Misleading cancelation policy

William470
Level 3
San Mateo, CA

Misleading cancelation policy

I hate Airbnb so far. I'm a new customer that canceled my first booking months in advance and was charged $18.95 service fee. The booking said the cancelation policy was "flexible" which states a FULL refund of accomodation fees. They fail to mention that they refund all fees ...EXCEPT for their service fee. That detail is buried in their help section. It took FOREVER to find a telephone number or email address. ‭(415) 800-5959‬ or ‭(855) 424-7262‬. I had to contact a host for that. On Monday morning I called to get a refund but they said it was too late. I had to request a refund within 24-48 hours. I was on the phone with Ria for over an hour to get a complaint ticket to have a case manager call me back. Dominique called me an hour later and said he would refund me the service fee. So much of Airbnb is a scam to screw hosts and customers to make that little extra profit off of each one of us rather than make policy clear, transparent, and up front honest.

79 Replies 79
Andreea30
Level 2
Bucharest, Romania

Hi, if it's a flexible cancellation policy:

  • Cleaning fees are always refunded if the reservation is canceled before check-in.
  • The Airbnb service fee is refundable, up to 3 times per year, within 48 hours of booking. Separately, if a guest cancels a reservation that overlaps with any part of an existing reservation, we won’t refund the Airbnb service fee if they decide to cancel.
  • Accommodation fees (the total nightly rate you’re charged) are refundable in certain circumstances as outlined below: https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

You have to read every word before you make a booking..

 

 

Yes, it's too bad they don't make these policies clear... it wouldn't be difficult to do.

 

 

 After being cancelled out of a 2 month ahead reservation, we made a rnew (more expensive) eservation and it clearly stated that it would be fully refunded within 48 hours of purchase... I found a place we would rather stay for less money and in a hopefully safer neighborhood.. and booked it.. then went on to cancel the first booking   ...  only to discover that since we didn't cancel the existing reservation first, the service fees would not be refunded, and also that if (even within 48 hours) one has cancelled three tiimes in the last year, it would not be refunded... what malarky... a 48 hour full refund policy that isn't necessarily so!  You cannot trust airbnb to mean what they say.. on the listings the "full refund after 48 hours" is only a partial truth.. if you follow those other rules that are on the other page of policies????

I was quite inflamed over this.  Booking.com states clearly its policy for refunds and sticks by them.  Not so with Airbnb.  So i spent a long time arguing with the customer service person who was extremely bull headed about how this was perfectly fine policy.  I eventually got the refund, but made no traction on pointing out the injustice of how this policy is presented... just a little asterisk that alerts one to exceptions to the "full refund policy" would be all that is needed to straighten out the issue.. but no.. they would rather go through agonizing arguments over it than understand how misleading their policy is.

(don't you always read "all the rules" every time you purchase or sign up for something online?)

I’m experiencing the same situation thanks to that stupid overlapping misleading policy. Why did you do to finally get your money back? 

They do it on purpose to make money because they are a**holes. 

Absolutely agree!   IT IS SUCH A SCAM!

It’s part of the way they squeeze money out of unsuspecting consumers. Even now, they have a “read more about policy” link but it’s not enough! There’s nothing to suggest all these weird nuanced rules in the DISPLAYED policy! I read the policy which said “cancel within 48 hours for a refund” and that’s what I assumed I would get when I cancelled my 2.5 month stay. But this was for the short term stays they said, well then F**KING DISPLAY THAT In the same section as the short term policy! As a first time user how the hell am I supposed to know that the long term policy is different from the advertised policy..... so mad 

you are wrong. not 3 times per year, 3 time per rolling 12 months. that's totally different. 

 

the "overlapping" dates are BS. Hosts have 24 hr to accept. Without the 2nd being accepted, how to cancel the 1st? 

 

even one cancels 1st before booking 2nd, no more than 3 times in 12 months? why? why?

 

so the whole policy is BS!!!

@Andreea30 …I just cancelled our booking for July in Germany - fully refundable reservation until day before arrival.  I take no issue with service fee (although our cancellation wasn’t frivolous).  I wasn’t refunded the cleaning fee, however, even though check in wasn’t until July 1, 2022. 

Pete123
Level 2
Atlanta, GA

How about the fact that it states Free Cancellation on the 1st landing page on the website for all properties, regardless of whether or not they are Strict, Moderate or Flexible?

 

AirBnB offers a terribly misleading booking experience I am confident will eventually be deemed an illegal bait and switch. State upfront on the home page what the cancellation policy is. Instead, the hide as much as they can to pick off a few bucks here and there.

 

Uber is the opposite. They go to bat for both driver and rider and will lose money as the middle man to ensure everyone is happy.

 

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You SHOULD be embarrassed to share that. In addition to being illegal, it makes you a terrible person.

 

What kind of impact do you think that had on the host who never did a thing to you? You were a total jerk to an innocent person because you didn't like how a website displayed the cancellation policy they chose. 

Shame on you.

 

Hosting only seems crazy to you because you think everyone is as capable of morally bankrupt and evil actions as you are. They're not. Most guests are lovely.

Dena42
Level 2
East Providence, RI

I agree!  I'm going through the same bull**bleep** with them right now.  I am livid.  They are such scam artists!  

David6223
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

Well, similarly, I had to cancel due to a cruise we were on not arriving in time. It was cancelled several days in advance. What I don't understand is that I paid £69 for cleaning (which of course was not needed), yet airbnb only refunded £44. Don't see how they worked that one out - it was quite clear on the invoice. I have raised it with Airbnb and will see what they say.

 

Pretty pissed off about the whole thing. I think the refund policy is not clear. First time I have used airbnb and probably the last. The fact that the invoice doesn't add up does nothing for my confidence.