Last minute cancelation leaves family with baby stranded in LA

Jonny46
Level 2
Richmond, CA

Last minute cancelation leaves family with baby stranded in LA

My experience with my stay in Los Angeles and with customers service.

I contacted the host Victor on Wednesday 17th at 9 pm to double-check the check-in procedures. I told him I would be by at 5 pm just like the message I had sent him at the time of booking. I never received a message back and wouldn't expect it to be an issue. He said "can't do, I work"


On the morning of Thursday the 18th I informed Airbnb that my host wouldn't meet me at the agreed-upon check-in and that I was flying in a couple of hours with my wife and our baby.  I was put in touch with the case manager Lyzagrace who confirmed with the host that he refused to meet with me at the original check-in time. She said I could be put in a hotel for the night and I informed her that I need to check into somewhere for the weekend and could not be checking in and out because I was in town for my sister's wedding and because we were part of the wedding party logistically there would be no way to make other check-ins work. She said she understood but needed to get approval from a supervisor. I reiterated that I was flying out shortly and she said I would be contacted in 30 minutes to an hour and not to worry.


A few hours go by and I have yet to hear anything. I sent a message about a comparable place downtown that had two places to sleep that was available, hoping we could book it and not worry about it anymore. I received no response so I called support again this time I was put in contact with Terry. She said she had to contact the host to see if he actually couldn't make it. I told her we already did that and I just want to find a place because I am about to board a plane. She convinced him to meet me at 5. The host Victor then starts messaging me trying to haggle with me to come later. He ends up not making the time and cancels at 445 the day of just as we are getting into downtown LA. 

 

I then spent the next 4 hours in downtown LA with nowhere to go and on the street with my baby and all the luggage. I kept finding Airbnbs that had two places to stay and either it was too last minute or I was told it was too expensive. I had given every effort to find something and work with support but at some point, I need to get my family somewhere to stay. That's when I finally had to book a hotel room with comparable space.


I was told Airbnb would not reimburse the total and the amount was shockingly low. I asked to talk to a supervisor to try to escalate my case to see what could be done. That was on Wednesday the 24th at 1230 and Terry told me that a supervisor would contact me soon. By Friday the 26th I had still not been contacted by Support. When support did get back to me the supervisor told me all they could do was offer what they had. This was about 1/3 of the cost of a last-minute booking.  I tried to email Aisling Hassell, VP Comunity Support, as well as Brian Chesky, CEO. I haven't heard anything from them either. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do more? Has anyone executed the arbitration clause in Airbnb's Terms of service? 

5 Replies 5
Kaylee18
Level 10
Hamilton, Canada

@Jonny46   Ahh that sounds like an awful experience! Sorry you and your family had to deal with that, and shame on that host for putting you in that situation. 

 

100% Airbnb should have tried to match the accommodation for you, or even pay for you to stay in a hotel if there were no Airbnb's available. 

 

I've read in previous posts that people have turned to Twitter to tweet to Airbnb about their experience and getting no help and then ABB actually did something about it. So maybe try that?

 

Good Luck! 🐵

 

 

Yeah, I took a huge hit on expenses (3x the original cost) and the host only gets a $100 penalty and couldn't rebook for that weekend. In my mind, it seems like @Airbnb is trying to penalize me more than the host when he was the one that canceled. I thought about posting on twitter. I always think that's kinda petty to post it on twitter but at this point, I don't see what else there is to do. Thanks for the advice.

@Jonny46  What Kaylee was suggesting was that you contact Airbnb through their Twitter account, as it's been reported that that method of contact and complaint when people have an issue seems to yield better results than phone or message contact. Maybe they have better trained reps on their Twitter feed. I don't think she was referring to calling out the host or Airbnb on social media just to shame them.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Jonny46  Sounds like you were dealt with very poorly and I hope you can get a successful resolution.

One thing I noticed in the first paragraph of your post is that you said your initial message to the host regarding when you would be checking in was never replied to and you didn't think anything of it at the time.

It's actually a red flag, both for hosts and guests, if their messages are ignored by the other party. Of course, you can't expect an immediate response since people can be at work or otherwise busy. But if a response isn't forthcoming within a day or so, that should alert you that this host may not be trustworthy or responsible. I can't imagine not responding to my guests' messages, even if it's just to acknowledge that I read it and all's okay. Seems like really sloppy hosting not to. Guests need to feel assured that all will be ready and the check-in will be smooth, especially when you have children in tow.

So in the future, if you don't get a response, message again asking if they got your message (sometimes there could actually be glitch where a message doesn't go through) and if you still don't get a response, you should contact Airbnb to see if they can make contact with the host. If they can't, I'd suggest asking them to cancel on your behalf and apply your payment to a different booking.

What was the check-in window listed on this place anyway?

Hindsight can be 20/20 but lesson learned. I just thought that since I was asking if he could possibly do an earlier check-in then he stated in his listing that and he didn't respond then he wasn't able to make it earlier but was able to still make his normal check-in.