host Cancellations - Guest Protection - Insurances - cost recovery

Bruce86
Level 2
Langford Budville, United Kingdom

host Cancellations - Guest Protection - Insurances - cost recovery

Hi,

 

I'd like to share a few experiences of usign airbnb thie weekend

 

It's mid summer and i'm trying to book ahead some accommodation for the winter ski season to take my youngest child on a ski trip to the Alps

 

Due to the usual issues around this, limited ski season, school holidays, etc the number of weeks that leaves is really the christmas period and the spring school half term - Mid Febuary so already we are on to a loser.

 

So this weekend I've booked a number of places I have found adverstised on the site, made my payment and had my booking accepted.

 

In three cases, after the booking I have had the host contact me and either request more money or cancel my booking saying that the property is not available for the week booked. This is of course gihly unlikely, the host has either failed to update the prices for the summer / winter season or is just using the site as click bait to get more money though false advertising.. I can accept that there might be the odd one where this is true, but it's exceedingly strange that in the same town this has happend with three properties !!

 

Now I understand that the host gets some penalty for cancelling and in "theory" cannot reant out the "SAME" apartments / property again in that period, but there seems so many loopholes / failures here.

 

The host even though penalised is likely to remove one listed property and then add a new one. The price differential makes the exercise worth doing.

 

Now I have foudn a fourth which so far has not yet cancelled me, but there is every possiblity !!

 

What worries / angers me is that this is leaving me exposed, up until we are actually in the accomodation, with the possibility that this could happen again, even worse the closer to the trip. 

 

I think that as the "broker" of the service that airbnb shoudl have some stronger safeguards here with regard to guest protection.

 

For example, if the host cancels then bewteen the host and airbnb they should be liable for finding new accommodation as close as possible to the original location or an agreed new location and absorb the cost differential. This difference should be recoved from either a central airbnb pool of money or from the host (from future bookings potentially) or there should be some additonal insurance system that guests can buy into, similar to holiday cancellation inusrance.

 

My concern is that I arrice in a resort with limited accomodation to start with and the host cancels ( for more money ) and I am left with no option but to check into a local hotel ( or worse not even local ) at the full rack rate.

 

Be interested in what others think about this ??

 

B......

18 Replies 18

I gather you have not been a frequent traveler with Air BNB, @David126.  While I agree with you in theory, I also agree with @Bruce86.  There are many types of reservation circumstances that are not flexible.  If Air BNB does not have control over the hosts as it is simply a booking platform, and Air BNB is promoting the alternative share economy hospitality, I think they could increase trust by offering an option that mitigates the actions of hosts.  

 

For many guests, myself included, the travel plans are not flexible and there is much investment both financially and psychologically in the whole travel plan, of which Air BNB is only a part.

 

Philosophically it is very admirable that Air BNB promotes the idea of "live there" with ordinary people opening their homes to others and expanding the idea of travel, however, Air BNB must be realistic in this arena of hospitality.  Individuals may act irresponsibly or unethically or just have stuff happen in their lives and others are sadly affected.  In order to keep a level of trust, Air BNB needs to address the lacking of trust for both guests and hosts.

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

Many Travel companies when you book offer Travel Insurances as an extra, part of the service and a money maker.

 

I have mentioned before that AirBnB seem to be missing a trick and this could also help deal with many of the issues we see on this site.

David
John2605
Level 1
Glasgow, United Kingdom

I booked the cannon hotel Rothesay the whole hotel for a wedding in June for 15 adults 2kids 1 infant and 2dogs it was confirmed by Airbnb and also the hotel then 54 hours later told we were only getting 1room when I called and asked what was happening they said your booking is cancelled and hung up got an email from the hotel to at deposit refunded then from Airbnb to say your host cancelled the booking and have refunded the deposit not even an apology taking them t sml claims court for breach of contract I'm really angry 

Dustin133
Level 1
New River, AZ

This exact scenario has been happening a lot to me where prices go up for specific reasons and the hosts cancels, request more money and then relists the property with an increased price. The latest this has happened to me was just now while vacationing in Tulum Mexico. I had booked for a whole week on the beach for a decent price. The surge in seaweed is why the price was so low. But as my week at the rental approached, the seaweed subsided and thus the place became busier and prices started going up again. That was when the host canceled my reservation and demanded more money with two days until I was slated to check in. The other 4 places that I favorited were now already gone and numerous others that I saw before were no longer available. This may very well have single handedly ruined my last week of vacation. It is sad that there are not better guest protections in place for when a host pulls such a dishonorable move. AIrBnB has very stringent standards that guests must adhere to but yet they allow dishonest behavior with their hosts. And when you think about it, when a host cancels last minute it puts guest in more distress than if a guest cancels on a host last minute as the host still has a place to sleep for the night.

 

If Airbnb does not start to enforce more honorable behavior from  its hosts, then I will quickly be losing my support for Airbnb’s booking platform as it will be highly untrustworthy for any travels far from home. This has happened to me several times in Ukraine but this last time in Tulum might be the straw that broke the camel's back. At this point I am even considering legal action. It will depend on what I am able to find as a place for the remainder of my stay.