cancellations

[Brooke100]

I cancelled a reservation.  Cancellation policy was strict with grace period.  I have lost my deposit, in its entirety.  But here's why I am frustrated. 

I asked the host to switch weeks, to another timeframe.  I didn't know I could have attempted that before cancelling.   Apparently, even though I the guest initiated the cancellation there were a bunch of fees that would come out of their pocket because of their cancellation policy.  I requested that the host deduct any and all fees they might be charged, and apply the remainder of our deposit to a new week.  Nothing at all was amenable to this host.  And here's how I feel this situation was complicated. 

When trying to negotiate the change of dates, very nicely, I was referring to a number of $768.50 that the AirBnB site showed and indicated would be my partial refund.  Also, it seems that AirBnB was holding the deposit from this host until the check in date of the cancelled booking.  The host also suggested her payout from AirBnB was adjusted based on her cancellation policy and a service fee.  

In order for me to effectively negotiate a change of dates I could have really benefited from understanding those details.  If the host is being truthful (i can't tell) then there is 0 incentive for hosts to work with folks that have cancelled to make alternate arrangements and/or find a win win resolution.  

What do you say as hosts to folks who want to try to redeem some of their deposit?  This deal cost me $871 for nothing, and I never want to deal with AirBnB again.  It seems we all have skin in the game and should want a resolution.  Or not?

[Lisa723]

@Brooke100 it's true that the host doesn't get a dime until the day after your check-in date at earliest. It's also not easy for the host to see what you actually pay; Airbnb doesn't readily disclose the guest service fee to the host, or vice versa. It's also true that the host pays a percentage service fee to Airbnb on any payment, regardless of cancellation. I do not however think any fees come out of the host's pocket if the guest cancels. It sounds like this host is maybe not operating in good faith, but you really should not book a place with a strict cancellation policy if you foresee a possibility of cancelling. Many hosts in this situation will offer to refund whatever they can recoup by rebooking the cancelled dates, but they have no obligation to do that.

As you've learned the hard way, it's much better to request a change to a reservation than to cancel it.

FWIW, here's an explanation of Airbnb's various available cancellation policies:

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies

[Letti0]

@Brooke100  There were more than a few issues here. The host because you only paid 50% up front could not alter the dates on her end of a reservation not fully paid for 14 days before your stay. Only a fully paid reservation can be altered by the host. Those dates would have remained blocked on her calendar until 13 days before the inital reservation and the new ones you wanted she would have had to manually block, so no one  booked them. I'm not sure if the guest could have initiated the change or not on a pay less up front booking, but either way she was going to lose weeks blocked on her calendar in her mind. Canceling your booking on the hosts side her penalties for canceling this reservation for you would have included not being a Superhost for a year, getting a public review that shows she canceled, paying a cancellation fee, and having the canceled nights blocked on her calendar.

I think this would have been doable if you and the host involved AirBnB in the begining they are the only ones I believe that can change a booking not paid in full. I would contact AirBnB  and they may contact her on your behalf to see if the host was agreeable to talking AirBnb to see if this could be altered by them reinstating the reservation and then AirBnB changing the dates. It's worth a try. The host then gets full payment, so she's happy and you get to stay without any money loss. It can't hurt to try.  It's a win for her and you. 

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