Long term cancellation policy

[Florian320]

Hello fellow Airbnb enthusiasts,

I am currently renting a place long term (August 30 until November 30) and I have come across some issues. I contacted support but they appear to be dodging my questions and resort to copy and paste. So I was hoping that one of you guys could give me some advice or explain the things that I am missing to me.

The situation:
We moved to a different country and rented long-term for 3 months, because we want to have a place in the beginning from where we can look for a permanent place to live. Now, we have just found such a place (which was really hard), but we have to move in November 1 (so one month before our check-out date). Ultimately, we want to stay until November 2.

The obvious solution in our case was to contact the host first. But she first got mad, then offered us a private contract without Airbnb, and then got mad again when we politely declined.

So, we looked up the long-term cancellation policy, where it states the following:

"If the guest books a reservation and decides to cancel the reservation during their stay, the guest must use the online alteration tool in order to agree to a new checkout date. Regardless of the checkout date chosen, the guest is required to pay the host for the 30 days following the cancellation date, or up to the end date of the guest’s original reservation if the remaining portion of the original reservation is less than 30 days."

So if I understand correctly, I can change the reservation now ("cancellation date"). Note that this is still 36 days prior to November 2 ("new checkout date"). So we should be able to change the reservation, pay for the remainder until November 2, and then move out.

I tried to do this, but instead of getting cheaper, the total price would go up by € 1,300. This is even more than one month's rent at our current rate! So, for staying one month shorter, for which I should be refunded, I would have to pay even more?! This does not sound correct to me. The long-term discount should still apply (we are still staying for a total of two month and the threshold is 28 days), but apparently our host has increased her rates tremendously.

This is the point where I contacted support, but without getting anywhere. I did not receive any answer to my questions (which by now I have already enumerated to let them stick out of the text, without success). The closest that I came to a conclusion was when I received a copy&paste from the paragraph in italics above -- which I actually had sent to her/him one message before, and the advice to settle everything personally with our host. Well..., our host's offer is to allow us to move out earlier, but with 0 refund.

One last thing that came to my mind was cancelling the entire rest of the trip now, move to the new apartment immediately and get a refund for the time after 30 days from now. This would still be more than a month worth of refund (around € 1.000)! But when I try to do that on the website, it states that I would only get € 70 back.

How can this be possible? Am I severley missing something in the cancellation policy? I have traveled and moved with Airbnb dozens of times and I never had this issue and I have always been satisfied with the support, but this time everything turns out to be a nightmare 😕

I hope that somebody of you guys can help me out with this. At least to tell me where I go wrong or reassure me that I am right.

Thanks already in advance!!!!
-Florian

[Jeff158]

@Florian320 This is the correct thing to do:

One last thing that came to my mind was cancelling the entire rest of the trip now, move to the new apartment immediately and get a refund for the time after 30 days from now. This would still be more than a month worth of refund (around € 1.000)! But when I try to do that on the website, it states that I would only get € 70 back.

I think you're assuming you've paid for the full 3 month booking, whereas in reality you only pay 30 days in advance, the last month has not yet been paid for and the refund of $70 for month 2 is correct.

[Florian320]

Hi @Jeff158 ,

Thanks for the reply! I have never had to do this, so excuse me if I am extremely cautious. Yes, you are right. I have already paid 2 months and the last one will be deducted later. So it is supposed to look as in the  picture below? Because it does not mention the "new price" anywhere...

[Jeff158]

@Florian320 

Ring customer service, they will go through it with you and do the cancellation.

Spain

+34 91 123 45 67

[Florian320]

Thanks, yes it's probably best to keep them involved at every step.

[Jennifer1421]

@Florian320 

I'm not sure if this is part of what's happening, but often hosts apply a discount for weekly or monthly stays. If we use the alteration tool on a discounted stay, the discount disappears (an annoying and known glitch).

As @Jeff158 has pointed out, you have not actually paid for the entirety of the three months, and so the refund pictured above may well be correct, but keep the "disappearing discount" in mind when you speak with CS.

[Florian320]

Thanks @Jennifer1421!

I think this is exactly what happened. I have already pointed this out to the CS several times, but he/she does not really reply to that. Also a phone call with a different agent did not help. I.e., I told her exactly that, but she was only surprised that the price was going up and did not understand the issue.

I guess, I'll just have to wait for the ok from my future landlord to move in October already and then hope for a better CS agent 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Florian320 I'd have to ask what makes you think it's okay to make a 3 month booking, which blocks off a host's calendar from getting any other bookings, and then decide to cancel simply because you've found a place to rent full-time. This is just as unfair to the host as it would be for the host to cancel your booking with them before you are due to arrive, leaving you scrambling to find another place. 

Airbnbs aren't hotels where if you decide to leave early, another guest will just walk in the door within a few minutes or a few hours and take the vacated room.

[Florian320]

@Sarah977 The question is not if I have the moral high ground or not. Of course, everybody, including me, would be much happier if everything was going according to plan. But sometimes circumstances can change. Not only for hosts but also for guests. It also happened to me once that my reservation had been cancelled and it was almost impossible to find something else. It is nothing anybody strives for, but it happens. And this is what the rules and policies are for. My question is, am I acting within these rules and policies or not?  

[Florian320]

The question is not if I have the moral high ground or not. Of course, everybody, including me, would be much happier if everything was going according to plan. But sometimes circumstances can change. Not only for hosts but also for guests. It also happened to me once that my reservation had been cancelled and it was almost impossible to find something else. It is nothing anybody strives for, but it happens. And this is what the rules and policies are for. My question is, am I acting within these rules and policies or not?  

[Sandra856]

... @Florian320 Keep contacting airbnb because I don't think you can alter the reservatiom yourself as it is a little tricky with long-term reservations and changes because of discounts as one of the other contributors mentions. I don't understand that they won't help you. 

[Florian320]

Thank you @Sandra856!
It's exactly the problem you mention that keeps me from finalizing my alteration/cancellation and why I contacted the support in the first place already 5 days ago. Meanwhile, I have not heard back from them in over 24 hrs (actually, his last message was 36 hrs ago). 

I will call them again today, maybe I then will finally receive some help or at least a different agent...

[Sandra856]

Hi @Florian320 🙂

I have been thinking and I think I understand the problem now. When you cancel you are suppose to leave the listing. You can't cancel a month a head in order to avoid the cancellation policy. You need to pay those extra 30 days for the days you now has decided to not use. Does it make sense?

You can't cancel ahead of time because you will then leave your landlord unsecure. 

Best, Sandra 

[Florian320]

Thank you so much @Sandra856. That sums it up pretty perfectly. Apart from the official cancellation policy  being really ambiguous about that (why does it distinguish between cancellation date and new checkout date then), the people working in the support apparently do not know either.

The way you put it makes perfect sense to me . But it also makes sense that it's better for the landlord if we don't just vanish one day, but when they have sufficient notice, e.g., for handing over the keys, etc.

Ultimately, I think you're right. We are currently talking to our fifth (!) member of customer support and I think he might finally be able resolve the issue. Thanks again and I will keep you updated!

[Sandra856]

Hi @Florian320 🙂

It makes sense to alter the check-in or check-out date if you do it in advance = meaning if it's done weeks or month before you check-in. That is because the host then got an actual chance to fill out the calender with other bookings. Altering/changing dates after check-in will make it difficult for the host with such short notice to get new bookings and that’s why the cancellation policy kicks in.

What I would do if I were you is to explain the situation to the host via airbnb message feed. Tell the host that you will cancel the day you leave. Maybe the host will repay you some of the money in case she got new bookings - I do that if I get last minute cancellations and get rebooked. I don't think airbnb can do anything but tell you to follow the already agreed on agreement.

Best, Sandra