Cancellation Help

[Tammy221]

Friend rented out his whole house for $30 per night by accident. Booking was already paid for and confirmed. Ad reads there are no linens included in the house. Guests arrived and are upset there are no linens. Expects host to run out immediately and buy 5 sets of linens. Host says no, sorry you didn't read or understand ad. Now what? Host wants them to leave and just cancel whole thing. He's already losing money on the whole transaction so just wants to let it go. How do guests get their money back?

[Sarah977]

@Tammy221  Guest needs to contact Airbnb to cancel and leave. They will be refunded by Airbnb according to the host's cancellation policy. But the host should call Airbnb first and explain the situation, that the guests didn't read the listing information and are complaining about amenities that they expected but that were never offered in the listing and expect the host to go out and purchase those things. 

BTW not providing linens is not the norm, so your friend really needs to communicate with guests when they first book or request to book to make sure they are aware of this. Most guests would expect linens and most hosts provide them. No linens certainly doesn't work for guests if they aren't driving from their home to the listing. No one is going to pack their bags with sheets, pillows and blankets when they are flying somewhere.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Tammy221 

If it was an IB, your friend could have used one of his penalty-free cancellations by contacting Airbnb as soon as he realized the mistake. Also, I agree with @Sarah977  that since "no linens" is not the norm, even if it's stated on the listing description it would be prudent for the host to reiterate to guests.

I have a "no guest(s) of the Airbnb guest" rule mentioned several times on my listing, but I always remind guests of this rule at least 2 times (during initial inquiry and again a few days before they are scheduled to arrive).

Your friend should contact Airbnb to get the booking cancelled and have the guests re-homed. Airbnb will handle the refund.

[Tammy221]

Thanks for the reply and I appreciate the advice and information.  

How does one phone air bnb or contact them directly? I'm still figuring this out and haven't been able to find any contact info. 

Appreciate the assistance. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Tammy221 

Go to the Airbnb Help section or do a search on the community center for "contact Airbnb".

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide-UPDATED/m-p/413245