Credit card change caused cancellation and Host refuses to pay back deposit

Paul5971
Level 1
Willington, United Kingdom

Credit card change caused cancellation and Host refuses to pay back deposit

Hi All,

 

I am looking for some advice on how I can resolve my  issue and hopefully return some if not all of my deposit.

 

I booked a house in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada back in February 2019 for our family Christmas holiday 15th December 2019- 4th January 2020 (20 nights). The total cost was $2492.40 USD. I paid the required amount to book of $1,883.33 USD on February 28th. I have been in regular contact with the host because we are returning back to Cochrane and need gifts etc.. sent for the kids for Christmas. The host went to the trouble of getting me the post office address in Cochrane. I also received a message informing me of the garbage collection over the Christmas holiday on December 7th. I checked my AirBNB account on December 9th to be totally shocked that the reservation had been cancelled due to my credit card payment failed. I notified AirBNB (phone/texts) and the Host immediately. The reason I changed my credit card was because I am currently living in Japan and have a Japanese credit card. However I am leaving Japan and relocating to Poland so I changed the credit card details to my UK credit card and made sure that the new card was the default payment card.  I made these changes in October because I knew that the Japanese card would be cancelled. To my amazement I have been told by AirBNB case manager that I should have called them to advise the credit card change. The house was instantly re-listed and rented and the host accepted the new tenants. The house is now booked from December 15th -21st and is free from the 21st -27th and then booked again from the 27th onwards. I have approached AirBNB and the Host to ask for a new property in Cochrane or a refund of my deposit. AirBNB did recommend other properties but unfortunately these properties are in Calgary which is a 45 minute drive away from Cochrane which is where we need to be. AirBNB case manger has offered a $400 dollar coupon in compensation. Which I have refused because I simply cannot avoid to pay out more money. The Host has refused to return my deposit due to their cancellation policy even though she knows about my credit card issue. I do not understand why the Host did not send me a text (as she had in the past) to ask why I was cancelling or why there seemed to be an issue with the payment. This booking was made 9 months in advance.  I believe the failure to pay wasn't my fault although AirBNB case manager told me I was aware of when I booked of the rules. I have reviewed the payment terms and condition but unable to find this particular statement (if anyone has it please do let me know). We are now faced with no where to stay and I have my wife's elderly parents flying over from England to Cochrane on Saturday (14th). My wife has asked the Cochrane community for help to find suitable accommodation. I have raised a request to the Host to refund the money and I believe she has 72hrs to respond. I am looking for help to push this issue further should the Host and AirBNB refuses to pay back all,  if not some of the money.

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Paul

12 Replies 12
Cormac0
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

@Paul5971 

 

Unfortunately Paul, the problem is of your own making and the host is just following the contract you agreed to, as the CS pointed out.

 

Anecdotally my best friend worked in Japan for six years,  he used to get a years salary as a bonus at the year end so cash was not tight.

Paul5971
Level 1
Willington, United Kingdom

Thanks for your comment. I don’t really understand what the Japanese salary has to do with it? 

Rowena29
Level 10
Australia

@Paul5971 

sorry you are in this difficult situation.

I don't really have a solution for you but I can perhaps add a little bit of insight.

When your reservation was cancelled, the host would have had absolutely no idea it was cancelled by airbnb because of credit card issues. The host would just get an email from airbnb stating "we're sorry to let you know XXXX has cancelled the booking"  ( airbnb use theme generic cancellation messages regardless of why the reservation was cancelled. I know this for a fact because I experienced a similar situation ). The host - for your privacy reasons - would most definitely not have been told that it was airbnb that did the cancelling. The second the reservation was cancelled the dates would have been made available for other guests. If the host has IB book enabled, this could have happened more or less immediately as it is such a busy time of year  

In the case I experienced , my guests was sent several emails regarding the fact that there were issues with her card well before the cancellation occurred. Did this not occur with you? 

 

Did you take out travel insurance? I routinely use this over any peak holidays season as things notoriously can go wrong - flights cancelled, and you are left stranded,  hotels close down - and  in your experience no more airbnb's available.  Nothing is ever fool proof.   

In these situations airbnb usually work pretty hard to find you alternate accomodation.  IF there are no other  airbnb accommodations physically available in Cochrane for that time airbnb can't really do much more than find the closest one for you in helping you relocate. However it may be worth continuing to ring them. I think your idea of reaching out the the general community is an excellent one.

Each host can make their own decision regarding refunds and extenutating circumstances. I can see why you feel hard done by, but equally  the host has now lost out on income from 21 - 27 Dec through no fault of his/hers.  For the record, the host doesn't' yet have your money - that will still be being held by airbnb.  You may find the host is willing to come to an arrangement whereby he/she refunds you if she ends up with a booking for those dates but they're not obliged to do that. 

You may find it useful to "close" your case with airbnb and ring up adn start over with a fresh customer service person.  It's important to be measured, unemotive and very clear when talking to them.  Apparently some customers find they get a better service when they reach out through Twitter - using a line such as "stranded for the xmas holidays due to credit card confusion" might be helpful? 

Good luck sorting this out.

Other people will no doubt be along shortly to add more advice.

Agreed, Rowena29, I was wondering how he didn't see any messages about the cr card being rejected. From memory you do get more than one chance to sort it before they cancel on you...? A trip like that, also, travel insurance seems like a good idea altho even they may have had loopholes in these circumstances...

Mike1034
Level 10
Mountain View, CA

@Paul5971 Airbnb has a payment option for making two payments. The second payment is usually collected by Airbnb one week before your checkin time. In your case, the second payment collection failed due to your credit card old credit card no longer valid.

 

Normally you and the host should receive email notification when the booking is canceled. Have you got any message from the host when your booking was canceled? Did you receive an email notification about it? I had a similar issue in which a booking was canceled due to the payment collection issue. I messaged the guest and asked why he canceled his booking and he told me that he did not. Eventually I had to get the guest rebook the same dates and I made a special offer with the amount that remained to be paid because Airbnb system had no way to revert that auto cancellation due to payment failure.

 

Now your best bet is to negotiate with the host to refund you portion which the dates were booked by other guests because there are still unbooked dates which were blocked till early December by your cancelled reservation.

All makes sense, Mike1034, and in my own experience, if someone's booking is cancelled, if I rebook any part of the dates they had secured, I will reimburse them accordingly (proportionately). It seems the right thing to do, in my opinion - and a goodwill gesture at the very least. It does seem strange that our friend here has not mentioned sighting any messages from Airbnb about the cr card charge being rejected... but it looks like it all comes down to how prepared the host is to refund the portion that has been covered by a new booking at least.... 

@Paul5971    All I can suggest is to contact the host and explain the situation and see if something can be worked out. It is frustrating that Airbnb kept both you and the host in the dark.  I have had reservations where the payment was declined and I received a message from Airbnb with card decline stated as reason and the guest was given 24hours to address it, the reservation was not automatically cancelled.  Maybe Airbnb only do that for initial payment - I think it's  wrong-headed not to alert the guest or host and give them a chance to resolve the issue before canceling. But I also agree with @Rowena29   re: impact on host.

Rowena29
Level 10
Australia

@Ange2 

Going off on a bit of a tangent in regards to the original question, butI'm so interested to hear that you have experienced airbnb stating card decline as a reason for a cancellation.  As a host, I have had 2 reservations cancelled for this reason and both times  got a message saying "we're sorry to let you know that xxx has cancelled their booking".  In one instance it was a busy long weekend - my calendar opened up and I got a new booking almost immediately.   2 hours later I got a furious phone call from the  original guest asking why I had cancelled her booking and demanding I cancel the new guest and re instate her. Then I had to deal with CS ringing me and asking me "what I could do to make it right"  like it was all somehow MY  fault, while still acknowledging that I mustn't cancel the new booking.  It took hours and was very stressful and naturally i ended up out of pocket ( the new booking was for fewer days and fewer guests) 

Having said all that however, I know for a fact the guest was messaged on at least 2 occasions by airbnb letting her know that there were problems with her credit card.  I know because both times she messaged me about it and asked me to "sort it out" ( !!).    When I asked CS why they couldnt' have just sent an accurate message re the reason of the  cancellation ( card decline) I was told they could not share that information because of privacy reasons.  ( which is ironic because in both instances CS reps told me within 30 secs the guests had credit card limit issues).

Just one more area where there doesn't appear to be consistency

 

It does seem very odd that Paul was not given a chance to rectify the situation before his reservation was cancelled though.

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

@Paul5971  You say you paid a portion up front and not the whole amount, which leads me to believe that was the problem with the failed second payment. With the pay less upfront feature, on the second payment due date, Airbnb Payments will AUTOMATICALLY charge the “original payment method you used to make the booking”.  That remaining amount is likely pre authorized and tied to the original credit card during the initial booking and payment transaction, so when the time comes for the second payment, it happens automatically. Which explains why it failed and they say you should have let them know about the change. The cancellation would have triggered an automatic notice to the host, but she wouldn't have known why you cancelled. I can put myself in her shoes and feel the shock of losing out on that booking, having had the dates blocked for so long, and expecting the income. If someone booked instantly, or requested right away, of course she’d be accepting it. As it stands, it sounds like she’s not been able to re book the entire portion of dates your reservation held. You say you “raised a request to the host” but have you spoken personally to her and tried to explain what happened? Perhaps that would help. She may then consider giving you back some of the deposit, since she’s been able to rebook some of the dates you held. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Paul5971 

 

Before they cancel your booking, Airbnb do email you at least twice to let you know there was a problem with your credit card. Also on your profile it will show which credit card is shown on the listing. Are you sure it is the correct one?

 

All you can do is contact the host and ask whether they would be kind enough to provide you with a partial refund for any days they are able to rebook. This seems a reasonable compromise, but at the end of the day they are able to uphold the cancellation policy you booked under.

 

If you aren't happy with the listings Airbnb suggested as alternative  have you tried other listing companies or hotels in your chosen area?

Airbnb will email you 3 times before the reservation is canceled. Also when you choose the pay less upfront plan in the fine print it does states the reservation will be cancelled due to non-Payment if your payment is not charged by a certain date and will be based off the cancellation policy.

 

In the future always call to update payment info.

 

Sorry this happened please try to contact host, see if they have a similar listing in the area. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Paul5971  One thing to be aware of is that a host can't "refund" your money before 24 hours after check-in date, because the host doesn't have your money until then. Airbnb holds all the money until 24 hours after check-in, and then it can take several more days to appear in the host's bank account, paypal, etc. So at the point when all this happened and the dates got rebooked to someone else, the host had neither your $ nor the $ of the subsequently booked guest.

A lot of guests are under the impression that as soon as their credit card is charged, the host has their money, when in fact, your deposit was sitting in Airbnb's offers since Feb, when you made the reservation, collecting interest for Airbnb, not the host.