Urgent Please Help for Long term cancellation policy

[Matthew1190]

I booked a stay on Friday night and want to cancel and get full refund. I read on Airbnb site that for long term stay guest have 48hr after booking to cancel and get full refund. As long as you cancel 28 days before check in. But my problem is my check is 10 days away. I booked when my reservation is 10 days away. So do I still qualify for 48 he refund? It has been less than 48hrs since I booked. Your help is appreciated I already contacted Airbnb on the matter by message they have not gotten back to me yet

[Sarah977]

@Matthew1190 Obviously your booking doesn't fall into the parameters of a refund according to the cancellation policy you agreed to when you booked, so obviously you aren't eligible for a refund. "Wanting" to get a refund is beside the point. Cancellation policies exist for a reason. If you booked a non-refundable airline ticket, you don't get refunded simply because you changed your mind and "want" a refund.

What you can do is communicate with the host and see if they will refund you if you cancel, which will open the dates back up for bookings, if they manage to get more bookings for those dates,. Some hosts are quite willing to do this. But be aware that the host doesn't get paid until 24 hours after a guest's check-in date- until then, Airbnb hold the money, so the host has nothing to refund until that time.

[Matthew1190]

I tried to get host to cancel but he does not want to. It's actually his fault I have to cancel in the first place.  I am  canceling due to false claims of his listing.  I read over his listing atleast 5 times before booking to see if anything said I will be sharing the apartment. I even used control+F on my browser to search any terms that says share/shared on the listing. So I strictly booked based on what the listing said which never said shared or sharing with anyone. So after I paid I called the hosts then he says the listing said I will be sharing. But I told him it's not true he added that info after I ask him if I will have the place to myself. So he used bait and switch and he was sneaky and misleading. And you might say I should of asked him before paying if it's shared but I had no reason to cause I read over carefully the listing like 5+ times.

[Sarah977]

@Matthew1190  Is the listing advertised as "entire place"? If so, then the listing is certainly false advertising. In which case, you do have reason to claim a refund, but you'd have to get in touch with Airbnb customer service, which is nearly impossible these days. 

If it was listed as a private room, then "shared" is a given.

I don't understand a couple of things. Why didn't you communicate with the host before booking to ensure this was a place that would be suitable for you? If I was going to book a place for  whole month or longer, I'd want to make sure that it fit my criteria before I paid for it.

And why did you call the host? Communication between guests and hosts should be done on the Airbnb messaging system because then there is a record of what was said. Now you have no documentation to prove that the host only said it was shared after you booked.

As for asking the host to cancel- hosts will never do this because if a host cancels, they get heavy penalties- the dates that they cancelled are blocked so they can't rebook them, they are fined $50-$100, they get a "Host cancelled this booking XX days before check-in" on their review page, which of course makes future guests wary of booking with them, and if they have Superhost status, it is revoked.

Of course , if it's a host issue that they can't host for some reason, then it is up to the host, not the guest, to cancel.

All I can suggest is that you try to get in touch with Airbnb customer service, which is really frustrating right now, as they are working with a skeleton crew. Make it clear that the listing was inaccurate (if indeed is was listed as an "entire" space), that the host only disclosed that it was shared after you booked, and that is the reason you need to cancel.

[Peter1354]

@Sarah977 

I am wondering if you can help me. I am trying to understand the long-term cancellation policy for guests who are planning to stay, and like me are confused.

Airbnb's, Long Term cancellation policy applies to all stays of 28 days or longer and overrides our standard cancellation policy for those stays. The Long Term cancellation policy allows guests to cancel for a full refund only during the 48 hours after booking, and only if they cancel at least 28 days before check-in. If a guest cancels after that, you’ll get 100% for all nights spent, plus 30 additional nights. If fewer than 30 days remain on the reservation at the time the guest cancels, you’ll get paid 100% for all remaining nights.

The last two sentences are confusing:

If a guest cancels after that, you’ll get 100% for all nights spent, plus 30 additional nights - Is this after the guest has checked in? If the guest has checked in, spent two nights and cancels, do they pay 2+30 nights?

If fewer than 30 days remain on the reservation at the time the guest cancels, you’ll get paid 100% for all remaining nights - this sentence seems to contradict the one above, at least in my mind? 

I am totally confused by the emboldened text above. Is there someone who could explain how this works, in reality, as the above makes no sense? Please, anyone who can explain this in English that makes sense would be wonderful.

Thank you!

[Colleen253]

 @Peter1354 

If a guest books 28 or more nights and cancels less than 28 days out, you are paid out the first 30 nights. From the help article on the LT cancellation policy:

• If they cancel after the trip has started, the remaining nights in their reservation are non-refundable. If they have more than 30 nights left in their reservation, only the next 30 nights are non-refundable.

So it's max 30 nights. Hope that helps. Maybe other hosts have more to add, or can correct me if I'm wrong.  I don't take long term bookings so have never dealt with the policy for cancellations, but that is my understanding of how it works.

[Jessica2657]

So what if they cancel more than 30 days ahead of time? 

[Scott1978]

If fewer than 30 days remain on the reservation at the time the guest cancels, you’ll get paid 100% for all remaining nights

This is a GOOD thing

You get paid for the whole reservation AND your listing is re-opened for those dates.

This means you could get PAID DOUBLE for the "remaining nights."

[Matthew1190]

If u go here  www.airbnb.ca/home/cancellation_policies#long-ter

They say I can get 48hr grace period I get full refund. After I book for long term stay. After 48hr I can get refund but minus service fee and one month that I already paid for which goes to the host.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Matthew1190 Airbnb should be able to tell if the listing has changed since you booked it. If it has then they will refund you. If it hasn't then you don't qualify for any refund as the cancellation within 48 hours only applies if the booking is more than 28 days out.

The link in your post above is irrelevant as its for a flexible policy and not for a long term let

[Matthew1190]

Ok thanks

[Helen427]

hi @Matthew1190 

Have you read through any of the other similar topics here in CC on 28 day stays?

 You can bring them up using related terms in the search box.

Remember there's the Resolution centre option and Request a Refund.

Details about those things are in the Help Section on ABB official website.

All the best

[Matthew1190]

Yes I have thank you for your help

[Helen427]

Were they of help to resolve your query @Matthew1190 ?

As an aside, to help navigate CC and notify other users when replying, use the @ to tag those you may be including in your reply to or they may not be aware you have contributed to their topics.

All the Best and have a great day