally, which you were not, then you could not possibly expect to be in attendance at both listings, and Airbnb should not be allowing any attempted illegal bookings to happen. The first booking being confirmed would be your commitment and the later one, a problem for Airbnb to sort out. They cannot argue that you were deliberately booking two listings, when their T&C's don't allow third party bookings so they should cancel one of your bookings and return your money.  This is simply botched up programming. As @Anonymous mentioned about the withdrawal of enquiry on your part, there should be a prevention of double-booking on Airbnb's part. They know their rules better than anybody and they should be capable of administering them effectively.

Many hosts in this forum over recent months have been arguing that "one should never ever have to pay when no service has been rendered" - here it is... no service is rendered and 'contract rights' are being screamed. Pity they don't want to fight 'contract rights' themselves when it comes down to it. 

If Airbnb will not uphold your case as being a complete accident, you need to take things into your own hands. Before you do, contact another customer services agent at Airbnb again and persevere with your case. Arguing that they should not have let you double book and their system should have prevented it from happening may help. The best way to sort this out is via Airbnb.

After that, a photo of a tarantula in your (other) hosts shower, or claiming a Covid-19 cancellation with some evidence will work wonders!

I stopped payment on my debit card . But once they see that this is their rules , they will take the money back ?

Claim a fault in Airbnb booking procedure quoting that third party bookings are not allowed, yet Airbnb took your money contrary to their Terms. You can only book one listing as a First Party user for the same dates. Airbnb are at fault by allowing you to attempt a second booking before the confirmation time of the first request has expired.

I hope you reach a satisfactory conclusion via Airbnb or by a refund from your Debit Card.

[Anonymous]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

"After that, a photo of a tarantula in your (other) hosts shower, or claiming a Covid-19 cancellation with some evidence will work wonders!"

Are you proposing that this guest commit fraud against one host to make up for the money she lost with the other one? Surely you're joking, but that's not even slightly funny.

A safeguard against double-booking would be a helpful feature for guests who don't understand how bookings work or read the rules before they click Confirm. But I don't know if there's a specific US law that would require Airbnb as a third-party broker to actively prevent that mistake. 

I don't know which hosts are out there arguing that "no one should have to pay when services are not rendered," but obviously no host who doesn't have a flexible cancellation policy would agree with that statement.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Anonymous 

That wasn't a proposal, that was a reflection of what gets seen in this forum every week. If you read the previous paragraph you will see that the 'proposal' was to sort it out through Airbnb. Twice. If Airbnb can't see their error in not providing the tools to evade this situation for the benefits of both guests and hosts - well.. there are options, and as you know - guests will do what guests need to do and are often more creative than just the obvious. A realistic evaluation of the situation would result in Airbnb seeing sense and seeing the failings on their part meaning, no resort to any guest retaliation.

Choosing sides on this one, I'm with @Maria12289. Encountering this problem for the first time (for us) displays a need for a solution. This will not have been the first time this has ever occured. So, why is there not already a solution provided?

Lots of hosts have been taking the attitude that the non-supply of a physical provision of accommodation deserve full refunds for guests. I haven't been one of them. Their claim that the non-supply of a service deserves no payment is no different here. 

Funny though, you bring up fraud.. What is an "attested Covod-19" cancellation if not just a fundamental incitement to defraud hosts of cancellation fees or bookings by a convenient means? Plainly, the idea of fair play demands identical rules applicable to both Airbnb, hosts and guests. If there is some sort of imbalance here, then that too needs fixing.

I think I was pretty clear that in light of the Terms provided by Airbnb for the use of their service, their system should not allow blatant abuse of those Terms which obviously they have allowed here in enabling an individual guest to make a double booking on the platform which they control. Allowances could be made for double bookings across different platforms where other platforms will not have the knowledge of, in this case bookings existing or in hand on a listing - but that excuse cannot exist on a single platform under an entirely single control and one which owns knowledgeable of 'in hand' enquiries or bookings.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  "Lots of hosts have been taking the attitude that the non-supply of a physical provision of accommodation deserve full refunds for guests. I haven't been one of them. Their claim that the non-supply of a service deserves no payment is no different here. "

You are taking the comments of hosts who believed that expecting guests to have half their reservation money taken during a pandemic when everyone should have been staying home, was not okay and assuming or erroneously portraying that those hosts believe that all guest cancellations should be fully refunded if the guest for any reason wants to cancel.

That's a total misrepresentation of the issue, and you know it.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

However you want to look at it , the arguments of hosts claiming that the non-provision of service deserves no payment will stand true here -  one of those hosts will not be providing a service to @Maria12289 and so, does not deserve to be paid for it. You know me - I'm a contract guy - but even I wouldn't accept a contract as incendiary as this, it should never be allowed to be created.

This is a platform design issue, and it is that which needs fixing - because its broke. Getting to the point where a guest can be allowed to book twice for the same calendar period is just plain wrong.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Also shocked that you would suggest that a guest make a false claim and possibly get the host's account suspended because they chose to uphold their cancellation policy. That's not even slightly funny.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

It should never get to that.

I don't think that it is fair that a guest becomes victimised because of a failed booking system and might need to resort to more desperate measures. And they will.

In the order of things, the fault lies in the booking system and responsibility should be taken and rectified there. Avoidance of the problem is far better than fire fighting it later, like now.

If implementations of ways to donate to various causes can be added to the booking system in various places then simple, fundamental booking controls which Airbnb are being paid to provide should already be built into the system and be robust enough to ensure that guests don't make mistakes in their bookings. This simple, fundamental control is lacking and is a trap for any guest keen to make a desperate booking.

A request in to make a booking with one host, should restrict the ability of a guest to make another for the same dates before the first request reply period is exceeded. 

[Sarah977]

@Maria12289  Sorry this happened to you, but leaving it until the last minute to send a request, so that you haven't given the host time to answer or accept or decline is pretty poor planning. You said you sent the request last night- the host may already have gone to sleep and answered when they got up in the morning. Would you have expected the host to stay up all night answering any requests or inquiries that might come in? And when you saw in the morning that the host hadn't answered yet, why not send the host a message before going ahead and booking another place?

Hosts have 24 hours to respond to a request or inquiry, although most answer much more quickly than that. But hosts have lives, too- you can't necessarily expect an immediate response.

[Maria12289]

@Sarah977  I left until last minute because I was sick. I had to leave california. I dont have an apt to return to un nyc because I have been sick . I did not expect the first host to return my request right away.  I canceled the second not the first. And it was instant. I have been struggling a lot these last 3 years, due to my condition and while I dont expect to be catered to it would be nice to have ethics precede greed. 

[Susan1092]

@Maria12289 You’re painting yourself in a very poor light, here. Threatening someone’s livelihood just because of your own mistake is despicable. YOU made a mistake, no-one else. Get over it.

Next?

[Gordon0]

I see you in somewhat of a different light now, @Maria12289, and trying to drag the host down with you in a fit of pique (because of a mistake you made) isn't right. You knew NYC listings were sketchy, yet it didn't stop you booking. 

[Maria12289]

@Gordon0 Completely untrue . Where do you get that I knew they were sketchy ?  Here’s the thing , it’s clear that this was my mistake . It was due to reasons the policies don’t care about . But, what about ethics here ?  I’m like blown away that profile pictures are fake on here (some ) , that phone numbers are not real , that things are done in a calculated way . It’s all super new to me and only in losing this money did I discover it . I have 200.00 to eat for the next two months , hoping I can resume work after two and a half years fighting an illness .  

[Helen350]

You have 39 reviews as a guest dating back to July 2018 @Maria12289 ! - Don't pretend this is "super new" to you!