Concerns on Strict Refund Cancellation Policy!

[Kenneth201]

I booked and paid half of the booking. I then cancelled and was told I don't have half the refund back. Turns out they base the 50% on the entire amount of the booking (paid or not) and not on what was actually paid. So, the 50% refund, in theory is the amount that was NEVER paid. What a shady business practice. No other business would get away with this policy. You shouldn't be basing a refund on money that was never paid. **!

**[Inappropriate content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Kaylee18]

Hey @Kenneth201 . Don't they advise you of this cancellation policy before you book? I know when I booked a place it had an entire page explaining the cancellation policy and how it worked. 

[Rachel177]

@Kenneth201 you seem to have misunderstood the cancellation policy. For strict it's 50% of the total amount payable. So if you had chosen to pay the full amount at the time of booking you would receive half of that back. 

[Sarah977]

@Kenneth201  There's nothing shady about it. You just didn't understand it. The amount you pay when you book, whether you pay the full amount at the time of booking, or opt to pay half up front and the other half later, is simply a convenience provided to guests who find it onerous to come up with that much money all at once. It's completely unrelated to the cancellation policy. The 50% refund is based on the total amount of the accommodation charge. Whether you only paid 50% to start with is immaterial. 

Say you, Guest A book, a place for $100. You opt to only pay half up front. You have to cancel, you get charged $50 and get $50 back. Which is equivalent to the half you paid up front, so you don't actually receive any money back. You're out $50 for the cancellation.

Guest B books the same place for a week later, but chooses to pay for the reservation in full when they book. They have to cancel. They get $50 back, just like you did. But they paid the entire $100 when they booked, so they get a refund of $50 back to their credit card, and they are out $50 for the cancellation, just like you are.

[Ken436]

Name another business that operates this way? It’s unethical and it’s set up to rip off the customer! I haven’t stayed at the property and cancelled in more than enough time for it to be booked my someone else. So either the host gets to double dip or AirBnB thinks they get to keep money they’re not entitled to. Why would AirBnB feel they are entitled to money that they never provided a service for? It’s intent is to rip off their customers. I’m not the only one that has complained about this policy and it makes me not want to use AirBnB in the future. So you can defend this shady business practice but it is unethical and a manipulation of the wording of the policy, obviously thought up by lawyers. I’ve already notified my credit card company about this fraud and filed a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. My next step is to look into a class action against them. 

[Sarah977]

@Ken436  Cancellation policies aren't set up to rip off the customer. They are set up to ensure that guests don't just cancel on a whim leaving hosts holding the bag. There are lots of hosts who will agree to give you a further refund beyond what you'd receive back re the cancellation policy in place if they are able to rebook the dates. There are also hosts who use moderate or flexible cancellation policies- guests can choose to book with a host who does, no one forces you to book a place with a strict policy.

If you book a non-refundable airline ticket, it's just that, non-refundable. You can't go screaming to the airline that you demand your money back becuse you couldn't make the trip. No one forced you to buy it and you agreed to the policy when you bought the ticket.

[Ken436]

So what is your point? Just to argue? I never said I was forced to book it. I’m saying that I cancelled a month before my stay which wasn’t last minute. I should be entitled to a refund of the 50% I payed. No matter. If I don’t get a refund I’ll take it to small claims court. 

[John47]

@Ken436 
It's not Airbnb's fault that you were unable to read and comprehend the simple concept of 50% of TOTAL rent being the refunded amt, NEVER 50% of what you paid!
Many hosts rely on bookings being made months ahead and are unable to get replacement guests in less than a month.

[Sarah977]

@Ken436  You are indeed entitled to a 50% refund of the accommodation fee, as stated clearly on the cancellation policy. It doesn't say anywhere that you are entitled to a 50% refund of the amount you paid upfront.

You book a place that costs $100/night for 1 night. You opt to pay 50% up front. i.e. $50, the other $50 to be charged a week or so before check-in.

I book the same place for different dates, also 1 night, but I opt to pay for the entire reservation up front, $100.

We each find we need to cancel. We each are entitled to a 50% refund of the accommodation fee. But because I already paid the full $100, I'll get $50 back. Because you only paid half up front, you get nothing back. 

But we are both out 50% of the accommodation fee. We both lost $50.

How does it seem logical to you that just because you opted for the convenience of only coming up with half the fee upfront, that you should be entitled to a larger refund than someone who pays the whole shot upfront?

[Ken436]

So you only come on this forum to belittle people? I only posted so that if this happened to others they know they are not the only ones and so that others don’t book with hosts that have a strict cancellation policy. It jas nothing to do with wjether or not I read the policy or interpreted the policy wrong. Don’t be a forum bully. 

[Mark116]

@Kenneth201   I don't think you will have any luck in small claims court, since the policy is stated on the listing and airbnb's terms of service.  If you didn't understand what you agreed to, that isn't really anyone else's fault.  And, depending on where you booked, one month is not really a lot of time for a host to rebook, as some locations people make their plans far in advance.  I'm sorry you lost your money, but as others have said, you could simply have booked a place with flexible or moderate cancellation policy and then there would be no problem.  Airbnb has a lot of problematic policies but this isn't one of them. 

[Stephanie]

Hi all,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and advice on @Kenneth201 's original topic. I feel things are getting too heated and would ask that we all try to tone down some of the answers we share as they may be misconstrued. If you are ever unsure on what you should post here on the CC, please refer back to the Community Guidelines.

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Ken436]

I’m leaving this forum. I thought this was meant to be a ‘community’ to talk about likes and dislikes of AirBnB. But really its a place for others to be jerks and mean-sprited to others. How is it constructive to point fingers and state ‘You didn’t read, you didn’t comprehend, you didn’t understand!’. I did read the policy and my interpretation was wrong. Am I out $300? Probably. But why wouldn’t anyone try to get back money they feel was unethically claimed? Maybe you like throwing your money away. I don’t. So long!! Go be mean to someone else!  Hope it makes you feel better. 

[Šarka0]

Hi @Ken436 (@Kenneth201),

I hope you haven't really already left the community forum...

If you are still here, there is one thing you could do to maybe get your money back:

Message the host you booked your accommodation with and ask if they could give you a refund. Sometimes hosts get a new booking for the cancelled dates and have no problems to refund you the rest - at least that is what I do.

Asking never hurts 🙂

But otherwise, it is true what others say - Strict policy means you only get refunded 50% of the total amount, and not 50% of what you have paid, if cancelled.

With Strict cancellation policy, there is grace period of 48 hours after booking when you can get 100% refund if cancelled, but only if the booking was made more than 14 days from check-in. After the 48 hours, you are charged 50% of the total amount, and within 7 days from check-in you get no refund.

Airbnb is also not at fault for the cancellation policies (except that they designed them) - that is the choice of each homeowner, which policy they want to use - Flexible, Moderate or Strict.

I hope you have luck contacting the homeowner about the refund!

All the best,

Šarka

[Dan12468]

@Kenneth201 @Šarka0 @Sarah977 @Ken436 @Mark116 

If the cost of a stay was £100 and the customer paid £60 before they cancelled - how much would they be refunded?????

Half the cost of the stay would be £50

Half of what they paid would be £30