Host Failed To Reserve Room But Do Not Want To Cancel

[Wei-Hao0]

Hey guys,

So the host assumed I have wrongly booked my accommodation and therefore did not reserve a room for me on the day of booking,

I have paid the full payment via the Instant Book function and I am certain I have booked it correctly.

Now, the host refuses to cancel and wants me to bear the cancellation charges (Euro ~$300 or US ~$374) which is a SIGNIFICANT amount.

Anyone encountered similar issues before, and does the outcome result in a full refund (by right we should - we paid for something that have been promised but not delivered)?

Also, appreciate if there's any legal advice on this.

Cheers

[Matthew285]

@Wei-Hao0, something like this sounds like you need to Contact AirBnB about problems with your booking.

Your booking confirmation email should include the information you need to contact AirBnB directly.

They would be the best option to figure out what is going on, and why the host thinks you did not have a reservation.

[Marco641]

Hi Wei Hao,
the Airbnb site show you only the available days for renting the room or the house. So I cannot imagine any kind of mistake from you. If the booking process in the Airbnb site went right, you are right and the host have to give you the room in thoose days!
But if you choosed the wrong days you have to cancel your reservation hoping that the cancellation terms are flexible, with no penalties.
In anycase I suggest you to speak friendly with the host to clear things and try to find a good solution for both. I'm a host and, sincerely, I don't see any reason for not try to meet the guest needs, if is possible.
Regards
Marco

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Wei-Hao0 This helpful YouTube video explains this situation correctly,

https://youtu.be/4F4qzPbcFiA

DO NOT CANCEL! Contact Airbnb and put this little weasel on the hot seat. 

If the HOST has a problem, then the HOST should cancel.

good luck!

’You know it’s hard out here for a Host’

[Wei-Hao0]

Thanks for the reply all!

I have contacted Airbnb about this but the reply I have gotten from my case manager so far is that "Airbnb can't do anything because the host refused to provide a full refund."

Which does not sound reasonable as this sounds, looks and feels like a "I get your money, I refuse service because I assume you don't want my service, but I still keep your money" scam.

Some rules should be enforced and I am leaning more and more towards legal action. Imagine if we as hosts can just tell our paid guests there's no room for them, ignore their plea and arrange for someone else to rent our space, and get paid double without any repercussions!

[Matthew285]

@Wei-Hao0, am I to understand that this host accepted the booking, is refusing to provide you with accomodation, refused to cancel your reservation, and is now refusing to provide you with a refund?

I must not be understanding something here.

If this is the situation, then there is no way AirBnB would not intervene.

What exactly is the host offering? He has to either provide you with accomodation, or with a refund.

He must be offering you something to have AirBnB be hesitant to help.

[Wei-Hao0]

Yes Matthew, that is correct.

The host accepted my booking, received my full payment (via instantbook), refused to provide me with accomodation (because he "assumed I booked the wrong location in the wrong country"), refused to cancel my reservation, and is now refusing to provide me with a refund - no reason provided.

Not only that, I only get to know there was no room for me on the check-in day itself, 4pm in the evening on New Year's Eve. 1.4k miles away from home, in foreign soil.

Alarm bells are ringing like mad and I am not satisfied with how the case is being handled so far, hence I'm here to gather a little bit more facts from the community and reaching out for help.

p.s. literally fuming right now. sigh''

edit: minor rephrase

[Wei-Hao0]

also to answer your question - the host has not offered anything, just outright refusal to refund.

Airbnb has in good faith compensented me a meager fraction of what I paid, but this should not be the case.

[Matthew285]

@Wei-Hao0, thank you for explaining further.

It makes no sense that AirBnB isn't issuing a full refund.

If the host never allowed you to check in, how can this be anything but a full refund situation?

I have never heard of AirBnB NOT refunding fully if the guest was not allowed to check in.

In these situations, the host does not have a choice. They are not given a choice.

Either I do not fully understand what happened, or AirBnB does not fully understand.

[Wei-Hao0]

Thanks Matthew, glad to hear this is just as unreasonable as it sounds to me,

I have repeatedly described my scenario as clearly as possible to Airbnb but still not sure if they understand, given the outcome so far.

[Andrea9]

@Wei-Hao0

I hope you kept your conversation with the host on the Airbnb message page! Because when contacting Airbnb in problems they can look into it.

This means that any comment from your host about not being able to host you and the reason will be there for Airbnb to see.

If the conversation with your host was off-platform, then continue on the message page by re-iterating the exchanges you have had (in the Airbnb app you can for ex. add screen shots of any text exchanges through other platforms if need be).

Then again say that your stay is confirmed (you find this on your reservations list) and thus paid for, and that if he is not able to supply the accommodation from his end, then he would need to cancel.

You can also call Airbnb directly through the phone number stated on your reservation.

[Wei-Hao0]

Dear all,

I have just confirmed my fears, it seems that my case manager has misintepreted the scenario and has closed the case in favour of the host.

From what the case manager described, the room I have booked is available for check-in on the booked dates so there should be no problem for me to check-in. In addition, I should have cancelled the reservation since it was I who experienced a travel issue (how can I continue to proceed to the accommodation if the host told me there's no room for me in the first place?).

What should I do? I am at a loss.

edit:

I have requested for the case manager to reconfirm her version of events. This is what I wrote:

"To ensure there are no misunderstanding on Airbnb's end, here is my account of facts that have happened. Kindly confirm:

1. The host accepted my booking.
2. I travel to the accommodation as planned.
3. I contacted the host to let him know I will be arriving shortly.
4. The host told me that my accommodation is no longer available, because he assumed that I have booked his room wrongly, so he rented it to someone else instead.
5. I requested for full refund. The host refused.
6. I contacted Airbnb support to intervene.
7. Based on the outcome of this case, I am getting penalised for the host's mistake.

Is this your understanding as well?"

I hope someone else from Airbnb can see this and help me re-open my case. I am really at a loss of words and really disappointed. I understand Airbnb needs to be fair to both hosts and guests but this is daylight robbery.

[Wei-Hao0]

Got my case re-opened! Will update on the outcome so that this can be used as future reference for guests in the same unfortunate incident as I am.

Apologies for the constant replies. This case has made me extremely depressed and so worried that I couldn't eat nor sleep well for the past 2 days .

[Matthew285]

@Wei-Hao0 that is great news!

I was very sad when you made the posting about the case being closed in favor of the host.

Don't give up!

I hope everything is made right!

[Wei-Hao0]

I'm glad to update that my case has been resolved satisfactorily, all thanks to the highly efficient and understanding Airbnb support team!

If anyone in the future is in the same situation as I am (being told by the host that there's no room available on the supposed day of check-in), here's some tips:

1. Keep calm!

2. Call Airbnb directly to verify the facts with the host, instead of sending an urgent support message (which I mistakenly did), as it could be swamped by volume especially during peak holiday seasons.

3. Airbnb will then call the host to confirm and verify the availability of the accommodation.

This way, Airbnb will have all the records and there will be no misunderstanding between all parties involved. If there is indeed no room available despite being paid for, the verdict will be straightforward and you will get refunded without question.

Hope this helps!