I made a mistake, realized I couldn't make a trip 29 minutes after I booked, host won't refund me.

[Mike3080]

I booked a one night stay 5 days in advance of the stay.  I realized 29 minutes later that my daughter has a birthday party she was supposed to go to.  I messaged the host immediately so they wouldn't miss any chance at booking they property, long story short, after they asked me to go through the official channels and talking with support the host will not give me a refund.  I had the option of losing like $140, but that just isn't right when I contacted them immediately and they literally lost nothing as a result of my error.  This seems absolutely ludicrous.  I completely and totally understand policies and strict adherence to policies, I run a business as well.  But I have never in my life heard of someone not making an exception for such a small impact error when the customer tried so hard to promptly correct their mistake as to not impact the business.

I no longer want to stay at this person's house at all, I don't trust them or their judgement, they are greedy and have awful judgement.  How can I get my money back and not be forced to stay in their house?  Why would someone even want to have someone come to their house who is this upset with them?  I don't get it at all.

/Rant over, sorry and thank you..

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Mike3080 There is nothing you can do. If the host will not help then you are stuck with the reservation I am afraid. Are you sure the host is refusing a refund? They cannot cancel or they will be fined and the date blocked but between the two you, if they are willing, you can arrange a neutral cancellation. I would message them and ask if they are willing to do this. If they say yes (on the Airbnb message system) then call Airbnb and ask for the cancellation.

[Mike3080]

Thank you for the info.  Yep, they refused the full refund I proposed through the support page.  Then customer service called the host and they refused refund again.  I'll ask in that language, but I'm certain they will say no.

[Mike3080]

As expected, their answer:

"Again. We adhere to the cancellation policies at the time of booking."

Am I seriously out of options?  Why would anyone use Airbnb with hosts and/or site policies this dense?  I've used Airbnb 2 times previously and its always been very nice dealing with hosts, I guess this one just wants the $$$$$$. 

I've dealt with a few mistakes with hotels and they always bend policy for much more egregious mistakes than this.  I assumed individuals would be more understanding than huge corporations.

I am totally in shock at the lack of common sense from this host.  I suppose I will, out of stubbornness, tell my daughter I messed up and vacation at this person's place, whom I've lost all respect for, instead of lose all this money and not be able to take the trip for months later, since I wouldn't be able to afford it.  Sounds like an awful awful idea to me if I was the host...  Ahh well  =(

[Helen3]

To be honest @Mike3080  although I appreciate your frustration , it's not the hosts fault that you didn't check your calendar before making the booking.

I recently booked a stay through Airbnb and I was asked three times during the booking process to confirm the dates and that I understood the cancellation policy I was booking under.

if you don't want to be liable for host cancellation charges just book somewhere with a flexible cancellation policy. 

as a host I would agree for you to approach airbnb for a cancellation and for me to return your fee in this situation .

rather than guilt tripping your daughter  you could arrange for someone else to take her to her party. 

it's decent of the host to offer to return your money if she gets a replacement booking, 

[Mike3080]

If someone booked your place, then 29 minutes later messaged you politely asking if they can cancel, would you cancel?  I totally understand the no refund policy, but do you honestly think that's what no refund policies are supposed to cover a host against?  29 minutes of your place being booked and unavailable to others....?  I sincerely hope there aren't many hosts who agree with that.

Thanks for your insight from your perspective.

[Helen3]

If you actually read my reply you would see I've already said to you I would refund @Mike3080 

As you know Airbnb has 48 cancellation penalty free period for  guests like you if the booking is more than two weeks away.

You booked within a few days of travel hence your liability on booking . Whether you booked a theatre ticket, flight, sports event ticket etc many have no refund policies . It doesn't matter whether you book a year in advance or five days .  

[Mike3080]

The host agreed to refund me fully if they can rebook the house if I take the  partial refund at cancellation.  I took this option just so I can be done with this.  Even though I am still in shock at how poorly she handled the situation to begin with.  Hopefully it rebooks and she does well and I get all my money and all is right again, just as it should have been 29 minutes after booking when I messaged her to begin with.  Hopefully I can go cool off now.

[Helen744]

@Mike3080 the issue for both hosts and guests are the Airbnb rules. The host does not immediately receive any money. Once the booking is made then it is set in stone.Because Airbnb hosts follow as part of an agreement with Airbnb , certain policies and because this is not a 'private guest house booking ' directly with the owner, then it would have been better to call the booking agent initially and find out the ramifications to booking or , if you had read them before booking , then cancel your booking as you have had to do . The quicker the better.This may have avoided all costs to you , although this seems absurd , the host is also restricted to 'the rules'... H

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Helen744 Sorry but your advice to @Mike3080 is wrong. The host is not restricted in any way to 'the rules'. The host has the ability to waive any cancellation policy that they want to waive.

[Helen744]

@Mike-And-Jane0 A full refund cannot be given if a host has not received any money, and a host Mike will not receive monies until the 'guest ' arrives. The host will be penalised for a cancellation as you well know,  as will the guest if they cancel according to the particular policy that he has signed up to . There is no 29 minute rule as far as I know , nor does the 24 hour three cancellation rule exist any longer as far as I am aware. Hosts who have already had three host initiated cancellations may be reluctant to go this route and of course it also depends on the time frame of arrival and once again 'host chosen policies ' which Mike should have read. Airbnb is not a hotel to be kept in abeyance and easily cancelled.I just wonder how this policy would work out for you , with people cancelling for full refunds regardless of policies initiated.... H

[Mike3080]

@Helen744  What are you even on about?  If the host was understanding and reasonable they would have done a mutual cancellation.  No one would be penalized, I spoke with Airbnb customer support about this.

I know for a fact (because it happens from time to time) if someone orders an item from me I would cancel the order if they requested unless I have invested serious time into the creation already.  My policy states otherwise, but I'm a reasonable human being and I know people make mistakes.

There is zero chance that the host invested anything or lost anything in those 29 minutes, **.  Just because a policy says she gets to keep the money doesn't mean she should.  If she did lose something somehow in those 29 minutes, she should have spoken to me about it and I would have made her whole for my mistake.

**[Content removed inline with the Community Center Guidelines- Please be respectful in your discussions  in Community Center]

[Nur785]

@Mike3080

I understand your frustration but that's no reason to snap at someone who is offering you their opinion. 

And actually NO the host cannot cancel. this is very different than canceling an order. You probably do not pay a cancelation fee for canceling your order and nobody penalizes you by taking away future business from you when you cancel at the client's request. 

This is the airbnb policy, when a host cancels, EVEN if that is at the request of the guest, they get penalized. They pay a fee and the date is blocked. 

This is why, when there are changes, the guest must initiate the cancelation process. 

Now, I agree with you on the other. A reasonable host would ask you to start the cancelation process. You would call Airbnb, ask them to cancel, they would send a request to the host and if the host approved, this whole thing would have been over. 

I am not sure why your host is refusing to do this. I think maybe the confusion is coming from who will actually do the cancelation? It's unreasonable to request the host to take the hit for the cancelation. 

Have you asked it that way to the host? If I cancel this through Airbnb at no penalty for you, will you give me full refund? 

Again, what you need to understand is that the host CANNOt cancel without penalty, even if that's what you want. This is an ongoing issue we talk about here all the time. It's not fair, but that's the policy. 

[Mike3080]

@Nur785  I ABSOLUTELY did initiate the cancelation request, twice, through the help center > cancel, they declined my refund offer.  I also called customer service and the host declined the refund that the customer service agent tried to get them to agree to.

After she declined my two refund requests I also asked her for a mutual cancellation as suggested by mike and jane here.  The host declined that as well.

This was all after explaining my situation to the host immediately when I discovered my mistake.

[Nur785]

@Mike3080 

In that case, yes, the host is unreasonable and I'm sorry. Usually it works the other way around and Airbnb forces the host to refund. 

I usually have problem with people booking a place and keeping it booked for weeks and canceling last minute, but this is not that situation and I'm sorry you got an unreasonable host. 

Unfortunately, being forced to cancel and offer full refund by Airbnb continuously and unfairly is pushing hosts to a more inflexible position of saying no to everything even when the cancelation requests are reasonable like yours and comes right after booking.