That this Airbnb host deserves a terrible review

[Finknottlesnewt]

My sister is travelling to my home town for my other sisters' daughters (our niece) wedding . The date has been long known . 6 months ago she booked a cottage nearby for her husband and three children. Paid a large deposit and the balance taken last week. (By Airbnb - it seems the host doesn't get the money until after the first night).
They are going to make a week of it - so a 6 night booking.
Last night - at 10:30 the host sent a message to say that she would have to cancel the booking as she had hurt her arm and couldn't clean the property between guests.
My sister is distraught. Cannot get anywhere else to stay. (We are in a popular holiday area and it's a BH weekend. ) The prices are also 3x what my sister paid - and she paid over £1k for 6 days ! the amount stated at the time of booking.
Obviously we are not going to let my sister and family miss the wedding so will literally put them up on any floor space we can find between my home and my other sister but we all already have other family staying so will be a very tight squeeze.

No my question. Whilst driving to my sisters to drop off some stuff for the wedding I passed the cottage my sister had booked. Only to see a car parked in the drive with a roof box on top and a man and woman obviously unloading suitcases ...

It is also obvious what has happened. The host got a 'better offer' and dumped my sisters booking in favour of this one. With less than 12 hours notice. . and didn't have a single moral issue with screwing up someone else's long made holiday wedding plans for simple greed.

AIBU to say that my sister should write a review of this 'host' to warn others off.. as well as telling Airbnb what she has done. ?

I would name and shame with full details, everywhere I could think of.

@3Br1tnee

I would name and shame with full details, everywhere I could think of.

Not without knowing for sure.

I would print out the correspondence including the original booking and post it through the letter box - redacting personal details obviously. Maybe current occupiers will also mention in their review.

That's outrageous! Did you take photos of the new guests? It could be relatives or something?

I would definitely knock on the door to confirm, then write a horrible review.

Is this is in cornwall by any chance? This has been a prolific problem for people who booked in advance. So many people have been left without their holidays because people are so desperate to come here they are willing to pay triple the price for Airbnb.

Looks like you want have to write a review as Air B and B will post one automatically

Only way would be if they re rented via air bnb
And she’d be daft to have done that

If the new renters gave their booking details, with whichever agency, it would be more than her word against theirs

Leave a shitty review and move on. Pointless to skulk about after fake parcels etc.

Wont not want* (for my post)

I don’t understand why Mumsnetters are so keen on subterfuge. Just ask and explain why you’re asking.

I would go and knock on the door and ask. Find out the facts first.

It could be relatives arrived to help her out because of her injured arm. Check before you accuse.

You can’t write a review unless you have actually stayed and checked out. All you can do is contact Airbnb admin and explain what happened. You could maybe write a review on trip advisor?

@DartmoorChef

I would go and knock on the door and ask. Find out the facts first.

So would I. If you are right I wouldn’t hesitate to report and submit the review.

Not sure if she will be able to leave a review as she hasn’t stayed, but definitely report to Airbnb. Someone canceled on us with less than 24h notice and Airbnb apologized on their behalf and gave us a voucher to stay elsewhere.

I'd feedback if there's a way to do it. It puts me off using airb&b and gives those who genuinely have to cancel a bad rep

Absolutely awful!

Definitely knock on the door with one of the suggestions on p1.

You could post a real parcel there. After all, you might have ordered something delivered there. Then you could go round every day until it turns up, and the parcel turning up would validate your visits!

I’m an Airbnb host. She won’t have booked it again through Airbnb because they wouldn’t let her. As far as I know - hurting your arm isn’t a good enough reason to cancel anyway. It all sounds very fishy. It is worth taking photos or knocking and asking, and then going back to Airbnb with a complaint. If it is a properly authorised cancellation Airbnb will refund the money and you should get the message “ your host has cancelled” or something like that. It is possible that the host has not told Airbnb and refunded you privately which is against airbnb rules. Airbnb are really approachable and great at sorting out disputes - I would definitely contact them.

Can she leave a poor review on Tripadvisor?

I got bumped off like this recently. In the UK. The host was very cheeky and didn’t really accept any responsibility. It’s put me off using Airbnb ever again. If it isn’t reliable I will take my money elsewhere.

That's absolutely awful.

I think the parcel suggestion is the one to go for - maybe adding that it should have been delivered on (say) Wednesday or Thursday (or some other day before they arrived). That gives you a plausible reason for knocking on the door, and gives them the opportunity to say that they only arrived on Friday.

Just a thought: can you find a way of recording the conversation?

Definitely go and ask