Host cancelled less than 24 hours before check in

[Nick88]

I booked a room about 2 weeks ago and the pickings we're already slim then.  I've messaged the host right after booking with the usual "Hi, how ya doin?" stuff, and about a week before the reservation I asked about check in times.  The response was 6pm.  I was a little put off by the late check in time but didn't say anything and I figured we'd just find some way to kill time until then.  

Last night I went to sleep extra early (7:00PM) because I planned to get up early and finish packing so we could hit the road by 9AM.  I woke up this morning to find that I received a AirBnb cancellation message at 7:28PM that my reservation has been cancelled.  No message from the host, no appology or explanation, nothing.  

AirBnb obviously refunded my money and gave me what I think is a 10% credit.  But nearest thing available at this point is about 30-40 miles away from the booking that was already 25 miles away from where we are visting.  Now I'm suppose to accept this, or get a refund and book something else.  Booking even the cheapest hotel at the last minute is now going to cost us 2-3 times more than if we had just booked it weeks ago when we made this AirBnb reservation.

I understand that things happen, but how can I ever book with AirBnb again and have a resonable expectation that I won't waste a bunch of money planning a trip and have my accommodations yanked from under my feet at the last minute?  I'm stuck deciding between either cancelling my plans, or paying twice per night what the entire weekend would have cost me.  

This is beyond infuriating and AirBnb won't even give me the satisfaction of leaving a review because they left a "The host canceled this reservation the day before arrival. This is an automated posting." review on my behalf.

Cancellations like this are devastatingly expensive for the guest.  There should be a heavy penalty for host who do this without explanation.

[Maria3194]

Why are you trying to turn the blame on them (insinunating that they are not ethical)?  The only reason they had to try to sneak an extra person in is because an airbnb host cancelled at the last minute and they couldn't find ANY accommodation whatsoever.  Rather than making snide insinuations, you should be offering sympathy and support for changes in airbnb policy.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Nick88 Not god but you may have dodged a bullet - the place may not have even existed

[Mohit11]

I had the same thing happen to me in Singapore last week. The host kept me hanging till the last minute and cancelled about 15 hours before the reservation. My reservation total was $359 USD and I was offered to book with an additional 10% i.e $36 at the last minute on Airbnb, but the listings did not match what I had before, for the price I had paid.

I ended up paying about $200 more to get a decent hotel at the last minute, than what I had for the Airbnb.

[Charlotte416]

I just had the host cancel 2 days out from the booking, apparently for "renovations". The following day,  I found the same property listed by a different host for less money. The property now appears to have been booked for the period I had it booked while I am high and dry and have to wait another 10 days to get my money back and that's all the banks fault according to airbnb. This is my first and last time using airbnb and it's been a complete nightmare. Airbnb apologises profusely but won't respond to my questions via the hopeless message system, the "case manager" is always unavailable and the matter just hasn't been escalated. The only conclusion to be drawn is that this is accepted, this is normal and neither the hosts nor airbnb care about guests.  Never again. There is no integrity in this business model.

[Sarah977]

@Charlotte416 I'm sorry you had this happen to you. This is abysmal hosting behavior, but I can assure you that there are plenty of good hosts that would never do this to a guest. Occasionally it's unavoidable- some pipe springs a leak and floods the place, i.e. emergency situation that can't be rectified in time for a booking, but simply cancelling because one wants to do renos is not okay, and in this case, sounds like it was just an untrue excuse. 

And yes, Airbnb is often extremely difficult to deal with, that goes for how they deal with hosts and guests alike.

[Jiacheng1]

I also experienced the same thing. Booked an Aribnb in Honolulu from Dec 24-Dec 28 2018. But the host cancelled the booking in Dec 21 evening. I contacted customer service and asked the reason of cancellation: listing availability. I complained about my situation and told them that I will not book a new airbnb reservation again. They simply refunded me 100% of the orignal price after I repeatedly say that I want a 120% refund. They just want the problem to go away and they did it against my wishes without consulting me first.

The worst part is that I cannot even write a review to alert future customers about this because it is cancelled before the check-in time. Airbnb has done little to prevent this from happening. Standard practice in the hotel business is to refund customers and give them a free night stay in a comparable hotel. I am appalled by this behavior and the uncertainty associated with Airbnb listings. You plan ahead of time and it is possible that the host cancelled your stay without any explanation (listing availability? come one). 

Airbnb should definitely do more to prevent this!!!

[Pauline332]

Airbnb cancelled my reservation in New York yesterday...4 weeks before we travel! Something to do with "the host may have violated terms and conditions". I am now left searching for accommodation. I am unsure if i can trust another airbnb property?? I believe it can be illegal to rent your apartment for less than 30 days in USA?? Anyone help?

[Jason767]

I just found out our host wants us to cancel a reservation in Maui (made last September) just 3 weeks before our trip. He gave me a very long explanantion about the current lawsuit (State of Hawaii vs Airbnb) but I don't really care...I just need a place to stay! Now I need to find a new place in Maui on 3 weeks notice, which will end up costing 3x as much. Waiting to hear back from Airbnb. By the way, I had been trying to contact him for the last few weeks to ask some questions but he never returned any messages. When I complained to Airbnb, they replied that I shouldn't worry because he's a Superhost. That was yesterday.

[Gordon0]

@Jason767 Your host needs to cancel, not you. 

[Jason767]

Yes, he cancelled. I was given a full refund and a token extra reimbursement, though not nearly enough to cover the extra costs of finding another (more expensive) place and flight change. But after a weekend of scramblng and changing some plans, we're all set to go. 

Just enlightening to know that we have to pay nonrefundable deposits and nonrefundable airfares but a host can always cancel and leave the traveler in a real bind.

[Linda108]

@Jason767 If the host cancels for reasons of extenuating circumstances, there are no host penalties.  The host must provide proof of the reason for the cancellation.  If there is no extenuating circumstance then the host penalties will apply, but for some hosts, that does not always deter the host from doing that.

As a host myself, I have also been concerned about host cancellation because of the huge disruption to the guest plans.  Have you considered getting travel insurance?

[Jason767]

I never considered travel insurance before, not even sure it would cover this case. Maybe I'll look into it next time. We did get a full refund anyway. The problem was finding other accomodations 3 weeks before our trip during peak season. Also, this was a multi-leg trip with other reservations so it's not like we were going to cancel the whole thing anyway. He did have extenuating circumstances, just not sure that he had to wait until this point before cancelling. 

[Maria3194]

Travel insurance doesn't cover the difference in cost when your airbnb host cancels and you have to book more expensive accommodation at the last minute.  At least one other person has written in this thread about how they tried to claim and the travel insurance denied it.

[Greg396]

I've just had the same experience. Cancellation; no explanation provided. Is there a way to provide negative feedback on a host when they do this?

[Sarah977]

@Greg396  When a host cancels a reservation, it will say "Host cancelled this reservation XX days before check-in" in their reviews. That's a deterent to other guests, as no one wants to take the chance on having their reservation cancelled. Sometimes there's a legitimate reason for cancelling- the host may have had a death or medical issue in the family, the unit may have a problem, like a pipe burst, etc. But a good host should message you with an explanation. 

And if it's a Superhost, they will lose that status for cancelling a reservation, and it prevents anyone from acheiving that status for a year.

So hosts do definitely get penalized for cancelling.