Airbnb issues

amii91213

I booked a weekend away for November way back at the beginning of February. I used gift vouchers for this booking. Over the summer I booked another couple of stays overseas paid on a card. 
This was a cottage for 8 people near Windsor. We have non-refundable tickets for an event nearby so we have no flexibility for different dates/location etc. 
Out of the blue this evening I got an alert from the Airbnb app saying the stay in November has been cancelled without explanation. 
 I then got an email with 3 suggested replacement properties. Two were for 6 people (and the listing said only accepted refugees, which we are not) and one was for 5 people....all 40+ miles from the original accommodation. So basically totally unsuitable! 
A quick look on Airbnb showed that the next cheapest property nearby was over £900 more than we had paid. Obviously in the intervening 7 months, all the other options have been booked up.  
I spoke to customer services who offered us £52 discount!!! 
Having spoken to the friends we'd booked with, we decided we couldn't justify so much more money. 
I contacted customer service again but was told they would only give me a refund in vouchers. 
So basically I am stuck.....we can't afford the extra money to book something else through Airbnb, but without my cash back we can't afford to book anything through anywhere else. 
Having had this experience I really don't want to ever have to book through Airbnb again (our previous bookings werent without issue and customer services aren't bothered)
Any suggestions??? 

Alderbank

You made a booking for a cottage near Windsor in November and you paid with vouchers. The host has now said they can no longer provide the accommodation.

Perhaps they have been enticed by someone offering to pay more because of the event you are attending. Equally though, perhaps their property has been trashed by the last guest and needs extensive renovation before it can be re-let.

AirBnB has offered you the only other accommodation they  have nearby for those dates (at their current prices) or else a full refund in vouchers.

I think that is all you are entitled to under consumer law.
AirBnB are clear that they act as 'middlemen' between consumers and hosts. They don't own any of the thousands of properties they list all around the world; their role, for which they are paid commission, is to advertise properties listed by hosts, pass money from consumer to host and enable guest and host to communicate.

The consumer rights act says that unless both you and the seller agree otherwise, your refund must be in the same form as your payment. You paid in vouchers so your refund must be in vouchers. 

mr_stripey

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square. I've used sites like airbnb extensively and usually had a good experience. There is usually a good deal of flexibility allowing me to cancel or amend the booking until very close the the date in case plans change. But this has to be a two way street and I have had hosts cancel on me which is frustrating but it is what it is.

I did read that if a host cancels then airbnb blocks them from re letting for the same dates though my suspicion is the host could easily circumvent this if they desired. This maybe what has happenned here.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

mr_stripey said:

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square.

Doesn't work like that, the party suffering the breach is entitled to be in the position they would have had been in had the breach not occurred, that's what is all square  

OP mitigate (lessen) your losses and after you've suffered them send the host who cancelled a letter before action and follow through with small claims seeking the extra costs as foreseeable damages.

Worth an important note here, check the booking was completely "non refundable" to you at the time they cancelled. 

user1977

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

mr_stripey said:

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square.

Worth an important note here, check the booking was completely "non refundable" to you at the time they cancelled. 

The norm on AirBnB is that the guest can also cancel without penalty up to the last minute.

Undervalued

amii91213 said:

I booked a weekend away for November way back at the beginning of February. I used gift vouchers for this booking. Over the summer I booked another couple of stays overseas paid on a card. 
This was a cottage for 8 people near Windsor. We have non-refundable tickets for an event nearby so we have no flexibility for different dates/location etc. 
Out of the blue this evening I got an alert from the Airbnb app saying the stay in November has been cancelled without explanation. 
 I then got an email with 3 suggested replacement properties. Two were for 6 people (and the listing said only accepted refugees, which we are not) and one was for 5 people....all 40+ miles from the original accommodation. So basically totally unsuitable! 
A quick look on Airbnb showed that the next cheapest property nearby was over £900 more than we had paid. Obviously in the intervening 7 months, all the other options have been booked up.  
I spoke to customer services who offered us £52 discount!!! 
Having spoken to the friends we'd booked with, we decided we couldn't justify so much more money. 
I contacted customer service again but was told they would only give me a refund in vouchers. 
So basically I am stuck.....we can't afford the extra money to book something else through Airbnb, but without my cash back we can't afford to book anything through anywhere else. 
Having had this experience I really don't want to ever have to book through Airbnb again (our previous bookings werent without issue and customer services aren't bothered)
Any suggestions??? 

I'm sorry but unless I am misunderstanding, if you paid in vouchers then it is not unreasonable for any company to only refund in the same way.

In fact doing otherwise in some circumstances could be facilitating money laundering, which could potentially be illegal.

Niv

mr_stripey said:

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square. I've used sites like airbnb extensively and usually had a good experience. There is usually a good deal of flexibility allowing me to cancel or amend the booking until very close the the date in case plans change. But this has to be a two way street and I have had hosts cancel on me which is frustrating but it is what it is.

I did read that if a host cancels then airbnb blocks them from re letting for the same dates though my suspicion is the host could easily circumvent this if they desired. This maybe what has happenned here.

bit in bold - you are correct that AirBNB block out dates if cancelled by the host - there is nothing the host can do to unblock those dates, so cannot circumvent that via Air BNB - however some properties are listed on multiple sites so I suspect they could relist on the other sites if they were being underhanded. I suspect something like that happened to me when a host cancelled on me the day before - we were fortunate enough to be able to find another caravan on the same site (albeit more expensive and more dated) so I obviously took a look at the cancelled caravan... yep, it was occupied.

oldagetraveller1

"and the listing said only accepted refugees, which we are not"

Nobody has referred to this. I would suspect somebody has been offered much more money for this intended purpose.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

user1977 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

mr_stripey said:

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square.

Worth an important note here, check the booking was completely "non refundable" to you at the time they cancelled. 

The norm on AirBnB is that the guest can also cancel without penalty up to the last minute.

Thanks, I would have assumed the opposite from AirBnB, I think if both parties can cancel that would be balanced.

mikrt

oldagetraveller1 said:

"and the listing said only accepted refugees, which we are not"

Nobody has referred to this. I would suspect somebody has been offered much more money for this intended purpose.

I think that was one of the suggested alternatives 👍

amii91213

mr_stripey said:

You are back in the same position as when you made the booking so you're all square. I've used sites like airbnb extensively and usually had a good experience. 

But that's just it, I'm not. 

I specifically bought the gift vouchers in order to book this (I get a discount through blue light) and paid for the reservation immediately with the e-gift card

So now I don't have the money to be able to pay for alternative accommodation thru a different site and I certainly don't have nearly £1k to book the next best thing Airbnb have on offer

This was the first time I booked with them but subsequently I have booked and stayed in several places over the summer. I have not had such great experiences as you and this is the final nail in the coffin for me. I don't want to book anything else with them.... So over a barrell