Any recommendations on how to handle this situation?

We booked an AirBnB in Tahoe City that starts next week. We found an awesome place that is a short walk to the beach/restaurants/bars, has a private hot tub, and has an outdoor space for the kids. Since we booked back in December we were able to find exactly what we wanted for our price point, which was around $3500 for the week. We just got notified yesterday that our host canceled on us and AirBnB will give us a whopping $164 on top of the $3500 we already paid. Of course a week out there is very little available and any similar properties that are open at this point are like $800-$1000 a night. To stay at the same price point we'll have to sacrifice some combination of location, amenities, and size - plus almost none of the properties have enough reviews to even know what we're getting.

We tried chatting and calling the AirBnB support and they have been unhelpful, rude, and obviously don't care about our situation. They can't explain how they arrived at $164 and what that would even cover given the extremely limited options available. The first property they recommended as an alternative was the very property that had just canceled on us. When we asked them to book a similar property (size, location, amenities), they said they would not cover any cost difference beyond the $164.

It doesn't seem like we have any recourse. Neither a refund or $164 towards a more expensive property actually helps us with our vacation next week. I'm not willing to shovel more money their way purely on principle. Other than leaving them bad reviews everywhere I can, is there anything we can do given the extremely short notice?

check VRBO

what property is it ?

Is it still on the market and at what rate ?

Track your damages and sue their asses.

Damn that sucks. When we have an owner cancel or an unforeseen maintenance issue we put them up in an equivalent or higher, and eat the out of pocket to pay the new owner.

I'm so sorry.

If you find a place on www.Vacasa.com that works well, I can probs know of 15%…

Small claims court is probs your best bet

Have you asked for a copy of the cancellation policy? I'd ask for it, review it, and if they are still being asses, I'd blow them up on social media. I'd post the horror story everywhere I could and tag them and some not great hashtags along with it. That seems to work wonders nowadays.

Let your local news agencies know too. They LOVE stories like this…maybe tag them or their investigators tag in the posts.

Weirdly enough, a sizable number of units on AirBnb are actually ours, if you find the one that cancelled, please let me know and I can reach out to our ops and figure out what's the deal…

JustPanda said:

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Damn that sucks. When we have an owner cancel or an unforeseen maintenance issue we put them up in an equivalent or higher, and eat the out of pocket to pay the new owner.

I'm so sorry.

If you find a place on www.Vacasa.com that works well, I can probs know of 15%…

Small claims court is probs your best bet

Have you asked for a copy of the cancellation policy? I'd ask for it, review it, and if they are still being asses, I'd blow them up on social media. I'd post the horror story everywhere I could and tag them and some not great hashtags along with it. That seems to work wonders nowadays.

Let your local news agencies know too. They LOVE stories like this…maybe tag them or their investigators tag in the posts.

Weirdly enough, a sizable number of units on AirBnb are actually ours, if you find the one that cancelled, please let me know and I can reach out to our ops and figure out what's the deal…

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yes!

So you got all your money back plus an additional $164? Financially you're not out anything so I don't know if you have any recourse here. Does the fine print say anything about last minute cancellations? I've never had this happen to me before. We've used Airbnb and VRBO a lot over the years.

That's trash to says he whole.

He had an entire trip planned not just a place to stay and not to mention the memories. It's not right and replacing 3 months ago's value is trash. It'd be like an airline cancelling your flight a week before departure and telling you they gave you a credit when flights are now 3x the price. It's low budget and bad service from a hospitality provider who's reputation is built on dependability and trust.

I'm sure they have insurance to make them whole if it was for a valid interruption of business anyways…

I agree it sucks. I'm just saying, I doubt if he has any recourse because he's not out anything financially. Just my two cents.

What does contract say about cancellations?

You should reach out to the host and find out why they canceled. We are hosts, and I can't think of anything that would explain both a cancellation PLUS the property still showing as available. There are many reasons, even if rare, for a last minute cancellation, but all of them that I can think of would also result on the property being listed as unavailable.

Read the "Air Cover" section on AirBnB. Unfortunately, I think they are doing what they pledge to do. They can't create availability if there simply isn't any inventory, and you're getting your money back, plus an admittedly weird $164. I'm sad to hear your experience with them as rude and unhelpful, though. Our guests (and we) have always reported that the AirBnB support team is very kind and helpful.

JustPanda said:

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hospitality provider.

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Incorrect. AirBNB does not provide "hospitality". They are an IT company that runs a website that matches hosts (hospitality providers) with guests. This issue is not AirBNB's problem, it's on the host.

AirBNB sucks. I refuse to use them. I delisted my three listings a few months ago after how miserable it is to work with an IT company to resolve hospitality issues. I suspect the OP will abandon them too.

Thanks for the all of the responses. As Bluecat mentioned, AirBnB is abiding by their written policy they call AirCover, which unfortunately just says "we'll try to rebook you or you can have a refund". I think this policy is definitely slanted towards helping the host and AirBnB rather than the guest, especially since I can't leave a review on the property now that it's been canceled - nobody else will ever know they canceled on us last minute.

The property is managed by a property management company. Since the host won't respond to use I have left a negative review everywhere I could find them. The thing that absolutely irks me is that the cancellation said the hosts had an emergency, but the last AirBnB review for the property is from the week of July 4th and it says the host canceled their stay because they are no longer renting through AirBnB. If both the host and AirBnB knew that was the case back on July 4th and didn't let us know until last week, that's egregiously bad business.

At the end of the day, we found another place to stay that's definitely not as good of location, amenities, or space - but we're not going to let that ruin our vacation. This isn't the hill I'm going to die on, but I definitely won't be sending money to AirBnB any time soon. Their service was horrible and their policies don't have my best interest at heart, so I'll make sure I tell everyone I know about my experience. #CapitalismBaby

The listing seems to be gone from AirBnb

We have an AirBnb booked later this month. Probably the last time I will use them after reading this thread. Guessing I'll just stick with planning through our work portal.

Not sure if you can find anything about if the property might be listed somewhere else for the same nights, but you could always try reaching out to this group:

https://consumerrescue.org/travel-troubles/airbnb-host-pulled-expensive-bait-and-switch/

They've done some decent work in the past - the article linked was posted today.

If I really think about it, I've had more negative experiences in chain hotels than I have had with AirBnB or VRBO.

We used an AirBnB while in Florida for 10 days in July. Upon arrival, we noticed the air balance in air conditioning vents was really off. There was one room that had great air flow, but the other 3 rooms had minimal. When I contacted the owner (and later AirBnB), they could not understand the issue and refused to cancel my reservation. I was asked to send a video detailing the issue. I sent a 30 second video clearly showing the air flow issue and they said it was not enough information to make a determination.

We had crazy ants in our room in Marco Island and got the shaft from AirBnb. Decided to use them again, but didn't realIe they could just cancel on you and leave you SOL. That's some peace of mind a hotel or full service management company can offer.

If you cancel Airbnb after a certain time, you're out the money. If the host cancels, they should be required to pay back 1.5 times the amount since that's probably the cost of a late booking for a comparable rental.

i recently had a bad experience with airbnb as well. i had 3 nights booked in vancouver but low and behold the night before arrival the owner cancelled on me citing some bs medical emergency reason (kidney surgery). not sure what her surgery had to do with me being able to stay at her place but at least i was given a full refund. i thought to myself what stops these owners from cancelling my 2 or 3 night rental to book someone else that wants to stay a week or 2 weeks. im not saying this is what happened but the thought crossed my mind.

I'm not excusing your last minute cancellation. But...

...you can bet that every AirBnB host who has done it for at least a year can tell you some bad guest stories, too. We've been quite fortunate, nothing terrible. In fact, there are far more really good stories than bad. But we've had a couple, and we've heard some horrible stories from some others.

Just providing a bit of balance to the story here. AirBnB is, as someone earlier mentioned, ultimately a tech company. When you rent an AirBnB, your business is really with a private owner, and you are staying as a guest in their home or apartment. There is risk associated with that on both sides. AirBnB's policies are their attempt to balance those as fairly as they can.

Also, cancellation policies for both guests and hosts are not uniform. Hosts have some ability to set their cancellation and refund terms. They have to fall within certain parameters, but they are not all the same. You should make sure you read them carefully before you book.

Of everything in this story, I think the worst thing I've read is that you are not able to leave a review. Trust me, a bad review is the thing we fear most as hosts. I'd like to think we do the right thing out of principal, but the strongest leverage holding us accountable to that is the review process.

If you are still going on the trip, maybe pay the house a visit. Maybe deliver them a peace offering of some deli ham. Maybe stick it under the door mat or someplace where the porch pirates won't get it and it can stay there in the heat until the owner finds it. They might like a dozen eggs too. Maybe delivered one at a time at about 40 mph to the west side of the house. I find being the bigger person helps me get on with my life and a peace offering doesn't cost much, but is worth so much.

Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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I'm not excusing your last minute cancellation. But...

...you can bet that every AirBnB host who has done it for at least a year can tell you some bad guest stories, too. We've been quite fortunate, nothing terrible. In fact, there are far more really good stories than bad. But we've had a couple, and we've heard some horrible stories from some others.

Just providing a bit of balance to the story here. AirBnB is, as someone earlier mentioned, ultimately a tech company. When you rent an AirBnB, your business is really with a private owner, and you are staying as a guest in their home or apartment. There is risk associated with that on both sides. AirBnB's policies are their attempt to balance those as fairly as they can.

Also, cancellation policies for both guests and hosts are not uniform. Hosts have some ability to set their cancellation and refund terms. They have to fall within certain parameters, but they are not all the same. You should make sure you read them carefully before you book.

Of everything in this story, I think the worst thing I've read is that you are not able to leave a review. Trust me, a bad review is the thing we fear most as hosts. I'd like to think we do the right thing out of principal, but the strongest leverage holding us accountable to that is the review process.

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No review definitely irks me, and on top of that there's no way for me to provide feedback on the owner and property manager - they still have other properties up on AirBnB but I can't let anybody know how my experience was with them. We always leave reviews, so far they've all been positive with details on what we like and what could be done to make the experience better.

I get what you're saying about perspective, that's why I'm not letting it ruin our trip. That being said, I've at least had someone act like they care (even if they don't actually do anything to help) when I've run into issues at hotels. This is the first time I've had someone be rude and dismissive when we engage with customer care.

I know some AirBnB owners and they build in some level of dealing with bad guests in their pricing. They set aside some money from every rental to cover when a dish gets broken or a toaster is stolen or whatever. Obviously you don't want that to happen and there are limits on what you're willing to deal with, but I feel like they have the right mindset to approach it. Also, can't you rate guests as well? We've received feedback from previous stays and I thought that was reflected in our account. I could be wrong on that.

Yes. The way it works is that both host and guest write a review, and AirBnB doesn't release the reviews until they have both been submitted. That way there is no retaliation.

I'm bummed to hear that AirBnB support was rude. That's not been my experience as a host or as a guest. As a host it reflects poorly on us, too. We have been frustrated in the past with some of AirBnB's political stances, which just seem unnecessary (they offered free housing for people crossing state lines for abortions) So I don't have a blind loyalty to the company, but the platform has worked well for us and we've enjoyed a nice little side business.

booked an airbnb 5 months ago for the 2024 eclipse, near fredericksburg.

host canceled on me today

nothing anywhere close to the same price is available today; airbnb offered me a $27 coupon and told me to get stuffed


y'all have any luck getting resolution to your issues?

07ag said:

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booked an airbnb 5 months ago for the 2024 eclipse, near fredericksburg.

host canceled on me today

nothing anywhere close to the same price is available today; airbnb offered me a $27 coupon and told me to get stuffed


y'all have any luck getting resolution to your issues?

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I have access to a flat spot for a tent. How much are you offering?

Damn that sucks.

We had a late cancellation one year due to "termites." I put that in quotes because I don't really believe it. Anyways, the host canceled on the day of our travel. AirBNB at the time was helpful enough to realize we needed to be made whole, we were already traveling and en route when we got cancelled! They put us up in a nice hotel. This was 2015 or so.

07ag said:

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booked an airbnb 5 months ago for the 2024 eclipse, near fredericksburg.

host canceled on me today

nothing anywhere close to the same price is available today; airbnb offered me a $27 coupon and told me to get stuffed


y'all have any luck getting resolution to your issues?

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That screams of the host not being aware of premium dates and now wanting to pull a switcheroo. I will not use Air BnB until I see more protections for guests against cancellations like these.

I got no resolution, and on top of having to rebook they wouldn't actually apply the voucher because the new place we rented ended up being less money than the original... never mind the fact that it had to either be wayyyy more money (in which the voucher is a drop in the bucket) or less money (because it's properties that nobody had rented even until the last minute). I will just never rent from Airbnb again. We also left reviews everywhere we could and have had several people contact us with similar issues, so I guess there's a little bit of negative press outside of Airbnb for them.

On the plus side, the place we rented ended up working out for us. The property was older and pretty well-worn, but it had pickleball courts, two kids kayaks, and was close to a small beach that we could walk to. We had a great time and will likely go back to Tahoe, though not the same property, again.

I've had different experiences when booked through Airbnb, but again it all depends on your host. You are going to have much better luck when dealing with a private owner and not some property management conglomerate.

We had a house booked in Boerne for a wedding that was being held at a ranch about 20 minutes west of that place. When we were in the air down we were offered a house at the venue that my cousins officiant wasn't going to use. In that case we cancelled basically from our flight, and that host only charged us the cleaning fee.

When we went to northern Michigan this summer we had a few issues on arrival and the owner immediately called me from LA and was incredibly accommodating and even credited us a night.

Just tossing that out there. Not all experiences are awful but these last minute cancellations do suck.

Either that or 'I want to stay at my place over Thanksgiving'. This is actually the reason we have not invested in vacation rental properties, the dates we are off and available to travel are the peak dates that actually make the year for vacation rentals.

Makes me miss the good ol' days when AirBnb was used by the early majority (on the adoption curve) and rentals weren't 50% trash property managers that want you to load the dishwasher, load the washer, take out the trash, and still pay a $200 cleaning fee. I'll pour a little out for those days.

Wife and I just had a great Airbnb experience and it harkened back to exactly what you talked about here! I don't even remember the checkout process, I think all they said was to leave the key on the counter when you leave. Making that whole process easier was great. No tedious work to be done.

The fees on these rentals (and local taxes) have gotten out of hand. Was looking and something in Florida and 25% of the all in cost were fees and taxes. definitely looking harder for properties that are off of these rental platforms.