Host cancelled within 24 hours

[Chung11]

My sister have booked a room near Marble Arch in London like 3 weeks ago.The host just cancelled within 24 hours without ANY explanation at all. There is no way for us to search a similar place for 10 nights.

Then we have urgently contacted Airbnb to solve this issue. Since all the available place at that area are like doubled price. However, the staff of Airbnb provided those choice with reasonable price are way too far for us. It is like over 30 mins driving from Marble Arch. We are absolutely do not expecting to rent a car for 10 days.

The other solution provided is offer us $6000 HKD coupon, which mean we have to use Airbnb again, of course I sure not gonna use Airbnb again.

The most angry thing is the staff closed the conversation while the problem is not yet solved.

Strongly advise people for choosing Airbnb in future.

[Rachel0]

@Chung11 I am sorry to hear that your booking was cancelled.  However, I should point out to you that just because alternative places to stay are not within walking distance of Marble Arch it does not mean that you have to hire a car.  We have an excellent public transport system in this city  - buses and tube trains plus overground trains - so central London is easily accessible from the "suburbs." In fact, most Londoners would not dream of driving into the centre of town because of (a) pollution, (b) cost and (c) stress levels.

[Yadira22]

Yes and parking in some places can be up to £17/hr (saw this in London Bridge) that is if you can find any. Regarding costs you also need to consider congestion charges, etc. 

[Elena87]

@Chung11 

It's unfortunate, disrupting and inconvenient that a host cancels.

Airbnb have some punishments of sorts for hosts that cancel, but ultimately they are facilitators between your sister and this London room operator. It's not good for airbnb reputation but they must manage the risks.

What is boils down to now is what is deemed reasonable.

For you it is replacement room - same quality and area, no more money.

For airbnb it seems - similar value, equitable area.

There is a wide gap between these positions of what is 'reasonable and fair'.

If you won't budge from your position, it's indeed likely the conversation will be closed down, the gap can't be bridged.

I think now, you will be keenly aware how far your money will go in booking in London.

Airbnb don't think it is fair to house you on their coin in Park Lane. A company has to defend itself against opportunistic demands and even collusion, while offering a reasonable alternative.

Perhaps you can curb your anger and consider accepting a place further from the city centre but favourable for you to take advantage of the public transport system available. The Underground is particularly suitable for visitors.

It's maybe not what you want to hear, but you won't get a replacement Aston Martin for a dud Austin Allegro.

[Chung11]

If I am just traveling alone or with my friends, I sure don’t mind waste more than an hour on public transport. However there are TWO elderly here. Also, if the accommodation is just can’t be use for few days, even 5 days. What I need is just looking for 5 days accommodation within 24 hours. Troublesome but reasonable.

In fact I need to find a 10 days accommodation within 24 hours. I am not expecting to upgrade the accommodation.

Please don’t tend to drive the topic into a wrong direction. What I want is only similar place near the original booking. Not a 5-star hotel or whatever.

[Marie82]

@Chung11, it is unfortunate ur booking was cancelled maybe a host had a valid reason. My advice stick to Airbnb as they are more likely to help you out to find another place but u need to be reasonable not staying in March Arche it is not the end of the world, London is large, everyone probably would love nice neighbourhood, as many hosts have already pointed out u have a good tube system in London so driving is not a good option in any EU big city, to be honest, unless u are very familiar with the city itself. And maybe instead of thinking about the car used that budget for another room with higher price and location closed to Marble Arch. Don't get defensive when dealing with CS especially if u renting a room, be nice and polite u get a better outcome.  

[Chung11]

@Rachel0  What I said is just a estimation of distance between replacement place and the original place. I did not mentioned to book a car in London. In fact even I did, I don’t think it has any relationship with Airbnb, right? 

The accommodation that Airbnb provided is an hour further Away than we were supposed to stay . Besides if guests cancel in the last min they couldn’t take a dime back but I dun get why of the host cancel it we can only get a 10% extra while in such a last minute situation, everything goes doubled or even tripled price. Most importantly I am traveling with 2 elderlies so it’s impossible to stay that far

[Helen3]

I'm shocked the nearest place Airbnb offered you was an hour's travel away from Marble Arch. That would mean they were offering you accommodation outside of London. After all there are literally thousands of place available in central London and surely 100's of these will be available and of the size you are looking for.

I hope by now they have offered you a suitable alternative.

[Qc0]

Hosts cancelling last minute should face harder consequence. I can’t imagine why any host would cancel a booking unless they are hit by a tsunami or something. You shouldn’t host if you’re not 100% fully committed, and that goes for everything you do in life, not just hosting. A host cancelling could cause much more problems for guests than guest cancelling. That being said, guests should also honour the host policy if they need to cancel.  

One bad experience should not stop you from using the platform, some of us hosts do go above and beyond for guests. Although I am not a superhost (only been host for 1 month)but i recommend you to book with one if you want to lower your chance of this happening again. You will get a better place to stay and save money with airbnb than a hotel. 

[Ana1136]

@Qc0 what is harder than 100$ fee, automated postin, not being able to become a Superhost for a year, dropping significantly in the search results.. maybe they should send an Airbnb employee every day for an hour to remind him that it is the worst thing he could have done, that should stop anyone from canceling. No one cancels because they want to, it is always for some reason. And what about guests who cancel on the same day and lie about the reason and get a full refund? When in reality they found a place to stay at a friend's house for free. They don't receive any punishment and the host is left hanging with lost revenue... Host a bit longer and you will see the situations you will have to deal with, you won't be so harsh. We are all as dedicated as it gets, you wouldn't survive for a couple of months on this platform if you weren't, another thing you will learn soon. Good luck hosting! 

[Qc0]

I will learn...no doubt about that. Learning is part of life.

I’ve only been hosting on airbnb for a month but have always been in the service and hospitality industry. But I am sure airbnb guests are much worst right, worst than dealing with a bunch of violent drunks at 4am ? is it that bad on airbnb? You’re scaring me 🙂 

Maybe because I did have 3 cancellations the night before check in and complain from neighbour for noise, make up stains on almost all the walls in the apartment and sheets. All this in less than a month, one of the guest that cancelled even left a review. I never said guests should get away for cancellation? 

What about guests who cancel same day and lie?

What about hosts who cancel to free up those dates in order to make more profit on other platform?  

Guests should pay for cancellation same with hosts and if you can’t see the reason why host should face harsh penalty, then maybe we’ll all have to find a new platform to host soon. 

Hotel bookings cancelled by guests  happens quite often but never the other way around do you know how and why that is? 

Good luck hosting!

[Ana1136]

@Qc0 do you know what 100$ mean for me? Our average monthly salary is 200$ where I live... how much harsher should penalties be? A hundred dollars is nothing for a host who rents the place for a few hundred dollars a night but the fee is everywhere the same and Airbnb doesn't care about what our monthly income is. And yes violent drunks at 4am is unacceptable in my home where me and my family live and where other families with babies rent rooms too. I agree that there should be penalty but it is harsh enough already. 

[Qc0]

$100 means alot for all of us in this industry, otherwise we wouldn’t be here discussing about it. But do you know if a host cancellation keeps happening, that $100 will feel alot more in future? It should not be tolerated, unless for extenuating circumstances. In that case, I don’t think  you would have to pay the fee. Why would you worry about that? 

[Ana1136]

@Qc0 what do you propose the stricter punishment to be? 

[Qc0]

Maybe send an Airbnb employee everyday for an hour to remind him/her that it is the worst thing they could have done? 🙂

Btw, nice listings!