AirB&B - rant

[Radiatorvalves]

Trying to keep the costs down I booked an AirB&B in a large city. Last night, with 48 hours to go, I had a message from the host asking if I needed early check in or late check out at $75 each. I said no thanks. An hour later the booking was cancelled.

I spent ages on the phone. There is now limited availability, and nothing available in the area I’d booked at a similar price. They keep suggesting cheaper properties 30/40 km away. I feel over a barrel but I have agreed to pay an additional $180 to secure a booking.

Perhaps I should not have used them. Certainly a hotel would not have been much cheaper. ….

How common is it that people have issues or horror stories when using AirB&B? Most people I know say it’s ok.

AIBU to never use AirB&B again?

Does anyone use Air B&B ? Am I just unfortunate or an idiot for having gone there?

I use Airbnb a bit - probs once maybe twice a year. Never had any issues.
Did they say why they cancelled it?

Use Booking.com - usually cheaper and so much less hassle

I also use them once or twice a year and have never had a problem.
I ahve heard some horror stories though so maybe I have just been lucky

@SJM1988 the message was….

Hello
I’m very sorry to inform you that a major issue has arisen with the unit you reserved, and unfortunately it will disrupt your stay if we proceed with the booking.

But as I said in the OP this was just after I had declined their (expensive) offer of early check in.

Sounds like I’ve been unlucky. But I am hacked off that I’ve had to spend almost £150 extra.

They would not have cancelled your booking on a whim, there are very stiff
penalties for hosts who cancel bookings. A host that cancels more than once would probably find their listing removed from the platform.

My partner manages several airbnbs, we had to cancel a booking because of an unavoidable power outage. We had to send Airbnb support proof of the outage (a stat dec from the electrician). Even after doing this that listing didn’t show up in search results for months and we got almost no bookings.

I know it doesn’t always seem so but Airbnb is very tough on hosts who don’t do the right thing.

I clean and Airbnb property. We rarely get complaints.. Recent ones include the single bedroom door was unable to be shut properly due to the door hooks on the back of the door..
The ones you simply lift off...
And TV in the double bedroom wasn't working..
Because they hadn't plugged it in.
We regularly stay in Airbnb properties and honestly never had any issues...
Unlike Haven caravans...

I've just had an issue with booking too , really pissed me off. I've used them before in the past with no issues.

Something similar happened to me once, but it was only once. I’d arranged to stay over as had a job interview and when I arrived the booking had been cancelled. I got a refund but it took five days to process and I didn’t have much money. Nightmare,

It’s the only time I’ve had anything like that happen though. Mostly it’s been fine.

I used to be quite a prolific user of Airbnb, but have had quite a few issues with it in the last few years, so have stopped using it. Definitely gone downhill unfortunately… there are quite a few niche alternatives that I find better!

I used it 4 times. One of them cancelled late notice and I had a similar issue of having to book something else more expensive.

Recent ones include the single bedroom door was unable to be shut properly due to the door hooks on the back of the door..
The ones you simply lift off...

But if you lift them off, there's nowhere to hang the things that were hanging on them on the back of the door, surely?

And yes, my latest (and probably last time I’ll use them) had the host cancel on me last minute. Incredibly frustrating experience trying to find something last minute.

There is a wardrobe and drawers...

It’s interesting to get different perspectives. I have to say it’s left a nasty taste in my mouth and totally put me off using them again. Usually I head off on hols secure that I have got accommodation sorted, and now I just feel on edge.

As one poster says, the host needs a good reason to cancel. Fair enough…. But I’m still in the lurch and imho AirB&B could have done a lot more to support me.

People are advising OP to use Booking. Similar thing happened to me on Booking.

Booked a hotel in Venice last September, for the Carnival in Feb. Paid, all good. Less than a week before the trip they cancelled with some bullshit excuse. What actually happened, is the hotel was cheap-ish, and they realized they can charge way more for the rooms during the Carnival. Lo and behold, later they relisted the same room for a much bigger price. And didn't refund me.

Spoke with Booking reps countless of times. Couldn't have been more unhelpful if they tried. Basically told me to find another accomodation, pay for it myself and they will cover the difference (up to 400 quid I think), plus will refund me for the first hotel. No timeframes.

A few days before the Carnival everything was sold out, bar the fanciest megabucks places. Had to stay in Mestre, no other choice. Booking didn't refund me and also had to scramble more money for another hotel. It was stressful.

They eventually did refund me approx a month after my trip. The cancelling hotel is still on Booking.

The host will be penalised at that notice. However keep complaining at Airbnb. This happened to us and they eventually covered the full extra costs for our trip. Was very mad at them at the time and the slow complaints process did my head in but eventually worked out fine and have used them again. Have used them multiple times and only had this kind of issue once

I once had a booking cancel on me three days before a trip and air bnb paid the difference between the old booking and the new one. Not sure if they still do that, have you spoken to them?

AirBnB and Booking.com are both just booking platforms. You can have good and bad experiences with both.

Stopped using AirBnB a few years ago. I travel a lot for work and decided hotels were the answer for a host of reasons (including arriving places I don't know late at night and not being able to find the key or get it to work, a place not having functioning central heating and a mouldy fridge, a place where the pillow smelled bad etc etc).

They paid a bit towards it, but I’m still £150 odd out of pocket. Problem was that at short notice the moderately priced places were few and far between. And mostly 30+ km away from the centre of the town. Really poor service.

I don't use Air B&B - can't you leave a comment? And if you have all the messages with timestamps, escalate to their complaints process?

So just hang it over another door at night?

What were the cancellation T&Cs as they have to be fair?

E.g. if you cancelled 48 hours before the booking would you have got a refund?

You do know Airbnb is not one big homogeneous thing ? It’s a zillion different hosts, properties and levels of quality. Much the same as VRBO, Booking.com and all the others. Disliking Airbnb is like saying you don’t like hotels. They are all so completely different.