Who has canceled something with airbnb?

[pugz]

I have asked property managers to either 1) delay our final payment or 2) allow is to cancel altogether and their canned response is “sorry airbnb handles anything regarding payment, so call them.”

Shouldn’t they have the ability to change payment dates and approve a no fee cancellation?

Our dates fall outside the current COVID coverage so I was appealing to them directly.

[pugz]

Also airbnb only wants people with trips in the next 72 hrs to call

[TR]

I did, but it was for March 14th and had a little button on the reservation page saying it qualified for a full refund so it was really easy and I didn't have to ask the owner directly. Honestly, as nerve wracking as it is, I would let it play out because it should get easier/simpler as you get closer to your trip. When are your dates?

[t]

I am an Airbnb host and I had someone cancel on me, outside the COVID window, and I got a message from Airbnb to ask if I was willing to waive my cancellation policy when the tenant requested the cancel. Airbnb has said its up to the hosts to waive the cancellation fee. I’m sure if that helps much, but you could try to cancel and see what happens. Airbnb customer service is pretty helpful and they can probably guide you too.

[msmerymac]

AirBnB are being complete dicks right now. They've extended the cancellation coverage to April 30th, but only for trips booked before March 14th. They're like, "If you booked after that, oh well, COVID-19 was no longer an unforeseeable crisis."

Which... sure, but literally no state had shelter-in-place orders by then. What if they extend this shut down until May? July? What it things get better, but then we have a similar lockdown in October/November? Will cancellations still only apply to people who booked in, like, February?

Anyway. This is what happens with these types of companies who use contracted services. "Oh, it's not our fault, we don't own the units so we have no say." Sure, Jan. I feel like they tried this when there were a bunch of hosts discriminating against people for family reasons (like not allowing gay couples to stay at properties) until they were threatened with lawsuits.

[t]

pugz I can forward you the email Airbnb sent hosts if you want to PM me your email address here or on FB.

[waverly]

We had the same situation as TR that our trip fell during the refund dates.

[breezy8407]

I was able to by clicking a button under modify my reservation. It was really simple, but our travel was supposed to be March 21st - 28th. I was able to hit cancel on March 18th I believe. I'm sorry you are having issues!

[carolinagirl831]

Ugh we are dealing with this, we have a trip planned to San Francisco in early.june with DH's family it's an 18 room house and cost us around 8k which was split between all the families. I doubt San Francisco will even be open for tourism then and so far they are not nudging on flexibility. It also will be so hard to reschedule this between families as we planned this nearly 1.5 years ago. Sorry had to vent I know lots of people are going through the same thing right now

[amberlyrose]

To your first point, hosts can't delay the payments. I don't know how it works with the fees since we don't have it set to the "strict" cancellation policy. Hosts also can't do anything about fees from Airbnb, so if you do want the full refund, I'd go directly through their CS department.

[meowmaps]

I’m having this issue with a reservation for a place in October. I know it’s far out but we’re supposed to go with my parents (69 and 74) and I don’t want to put them at risk, especially if there’s a fall resurgence.

My host was sympathetic but said she had no control and that I’d have to take it up with Airbnb. I figure I’ll sit tight since they’re so inundated right now. The feeling I got was that they didn’t want to hear from anyone who had reservations after May. I’m hoping that they’ll eventually extend the policy or I’ll just modify the reservation for next year. I really don’t want to lose my 50% deposit if I can help it.

[pugz]

So our trip starts June 27th but final payment is due about 60 days out. So if we cancel before April 23rd we lose half our money, but if we make the final payment and then airbnb doesn't extend the dates through our planned trip we'd lose ALL our money. If it was just my family I'd hold tight, but this is 9 friends from college so it's not just my money.

One friend is in Australia and they aren't allowed to travel outside the country for 6 months. We also have people coming from Seattle, DC area, midwest, and are going to Breckenridge CO. No way we'd all be able to go (or feel comfortable going) at this rate and I'm sure some of those places will still be under SIP. 2 friends hadn't bought their tickets yet.

We are going to wait til the last second this month to cancel before the final payment is due (and we'd all lose like $130, which isn't a ton in the grand scheme) but I will be so ticked if we lose that money and then a week later airbnb extends their policy through our trip dates! I guess I could take it up with airbnb if that happens.

surprisingly VRBO has been easier to work with but we selected to reschedule vs. cancel that trip.

If anyone has luck getting something refunded outside of the current COVID policy window can you come back to this post and tag me?

[mrspez07]

Outside of the current scenario, I found Vrbo/ HomeAway to be much more user friendly on bookings and cancellations(had to cancel a trip to Europe 2 years ago because of an illness). We didn’t get all our money back with Airbnb, but did everywhere else.

[pugz]

Apr 3, 2020 17:36:53 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Outside of the current scenario, I found Vrbo/ HomeAway to be much more user friendly on bookings and cancellations(had to cancel a trip to Europe 2 years ago because of an illness). We didn’t get all our money back with Airbnb, but did everywhere else.

yes our host with VRBO said they'd waive final payment until things were more clear, which I thought was really awesome. We ended up just rescheduling for next summer and he made it really easy.  Win for all of us.

[mockingbird]

From my understanding hosts are trying to get Airbnb to do the cancellations so it doesn't impact their host ratings. I am in a group on facebook (we were debating doing a rental) and a lot of hosts are frustrated Airbnb is being so slow to do their end, leaving guests frustrated with the hosts.

[pugz]

Apr 3, 2020 19:05:38 GMT -5 mockingbird said:

From my understanding hosts are trying to get Airbnb to do the cancellations so it doesn't impact their host ratings. I am in a group on facebook (we were debating doing a rental) and a lot of hosts are frustrated Airbnb is being so slow to do their end, leaving guests frustrated with the hosts.

That makes sense.

[clseale]

Apr 3, 2020 14:17:26 GMT -5 TR said:

I did, but it was for March 14th and had a little button on the reservation page saying it qualified for a full refund so it was really easy and I didn't have to ask the owner directly. Honestly, as nerve wracking as it is, I would let it play out because it should get easier/simpler as you get closer to your trip. When are your dates?

This was also our experience. I was already talking with the host daily (we were going Grenada and before things really hit the fan here, she was giving me updates on what the situation was on the island) and she was great. I gave her a head’s up that we were cancelling, but I just had to push the little button and our $5k+ was refunded within hours.

I’d wait it out a bit. Surely they will extend the dates of the refund policy and it should get easier.

[wise_rita]

Apr 3, 2020 17:05:15 GMT -5 pugz said:

One friend is in Australia and they aren't allowed to travel outside the country for 6 months.

I'm in Australia and wasn't aware of this!

[pugz]

Apr 5, 2020 4:50:19 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Apr 3, 2020 17:05:15 GMT -5 pugz said:

One friend is in Australia and they aren't allowed to travel outside the country for 6 months.

I'm in Australia and wasn't aware of this!

Google led me here www.smartraveller.gov.au/crisis/covid-19-and-travel

[honeydew1894]

We are hosts, with people due in July. We aren't comfortable with them coming, but we aren't sure what to do. I keep hoping they will cancel, but the event they are coming for still seems to be happening.

[wise_rita]

Apr 5, 2020 5:35:02 GMT -5 pugz said:

Apr 5, 2020 4:50:19 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

I'm in Australia and wasn't aware of this!

Google led me here www.smartraveller.gov.au/crisis/covid-19-and-travel

Yes, for the moment the whole world is code red Syria-level do not travel.  But I hadn't heard a time limit set! 

[wanderingback]

Apr 5, 2020 6:45:00 GMT -5 honeydew1894 said:

We are hosts, with people due in July. We aren't comfortable with them coming, but we aren't sure what to do. I keep hoping they will cancel, but the event they are coming for still seems to be happening.

You can just cancel on them.
I was an Airbnb host for all of 1 week. We got our first booking, then changed our minds and cancelled on them so they got their money back.
If you’re worried about a rating or something I’d just message them and tell them that you no longer want to be a host at this time. It’s plenty of time for them to find new accommodations. It seems like it’d be better to get this taken care of sooner rather than waiting for everyone’s sake.

[madringal]

Apr 3, 2020 17:36:53 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Outside of the current scenario, I found Vrbo/ HomeAway to be much more user friendly on bookings and cancellations(had to cancel a trip to Europe 2 years ago because of an illness). We didn’t get all our money back with Airbnb, but did everywhere else.

VRBO has been a freaking nightmare to work with. Their offer was a refund of our $189 service fee. The rest was up to the host. Our host wasn’t willing to offer anything and then finally gave us a 50% refund. Lots of VRBO customers are out 100%. VRBO basically pitted the hosts against the customers.

[pugz]

yes VRBO has not stepped in at all, unlike airbnb. However our VRBO host was great to work with, we got lucky! They already had a decent cancellation policy though, we were only going to lose $500 if it came down to it, not all $2k.

I chatted with airbnb online the other day and they are escalating my request to a "case manager" No clue when I'll hear back and I expect them to say "sorry, not within the COVID window so we can't do anything!" but figured it was a worth a shot to try to save all of us from losing our money.

[wise_rita]

Apr 5, 2020 12:51:09 GMT -5 madringal said:

Apr 3, 2020 17:36:53 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Outside of the current scenario, I found Vrbo/ HomeAway to be much more user friendly on bookings and cancellations(had to cancel a trip to Europe 2 years ago because of an illness). We didn’t get all our money back with Airbnb, but did everywhere else.

VRBO has been a freaking nightmare to work with. Their offer was a refund of our $189 service fee. The rest was up to the host. Our host wasn’t willing to offer anything and then finally gave us a 50% refund. Lots of VRBO customers are out 100%. VRBO basically pitted the hosts against the customers.

Isn't that just going to result in terrible (and useless) reviews on both sides?

Definitely one to avoid in the future!

[aspentosh]

We cancelled a week or two ago for a trip that was scheduled for April 4th-10th. We had paid for the trip 100% (with strict cancellation policy) and we got back all the money we paid. Cancelled through AirBnB's website with no issue. Don't know about rescheduling though

I am sure there are specific dates in mind (schedule before X date; travel between A-C dates, etc).

[jwright]

We were scheduled for a June trip to Amsterdam for Euro Cup 2020 which has since been postponed to 2021. I canceled our Airbnb and under the host's regular cancelation policy received a 50% refund. I contacted Airbnb and they said they were not forcing full refund for trip dates after April 14. I was allowed to appeal to the host, but he wasn't willing to budge, and told me that June was so far away that we didn't know if we would be required to cancel. Ugh; I am going to wait until closer to the travel dates to appeal some more, but I'm out about $1,500 right now.

ETA: We own a short term rental in Asheville, NC that is listed on VRBO (not Airbnb); we have just been allowing full cancelation refunds no questions asked.  Luckily the home is paid off so we aren't having to pay a mortgage, but we've lost seven booking so far and I assume the remainder in May will cancel before too long.

[Deleted]

I had a trip that was supposed to start on March 13th. The day before, we decided it was just too risky since I would have to fly to meet up with my family. I contacted the host the morning of the stay, and they were like "yeah too bad." They said that because it wasn't an issue in Charleston at that point, that they were not refunding anything but the cleaning and pet fees. I escalated it to Airbnb because on March 14th they started their policy that would provide refunds. I offered to forego the first night and said I should at least get the rest back. The host said no. Their response that since it wasn't an issue there so they were proceeding as normal was awful. I pointed out that they were encouraging people to travel there from affected areas and therefore putting their entire community at risk. They didn't budge. I escalated it again to Airbnb because it was absurd that the host was not taking public health into consideration. After hearing nothing for several weeks, Airbnb finally replied that we would get our entire refund.

This was my first time using it in an area where there were abundant hotel options. I won't be using it again. I know this host was a jerk, but the lack of ability to cancel has turned me off completely.

[downtoearth]

Canceling with airbnb is hard. It's actually not always on the hosts - I know from a few friends that their refund process is convoluted and hard for owners and they get ZERO support of help from airbnb either. My parents stopped using VRBO/airbnb for their place b/c the cancellation and refund part was such a pain and caused stress about 4 times too many. 

[scorpio72]

We had two places booked in Spain for Spring Break that should have been covered by their Covid policy. One host refunded almost immediately minus the service fee but I’m. It going to fight against that.

The other one said no refund. I will be disputing this one with our credit card and escalating to Airbnb. Again.