How to get a refund when the owner of the place clearly doesn't want to see us however not cancelling the stay???

[Kira214]

Hi there, I was writing this issue to the air bnb support , however haven't got any respond. The situation: I booked one night stay, everything was confirmed and paid by me,

than I got a message from the owner of the place: "We are not interested in any bookings at this point of time. PAULA DAVID WILDLIFE HOME." It happaned after I have paid.

So I am double checking with them: "Hi Paula, does it mean that you are cancelling our visit for 3-4 Oct ? I can see on my account that the money has been taken"

The owner replies: "We are wildlife rehabilitation centre, not a tourist place, not a zoo, we have whooers and help X volunteers who say for 3 weeks plus and assist with caring with wildlife caring".

The fact is that the ad did not contain any information that they are not taking tourists and obviousely the money was taken. I have cancelled the booking (within a full refund timeframe), however the owner has to cancel the booking from her side. But she does not cancel it. What should I do? How can I get a refund? Thanks

[Anonymous]

@Kira214  You said: " I have cancelled the booking (within a full refund timeframe)"

If you actually completed this action, there is no further action needed from the host. If you're unsure of whether you actually cancelled, click the "Trips" tab to see if your booking is active.

[Kira214]

Thanks Andrew, yes it is still active and when I press cancel it says that I have already sent a cancellation request to the host and awaiting reply. 

[Kira214]

So I go to Trips, it is still in Upcoming, then I press Cancel your reservation, then I place a reason, which is My host needs to cancel. And after that I see the message: You’ve already sent a cancellation request to Paula

[Anonymous]

@Kira214  What you did was requested that the host cancel. This is unnecessary if you're still within the full refund period. Do this instead: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/169/how-do-i-cancel-my-reservation-for-a-place-to-stay

[Kira214]

Yes but the full refund timeframe was untill 12pm on 02 Oct and now it is 8:19pm. It is not withing a timeframe anymore 😞

[Kira214]

when I sent a cancellation it was still within a timeframe...but not anymore ( if I will be cancelling again)

[Anonymous]

@Kira214  In my opinion that "Host needs to cancel" button shouldn't be there in the first place - it made everything needlessly confusing for you and misdirected what should have been a straightforward process. The host is obliged to cancel if they aren't going to honor your booking, but they may hesitate to do so due to the penalties. Now that your grace period has timed out, you're unfortunately stuck waiting until they act on your request. Once they accept it, you'll get your refund. 

If they don't take action, you can contact Airbnb customer support, but honestly they are so slow that it could take weeks to get results. Much better if you can resolve this directly with the host. Frankly it boggles the mind that they listed on Airbnb in the first place if they're not accepting bookings, but that's another issue altogether.

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

Maybe if Airbnb only showed the request cancellation from host as an option AFTER the 48 hour grace period, it would avoid this type of confusion. 

I think the whole cancellation issue can be quite confusing for guests, especially if they have never had to do it before.

Yes, this host should have blocked their calendar if they didn't want bookings. Although @Kira214 could have cancelled without penalties to either side during the grace period, I think the host should have had the courtesy to let her know her options seeing as it was their mistake in the first place leaving the listing active and bookable. So, it's on them, not her, to now face the penalities.

[Colleen253]

@Huma0  "I think the host should have had the courtesy to let her know her options."

Absolutely, but let's face it, if a host can't even have it together enough to prevent unwanted bookings in the first place, sensible action taking place after the fact is highly unlikely.

 @Kira214   If the host is not correcting the situation for you, I would suggest you politely but firmly suggest that since this is a problem she allowed to happen, you expect her to fix it for you, promptly.

FYI, host would receive the payout for this booking apprx 24 hours after it would have begun. So it it was a stay for Oct 3-4, it's coming up soon. You can ask her just to refund you that money through the resolution center. But it's best if she cancels the reservation herself, asap. If it's a stay that won't happen, it really should be cancelled, not on the record as having taken place obviously. The most important thing is for you to get your money back though.

Unfortunately, you will have to take it up with Airbnb to receive a refund from them for the service fee they charged you. You may have to be persistent in trying to reach them. Explain how this situation ocurred and insist on them refunding you the S.F. Point them in the direction of the dialogue with the host on the messaging platform as backup if needed. Just know that Airbnb CS agents are notoriously unavailable AND ill trained in assisting hosts and guests, so this may not be an easy task.

[Emilia42]

@Kira214 You may be able to get through to Airbnb as your reservation is happening now/within 72 hours. Call them and see if you can speak to someone. Airbnb CS will be able to see the messages within the Airbnb system and should clearly see what is happening. 

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[Emiel1]

@Kira214 

I looked at the listing and it is still possible to book for 1 night or more.

Nothing is mentioned about what the host is replying to you.

That means the listing should be reported to Airbnb as misleading.

[Ute42]

.

@Emiel1 

Correct. If a host wants minimum stays of lets say 2 weeks, he or she has to set these metrics in the dashboard. I'm not happy to read about the behaviour of this host.

[Emilia42]

@Ute42 @Emiel1

I hate to read posts about guests who are declined or canceled on for the reason that the dates are unavailable or the host is holding out for a larger booking. No wonder Airbnb has penalities for cancelations/declines. Hosts need to make sure their calendars are up to date and that their availability requirements reflect the bookings that they want. There should be absolutely no reason to cancel/decline a booking based on dates not available. This is a huge inconvenience for guests and, in my opinion, Airbnb tolerates it more than they should.