Host cancels 1 hour before check in

[Pedro851]

Me and my friends came to London and 1 hour before check in time our host said that the apartment we booked was no longer available and that he had "a far better apartment" for us. He was a bit aggressive with us and tried to make us accept it. 

We contacted Airbnb support and they told that they were on it and to obviously not to accept such proposal. Fast forward 3 hours it's now midnight and we are cold and still with no solution given to us by Airbnb. At 00:30 they told us to book an hotel and that maybe they court refund it. So now it's 00:30 and we are struggling with WiFi trying to find an available hotel without knowing how much Airbnb is going to refund us. We ended up finding a cheap hotel as 1:30. 

Really terrible experience and poor customer service by Airbnb. 

I would honestly like to ask. Is this the normal procedure that occurs if a host cancels last minute?

[Linda108]

@Pedro851 I wish I could say that this bait and switch problem never happens.  Certainly Air BNB tries to make host cancellations rare, but it does happen.  So sorry that you had this experience because as a host I abhor this type of behavior by a host.  Yes, there are legit emergencies that happen with a host that make the listing unavailable, but that is of little consolation to the guest who is counting on a place to stay.

I don't know if you ever want to use Air BNB again, but if you do, please select only Super Host listings.  Hosts who are invested in providing high quality listings and have not cancelled in the last 12 months have that designation.

[Inna22]

@Pedro851 did you try to at least check out the other place? Once or twice in my hosting carrier I had a completely unintentional (of course) double booking and upgraded the guests into a much better place that happened to be available same night.  

[Pedro851]

The other place was not listed in Airbnb and we had no pictures of it. So we  had to trust the host 100%. Given what he had just did we did not even consider it. We would also lose insurance from Airbnb if we did.

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  But I doubt that your tone with the guests you were offering to rehouse was aggressive and pressuring, as @Pedro851 indicated this host was. I can see where he wouldn't have been interested in checking out the other place in that case.

[Gordon0]

Sorry you've experienced this low level of hospitality in my city, @Pedro851, I'd like to assure it isn't normal. Can I ask, did the host you chose have good reviews? Perhaps share the link here.

I hope this won't take away anything from your time here. Enjoy London. 

[Helen3]

I am so sorry this happened to you @Pedro851  what an awful experience. While it is highly unusual for this to happen out of the millions of bookings that take place through Airbnb. Unfortunately there are some unscrupulous hosts out there (seems to be more prevalent amongst multiple property owners or property management companies to do click and bait).

What was communication like with the host prior to your check in? What were their previous reviews like.

In general if you book with a long established superhost with lots of recent positive reviews, you are much less likely to have a bad experience. 

I am sorry that Airbnb did not respond to you more quickly to help you find an alternative Airbnb or help you secure hotel accommodation. Do make sure they cover your taxi and food bill from last night as well as the hotel cost.

The good news is that it is low season in London at the moment so hopefully it won't be too difficult for Airbnb to find you suitable alternative accommodation.