Hoping for full refund on strict cancellation policy

[Brian762]

I recently booked a five-night reservation in Barcelona during the first week of June 2019 for myself and a group of seven friends, only to discover three days after the 48-hour period within the host's Strict cancellation policy that the wrong dates had been used. Panicked, I sadly confirmed that the dates I actually needed were not available for that property and immediately contacted the host, who got back to me the next morning saying that he could not cancel himself and that a refund would not be possible. I wrote him back stating that I would have no problem cancelling, admitting my dumb error and basically groveling throughout the entire message, appealing to his sense of fairness. He again stated that he had to stand behind the policy and denied my request. In the meantime, I researched this post that reveals full refunds are possible according to the host's discretion:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Full-Refund-for-Strict-Cancellation-Policy-TIPS/td-p/456...

At that point, I engaged customer service and was turned over to a Case Manager, who basically informed me that I didn't have a leg to stand on and that I was essentially at the mercy of the host to decide about a refund. I wrote back to the host, letting him know that I understood his situation, informed him that I had even looked at his other two properties on the dates I actually needed (which were unfortunately not large enough to accomodate my group), let him know I would be out $1,700 (the first half of the rental fee) and now without a place to stay at present, and once again essentially begged for mercy while appealing to his sense of humanity and compassion. I then formally canceled my reservation and requested a full refund through the system. His reply this morning was the same: he did not agree to a refund (seemed a little ticked off, which was obviously not my intention), the policy is as stated, I had time to review the dates and he finds my story hard to believe.

I called Airbnb back this morning and got another Case Manager, to whom I explained that I thought this was an awful and unsustainable business model that hides behind policy while ignoring common sense and allows me to lose $1,700 for a rental six months out that I won't even be in the country for. She said that she understood and would contact the host to appeal to him again. I am not hopeful at all and, based on a lot of what I've been reading, actually expect to get the runaround and/or possibly get ignored from here on out.

Let me state that I don't expect most hosts on here to feel any sympathy for me, and I understand that viewpoint to a small degree -- I'm sure you deal with all manner of things from guests. I should also state that, in addition to the reservation being a full six months out, the host's property only had two five-day spans blocked out of his entire calendar during May and June. I highly doubt that the few days I had reserved his property cost him any business, and those dates are now fully unblocked for him to rent again over the next six months due to me canceling. 

Thoughts on this? Am I completely full of it or is he being unreasonable and attempting a money grab? While it won't help my situation at all, I am genuinely interested in other's viewpoints on this. Lastly, do I have any other recourse at this point? Is arbitration a possibility if I am once again denied? The possibility of losing $1700 for no services rendered/no actual stay due to an honest yet dumb error that was noticed a few days after an allowable cancellation just seems completely insane to me.

[Valerie192]

6 months out and only a few days after booking... I for one would definitely offer a full refund and allow cancellation. I had a situation a few years ago with an Airbnb I booked in Vancouver for a girls trip where the max capacity was 6. It was booked a couple months in advance of the trip. A week or so after the booking, another friend decided she'd like to join up which then put us past the capacity. I asked the host if he would be OK with us cancelling with refund due to our hope at expanding the group participating and he said yes. I was very appreciative of his kindness and flexibility.

[Yulianna0]

@Brian762, If the host is stuck to his policy there is little to do. As I know many people start to rent summer vacations in Barcelona in advance. So now it is busy time for hosts  planing their summer. For big property it could be difficult to be rebooked for 5 days. And if the guests will start changing their mind it will be total mess. Unpleasant situation, but you will get 50%. Just imagine, if you book not refundable flight, would you think and act the same? 

[Rebecca0]

I'm with everyone who says this is just wrong.  The host will easily re-book those dates and there is absolutely no justification for refusing to refund.  Comparing an Airbnb to airline tickets is just silly.

I hope you can get this sorted out.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Rules are rules.

Let's think the other way around....... if a host were to cancel 6 months in advance because they did not update their calendar.... I wonder how sympathetic ABB or the guest would be??? Whether the host is able to rebook or not has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. Would be be okay for hosts to go around begging guests NOT accept a refund despite a flexible cancellation policy because they were not able to rebook cancelled dates? 

We are all adults here and this is a contract. Guest or host..... people need to take responsibility for their actions and mistakes alike. 

And in any case.....there is nothing for the host to refund because the host has not received anything. I for one do not trust ABB enough to risk agreeing to a refund when I have recieved no money whatsoever. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0as usual you are right. If host changed his mind or accidently made overbooking he wouldn't be able to cancel the reservation penalty free either 😞 He would be punished with 50$ fee, blocked dates, bad review and would lose his superhost status.

And this is not all.... very often resevations are cancelled last minute by Airbnb with full refund under strict policy for different (often false ) reasons and host don't get any money. Airbnb is not easy to us hosts either and we take hits from time to time too.

So, yes it is understandable why your host stick with his policy @Brian762 .

@Olivier291yes, I forgot he paid only 50% rate but if his host agreed to full refund Brian would get it back from Airbnb.

[Olivier291]

@Branka-and-Silvia0,

I've got an answer from CS and  both you and I are right! In fact it depends which process is used by the host to issue the refund:

- when hosts are informed about the guest cancellation for a strict cancellation policy booking they could refund the guest immediately using the "refund" button provided by the site. Using it guest will be refunded and on the day of check-in host will see on his transaction historical a line for the payment and a line for the same amount adjustment. So Airbnb will refund the guest from his own pocket. 

- if the host first refuse to immediately refund using the button and the guest send an additional refund request through the resolution Center it's different. If host agree to the resolution Center request he will be deducted directly from his next payment if the amount to be paid is more than the next payment. If there is not enough future payment to cover the refund, host will need to agree to have his payment method deducted since the 50% will only be paid 24h after check-in date. So host will refund the guest from his own pocket.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Olivier291thank you for this explanation, it is good to know .

[Sarah977]

@Brian762  I agree with the other hosts who said that most hosts would agree to refund if they were able to rebook the dates, which seems quite likely in this situation. Unfortunately, you got a host who doesn't want to do this, either because he's just hard-nosed, or because he didn't like your approach.

One thing guests don't seem to realize is that when you ask a host for a full refund, you are expecting them to have spent their time communicating with you, answering your messages, etc, for free. Do you really think their time is worth nothing, just because you haven't actually made use of the property? Airbnb hosts aren't hotel receptionists who get paid a salary to deal with guests or prospective guests. So even if a host agrees to a refund, I don't think it's ever fair for a guest not to expect the host to retain at least something to cover their time. In this case, if it doesn't resolve in your favor, the host will get 50% and so will you, so that's way over plenty to cover this, as well as the host fees, should the host not be able to rebook.

I do think Helen has a point in how you might have approached this differently, explaining your error, and simply asking to be refunded if and when the host is able to rebook, (as has been pointed out, Airbnb has your payment at this point, not the host), or perhaps seeing if you could rebook for different dates, which I realize probably isn't practical for a group of 7 planning a holiday.

Yes, we all make "oopsies". Sometimes they get rectified easily, other times we end up eating it.

[Helen3]

@Sarah 

You malign the poor host 🙂 @Brian762 never asked the host if they would refund him if they were able to rebook some or all of the time.

He just kept asking for his money back and then complained several times to Airbnb about the host, when the host wouldn't comply.

It was me that suggested @Brian762 asked the host to consider a proportional refund if some or all of the days were rebooked.

[Sarah977]

@Helen3  I think you misunderstood what I was saying- I wasn't trying to malign the host, but I know that many hosts would respond to the guest's message saying they had booked wrong dates in error and asking for a full refund by sending back a message saying they would refund if they were able to rebook. Of course a host doesn't have to do this, but it's a nice gesture. In other words, the host could have offered this possibility without the guest asking for it specifically, which is why I said perhaps the host didn't like @Brian762's approach. I wasn't suggesting that the host was remiss for not agreeing to a full refund if they couldn't rebook, or even if they wanted to stick rigorously to their cancellation policy.

I know it was you who suggested that Brian have asked for this in the first place, rather than whine and beg and involve Airbnb to try to force the host to refund, as per my second to last paragraph above, and I agreed with you.

[Helen3]

Thanks @Sarah977 for taking the time to explain.

Sorry probably a little over sensitive because of the nasty remarks I received from a couple of hosts on here, when I tried to provide the OP with a different prospective.

Yes I agree the host could have offered this, but I agree the were probably ticked off by @Brian762's attitude and dug their heals in.

[Shaun145]

Pretty stupid response ..!the host has done NOTHING except note a booking has been received .The host then gets a cancellation request ,not that difficult to then respond to.Yes or Know.!

if you are a fair person you simply agree to cancel  With or without a small fee to cover any minor inconvenience you may have endured.

Simple.!!

Having had 2 x properties on ABNB I never had an issue  with any cancellation requests,this withholding client funds by hiding behind poorly constructed rules is nothing more than a scam if bookings are cancelled in a timely manner still leaving host plenty of time to let their property.

[Salem2]

Cataluña created a license that all legal vacation rentals must now bear, known as the HUT license, to protect community and consumer rights. They have a 24hour support service. 

http://meet.barcelona.cat/habitatgesturistics/en/