I have been offered credit to make new reservation — but after I'd made it!

[Kevan1]

I just made a genuine, last minute booking in Barcelona, Spain on behalf of my daughter who was stranded there after being let down by a friend. Having made an instant booking, and paid for it, I then received a message from the host to say that he'd made a mistake, and that the flat wasn't available until the next day (and, ironically, blaming me for not checking availablity first!! As if it were my fault). 

Since my daughter was literally standing in the street with her suitcases in a strange city I quickly found and made another reservation — while simultaneously conducting a conversation with the original host. By the time he cancelled the reservation from his side (I couldn't do this through Airbnb — only the host could do this) I had already made and paid for another place.

Then I received an email from Airbnb to tell me the host had cancelled the reservation, offering a refund of £265 (I'd actually paid £266), or a £26 credit if I booked somewhere else.

What I'd like to know is how I claim this credit, since I'd already made the new booking. It would add insult to injury to be told, after the nightmare of trying to sort this out quickly from another country, and resolving a problem caused by someone else, that I cannot get the offered credit because I've already made the new booking.

Thanks

[Christian65]

I get you're irritated but ABB houses are usually people's private homes and sometimes you can't plan to perfection and cancellations happen and when it does it's never really convenient for either parties. Hosts don't do this to annoy guests but things happen and sometimes you can't win. And of course this was not your fault and if the host implied that, I would be offended as you did.

But just to be sure, you were offered a credit of £26 via ABB but didn't book the second place via ABB or was it simply because you were a bit faster than the support you ended up receiving? 

Look at it this way: you'll have a credit for the next time you use ABB. I dont' presume that 26 pounds will break your budget for now?

But seing that you were offered some compensation from ABB is a postive - despite they weren't as fast as you booking a new spot but they had to process the cancellation beforehand nevertheless and it seems you were just really fast in finding the second place.

If you are insisting on receiving this amount give ABB a call. Look at the guidelines for contact and I'm sure they will accomodate you.

[Sandra126]

Hi @Kevan1, Instant Booking is not always the best way to go I'm afraid. Many hosts have to have it as a mandatory thing, and others because of it now being a default for searches and they are invisible otherwise. Yet, many are listed elsewhere as well, sometimes it is impossible to be entirely accurate in the calendar etc. I think that it is a great thing to enquire with a host first before booking just to be absolutely certain everything will go to plan.

Hope all works out well for her in the end!