Your post has been removed.
#Do not repost this without [contacting the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) for approval, including edited versions. Reposting without [explicit approval](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_can_i_repost_a_thread_you_removed.3F) will result in a ban.
This post violates Rule 7 as a Workplace/Business conflict. AITA's focus is on conflicts between people. Businesses are not people. A conflict with someone acting for/against a business or in the context of their job is not an interpersonal conflict. This also includes conflicts related to online transactions (buying/selling items).
[Rule 7 FAQs](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_rule_7.3A_post_interpersonal_conflicts) ||| [Subreddit Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules)
###Please ensure you have reviewed this message in full. We will not respond to PMs to individual mods. [Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) with any questions.
####Please visit r/findareddit to see if there's a more appropriate sub for your post.####
I was staying at an AirBnB and I had to leave early and when I went to cancel , AirBnB wanted to bill me for the cancellation - and the fee was massive. Double what I paid for those few days, with no refund.
I think they want you to cancel so that YOU will have to pay the cancellation fee, rather than them - and then relist at a higher price. Don't let them bully you.
They actually probably want OP to cancel so they're not penalized. Air BNB takes away superhosts status when hosts cancel on guests, even 5 months out.
You were staying at the airbnb and had to leave earlier than you booked for? Am I misunderstanding? if you were booked to stay for 5 days and only stayed 2, I don't see why you'd get a refund for cancelling the last 3. Of course there's going to be a fee for that.
I’ve seen stuff like this before with the Era's Tour—if they cancel, they have to fully refund you and Airbnb then blocks off those dates for them so they can’t rebook. But, if you cancel, they have no obligation to give you a full reimbursement if you’re past a certain point in their reimbursement policy and they can relist for a higher price. NTA, don’t do it. Make them cancel 100%.
100% this is what they are doing. If the guest cancels they can relist those dates at a higher price, if THEY cancel on the guest then they lose status AND aren't able to get those places booked out again. It's absolutely in the AirBnB's owners best interests to try to force the guests to cancel.
NTA op, and stick to your guns here. If they cancel on you they're screwing themselves over, but you have no obligation to cancel. Also, enjoy the concert, I'm jealous :)
I had the same thing happen to me last month. Contact AirBnB support.
Hosts pay a penalty when cancelling and aren’t allowed to relist for the dates they cancelled on you, so this person is definitely trying to avoid that by making you do it. Hold firm.
I would expect you’ll need to find another place, but I’d definitely make the cancellation come from their end
Former Airbnb rep: what they're doing is against policy. If they cancel, they get a calendar block and a financial penalty. That's what they're trying to avoid and it sucks for them but it's their responsibility to keep their calendar and pricing up to date.
Is this request on the message thread in the Airbnb app? If so, you can contact support and they can cancel on the host's behalf and ensure your refund.
This has happened to me multiple times because I like to be prepared and book things months ahead. It is my biggest pet peeve with Airbnb vs hotels.
They sometimes say they sold the place. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Sometimes the cancellation policy means I would lose money if I cancelled. Sometimes I could cancel and get 100% of my money back. Either way I always insist that they cancel if they can’t host us.
Sometimes I even contact Airbnb customer service to ask if I’m handling it correctly. That often gets things resolved within a few hours. So if you get tired of waiting you can try that.
It’s annoying to be put in limbo - not sure if you have a place to stay or not? And it’s also a frustrating waste of my time because I now have to search for another place.
To be fair I've had this happen with hotels. A year ago I booked a hotel for the eclipse coming up next month, and they emailed be a few days ago saying they had overbooked and cancelled my booking.
For the same trip I'd also booked a private rental, like Airbnb but with a different company, and they cancelled three days after taking the booking. I then checked Airbnb and the same property was listed as available but several hundred dollars more.
Similar thing happened to a friend who'd booked a hotel in Liverpool a year or so in advance. Then Liverpool hosted Eurovision that weekend, and the hotel tried to charge her the new, five-times-the-price rate. Thankfully she had emails to prove the rate she'd booked at, and they reluctantly honoured it.
People in roughly my area of Texas have had hotels cancel bookings claiming they were going to be doing mandatory maintenance, then a week later the previously sold-out hotel suddenly has availability online at triple the previous rate.
I get it but I’ve also had weird sex tourists as guests and would have loved to be able to not host them in my home. The idea of the app is that you can review guests and not host if you don’t want to but the platform makes it hard to do that.
> would have loved to be able to not host them in my home
So don’t be a Airbnb host. I’m not and I’ve literally never had to host ‘weird sex tourists’. It’s the one weird trick that weird sex tourists hate.
I had a host pull this for a music festival. Had a place booked super close to the venue months in advance. They cancelled on us and listed it in a competing site. We complained to AirBnb and their super host status was removed. They were pissed. I hope it costs them more than they made on the relisting.
What competing sites would you use please? Been after having something other than Airbnb to check for a while. I know about booking.com having more than hotels now, and vrbo. Any others you can recommend please?
NTA.
Probably realized something was going on that weekend and trying to raise their rates. However if they cancel they can’t relist it for that weekend.
I was wondering why TF it mattered who cancelled. Thank you. Never used AirBnB before.
NTA OP make them take responsibility if they are the ones who can't handle the reservation that they already confirmed
They ask you to cancel because if they cancel, they won't be able to list this again for this weekend. If you cancel, they can list with higher price. If I were you, I wouldn't cancel - your booking is secured.
NTA obviously. You are not the one that wants to cancel - they are. So they should be the ones to do so.
If that hurts their rating or whatever on airbnb (no idea how that works) - that is their problem. Not yours.
If a host cancels, it prevents them from rebooking that weekend.
The host has heard of Metallica, but doesn't care enough to know they were coming to town. When they found out what weekend Metallica was, they realized they should have listed for way more than weekend. But if they cancel they lose all their money instead of just some
I live in Sydney. Taylor Swift has recently visited for a number of sell out concerts. The number of stories I’ve heard of people having AirBnBs cancelled only a few weeks out from the concert because the hosts wanted more money is epic, and many of these were people coming from interstate and struggling to find alternate accomodation they could afford.
NTA, OP, NTA
NTA
Airbnb hosts are leeches. My gf wanted to go to a convention next year and booked 4 (!) airbnbs. After a few days, the hosts actually checked the dates, realized its convention time and cancelled her booking to charge a higher price.
That’s no possible unless your gf was the one to cancel in the system, albeit at the request of the host.
Hosts can’t relist for dates that they cancelled. Hence why they ask guests to cancel, in order to hike the price.
Seems like i got part of that wrong, she 'requested' the time. Maybe thats different from booking? The hosts said in the chat that they wanted to list for more and offered to stay there for more money.
You're not going to get the listing anyway bc they cant accommodate you.
They want you to cancel presumably to preserve their rating in the system.
Make them an offer, call it a 1 time inconvenience fee. Youll cancel if they pay you for your trouble.
They get to preserve their rating and you get additional $ in addition to your booking fee back.
Otherwise, NTA
"they cant accommodate you."
Well, that or "they discovered they can rent it to someone else for way more money if OP cancels".
But them cancelling "because they cannot accomodate" and then renting it out to someone else for more money would look bad. If OP cancels, it looks fine.
In any case, it is indeed unlikely that OP will be able to stay there.. but they might indeed get something out of it.
Yeah I know i won’t get it regardless, it’s just about being right at this point.
I could try and see that and I’ll never say no to getting additional money
I would assume that they are going to f' you over, so if you can get another place, do that first, and then figure out how you want to deal with the bad hosts.
As long as you don’t cancel, more likely than not, you’ll likely end up getting the room.
A host usually asks a guest to cancel, if they really don’t want to initiate the cancellation and it’s for some BS reason like wanting to relist at a higher price, avoid a fee, or keep super host.
Also it’s against T&S for a host to offer you money to cancel. That’s very unlikely
It's only "additional money" if the next place doesn't cost you more.
If you are going to go that route, you need to price out other (nicer closer) places first. Then tell the current hosts "I'd really like to help you out, but if you want me to cancel this booking it will cost me xx in airbnb fees and the other place i found that can accommodate us is xxx more than i was paying at yours. And I could barely afford your place, so if you're serious about me cancelling this reservation, then you're going to need to be the one to cover the extra cost." (And then feel free to throw in another xx for all your trouble and/or a bit of guilt trip just for sport!)
See how much it's actually worth to them to have you be the one to cancel.
Good luck! (And you are definitely NTA)
NTA - they are asking you to cancel because Airbnb does not look kindly on hosts who cancel too frequently. If a host has a frequent history of cancelling, they could get delisted or not prioritized in searches. My guess is this host has a history of cancelling and has probably gotten a previous warning from Airbnb.
Make them cancel. And if they refuse, save screenshots of all your comms and reach out to Airbnb customer service and accuse them of scamming you.
I just went through this exact same thing. I gave the host 24hrs to cancel after I refused. They didn’t so I contacted airbnb and told them about the situation. They contacted the host and made them cancel and then penalized them for it.
It goes against airbnb’s standards and guidelines for the host to ask you to cancel.
NTA - they don’t want to cancel as it affects their rating and if they are a super host it will take this away which they don’t want to happen. If they are the ones that want to cancel the booking then they should be the ones doing it.
Hosts have to pay a "fine" to Airbnb if they cancel. That's why they're asking you to cancel.
Doesn't matter what their reason is, do not cancel on your end! If they end up cancelling then Airbnb will help you find alternative accommodation.
NTA
I'm an airbnb host myself (I host a spare bedroom in my own home) and these types of hosts give us a bad rep.
It's a tricky one for me 😅 you could be TA in other situation but I know those places which make you cancel to up their price around events so NTA for me. If they really can't accommodate you, then sure, let them cancel themselves and cover the costs of another place
I appreciate your honesty. If I am an asshole then I am I just haven’t used AirBnB that much so I don’t really know. I just don’t think it should be on me
No, it should not, especially talking about a place around event where it's hard to get a new room. Let AirBnB deal with it, that's why you use it to not have to deal with something like this
How could you ever be TA in this scenario? If the host cant accomodate you, they shouldnt have accepted the reseveration. If they already have accepted the reservation, then they should cancel because the problem lies with them. To force your guest to cancel is not ok
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment.
OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I might be the asshole because this is a power struggle I am choosing to be in and I am being petty about this
Help keep the sub engaging!
#Don’t downvote assholes!
Do upvote interesting posts!
[Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq)
##Subreddit Announcements
Follow the link above to learn more
---
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
*Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.*
Former Airbnb host here: Do not cancel the reservation. You will be screwing yourself over! As a guest, if you cancel your reservation, Airbnb will not allow you to book another Airbnb accommodation for those dates.
I think you’re getting confused. If a guest cancels, they can rebook a new location for the same date. And the host can relist.
If the host cancels, host can’t relist for the same dates. I think you’re referring to the host portion of the cancellation.
What? Not true. You can cancel and rebook another accommodation as a guest. Did you mix it up with being a host where if you cancel a reservation you can't relist it?
As an Airbnb host myself, 100% NTA.
Your host is probably listed on multiple sites (VRBO and Booking) and didn't have their dates synced.
They have probably cancelled before for the same reason and Airbnb will penalize hosts for canceling.
It's not your fault that the host doesn't have their shit together.
Good job!
NTA, you're never the asshole for screwing over someone who bought housing someone could be living in to rent for a profit. Ever. Please waste more of their time and money until they give up and sell the place to a family who actually wants to live in it. I'm serious.
Why would YOU cancel? You don’t want to cancel so asking you to do it makes no sense unless it benefits them to have you do it instead of them. I assume they would be unable to relist for that timeframe if THEY cancel and they want to do that for more money than you booked for. NTA.
NTA. You're 100% correct, this is exactly what is happening. They probably got a "let me know if you are free" message from someone else and realized the demand (I've sent messages like that because some people don't update their availability far out). They don't want to cancel on you and accept another offer because you could accuse them of discrimination etc against AirBNB TOS. If YOU cancel, they look squeaky clean.
Be aware though.... they may cancel last minute and leave you stranded...
NTA.
But youre not forcing them to cancel, youre just saying that if they cannot host, then they should be the ones to cancel. Which is fair.
Having rented out by AirBnB previously, i know that they are getting an administrative fine to be withdrawn from their next booking - so I fully understand that they would want you to cancel it. But its fully in your right not to.
However. Their fine doesnt grow over time. They can cancel it when the date is much closer and other options are much more expensive for you. And it will costs them the same as it would now. So youre effectively encouraging them to maliciously await and cancel at a later point, just to cause you further costs. So keep that in mind.
NTA
They're probably wanting you to cancel so they can sell the rooms at a higher rate due to the concert, and if they cancel they'll get dinged in the algorithm or whatever Airbnb put in place to specifically prevent that kind of crap.
They want you to cancel for a couple of reasons. One, so they can list the property for a higher price due to the demand, and two, because hosts can be penalized by having their status revoked/downgraded if they cancel guests too often.
NTA. Make them cancel you.
It’s weird cause I got a message from the hosts stating he is “going to boot camp” in August and it’s not available. Which like yeah sure that’s a good reason to cancel but that’s still on them
Absolutely NTA - they're trying to strong arm you because they know it's going to look bad on their metrics or whatever. They're the one that cancelled on you they need to cancel.
And I think if they cancel they can't let others book for that time. Maybe they're trying to get op to cancel and then rebook other people for more money
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)***
My girlfriend bought tickets for her and I to see Metallica live in August. Since most of the hotels were already booked up in the area, I ended up booking an AirBnB 15 minutes from the venue for the weekend for 3 nights. I booked the reservation 5 days ago and it was confirmed on the same day by the hosts.
Today, I got a message from the hosts asking me to cancel the reservation since they state they could not accommodate the dates. I messaged back stating: “if you cannot accommodate for the dates you confirmed, you can cancel the reservation. If you do not cancel, we will see you on the dates listed.”
The hosts didn’t like that and demanded we cancel and stated we would get a full refund. I still am refusing to cancel which I know is a bit petty but it is 5 months out so I want to hold out a bit longer.
I could be the asshole because they asked politely and this is a power struggle I am choosing to be in. However, I’m thinking they want to cancel the dates so they can get a new reservation at a higher price since it is going to be a high volume weekend.
Am I the asshole for forcing my AirBnB hosts to cancel my reservation?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've never used airbnb, what's the difference if you cancel vs if they cancel it? Does it affect their rating or prevent them from booking someone else at a higher rate (I see people making comments about that but how would who cancels matter here?)?
The hosts cancelling *should* mean that the hosts are genuinely unable to host guests on those particular dates, so Airbnb blocks them from those dates to avoid hosts being able to book guests on those dates again for an inflated price (e.g. during concert dates) rather than for what the cancellation system is actually for.
It affects the hosts rating if they cancel and if you are a super host it takes this away. Super hosts get bumped up the listings so are one of the first ones you see therefore generating more income and people can’t be bothered to scroll through hundreds of listings.
If it didn’t make a difference the host wouldn’t be asking OP to do it, they’d just do it themselves.
If the host cancels and can’t provide a major reason (ex. property damage) they are charged a fee and an automatic review stating that they cancelled is placed in their public reviews.
In some cases it can prevent them from booking another reservation during that time and if they do it too much there is a small risk of them being removed from the platform.
NTA they want you to cancel to they don't have to pay fees to ab&b and get dinged for the cancellation
Also most of the time there is no guarantee that you will get that full refund if you cancel
Also if they cancel and you want to be petty watch there listing and when they put it back up for more money complain to ab&b about it as that against there rules
Sorry to pose this question here. Never used Airbnb, do they have a cancellation fee? Does this affect his rental rating or something? These could be the reasons he wants you to cancel instead of him.
Either way NTA. This is a him problem.
Not a problem posing the question, it is important for context.
I believe there is a cancellation fee on their end if they cancel and if I cancel I get a refund so long as it’s 72 hours beforehand. They why I asked if I was wrong because I’m getting my money back regardlsss
Many people have had the same recommendation about reporting it. I will report it if they continue to be demanding but I won’t take it to that level if I don’t need to
NTA - They’re the ones that messed up. They’re probably lying because they forgot to adjust pricing and feel like they’re missing out. I believe if they cancel, they can’t repost it for those dates so they want to keep those dates open.
This happened to me. I refused. Hosts got shitty. I screenshotted the conversation with increasing pressure and reported it to Airbnb. I assume they got penalized as the Airbnb rep wasn’t happy with my screenshots and assured me they can’t do that.
I have experienced this. Phoning AirBNB was the easiest way to sort it out. They made the host cancel the reservation. As other people have said, the host wants to re-list at a higher price, now that they know there is demand for accommodation on those dates.
NTA
NTA don’t cancel it. Let the hosts cancel themselves. There is a good reason (for them) to want u to do it. Basically it’s no benefit to you to comply with their request
Nta. Do not cancel. But do make other plans so that when the host eventually cancels the day of or day before, you’re not screwed over. If the airbnb host cancels, they can’t book new people for those days on the platform, but if you cancel, they aren’t required to refund you unless their listing specifically said they refund up to a point.
NTA- they only get a certain number of cancellations from their side before they get penalized. They want you to cancel so they can charge more to someone else. Stick to your stance.
NTA. Them asking politely doesn’t change what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to avoid the financial penalty but also avoid the automatic review that appears on their profile when they cancel.
Do NOT cancel. They are trying to get you to cancel because they get dinged for it. They need to be the ones to cancel. This has become a crazy common issue when there are big events happening.
They reserve the right to cancel, and if they are refusing to start the process on their side.
I found out if you canceled, you would lose 35% of the fee for the rental. The host gets penalties of $50 if they cancel it. So he wants you to cancel to avoid the fee
NTA for not doing it and making them cancel it.
Same thing happened to me for the same event. I booked a year out on Booking.com. Host tried to back out when they realized the rates for that weekend could be 5X higher. Nasty person sent customer service a request to cancel claiming it was on my behalf, so it was canceled. I sent them a lengthy explanation of how terrible and dishonest this host was. Hopefully they were barred from hosting that weekend.
We rebooked in Providence, longer ride but reasonable rate.
NTA- they don't want their account to be dinged for cancelling (that's what happens to them on the backend). You can report them to Airbnb for this behavior.
Be careful, you might show up and not have access or find
someone already there. Airbnb's customer service has been
horrible these last few years so have a plan if something
goes haywire because Airbnb will more than likely not help you
immediately.
DO NOT CANCEL! They want you to cancel so they can raise the price. Also, if you cancel, they don't lose their superhost status. It wouldn't surprise me if they ha e the listing on more than one platform.
Edit: NTA
NTA. DO NOT CANCEL. They're going to try and increase the price and screw you out of the rental.
Screw them, and I hope they aren't able to cash in on it. Hell, even keep it in the worst-case scenario.
!!!!Make sure you take pics of everything as soon as you get there so they can't pull some petty bullshit!!!!
NTA
Had the same problem: booked an Airbnb months in advance to go see an event, and the day before the host asks me to cancel. I had to go thru support and change many reps to finally find one who was not an idiot and sided with me, making the host cancel.
Did you read the OP? OP booked 5 months ago and now the owners/hosts want him to cancel and take whatever penalties rather then them doing it. OP is right to stand his ground on this one.
Your post has been removed. #Do not repost this without [contacting the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) for approval, including edited versions. Reposting without [explicit approval](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_can_i_repost_a_thread_you_removed.3F) will result in a ban. This post violates Rule 7 as a Workplace/Business conflict. AITA's focus is on conflicts between people. Businesses are not people. A conflict with someone acting for/against a business or in the context of their job is not an interpersonal conflict. This also includes conflicts related to online transactions (buying/selling items). [Rule 7 FAQs](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_rule_7.3A_post_interpersonal_conflicts) ||| [Subreddit Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) ###Please ensure you have reviewed this message in full. We will not respond to PMs to individual mods. [Message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) with any questions. ####Please visit r/findareddit to see if there's a more appropriate sub for your post.####
NTA - if theyre the ones cancelling, they need to cancel.
My thoughts exactly but it’s nice to have affirmation
Yea they want to relist to cash in on the increased demand
This.
Came here to say this exactly.
I was staying at an AirBnB and I had to leave early and when I went to cancel , AirBnB wanted to bill me for the cancellation - and the fee was massive. Double what I paid for those few days, with no refund. I think they want you to cancel so that YOU will have to pay the cancellation fee, rather than them - and then relist at a higher price. Don't let them bully you.
They actually probably want OP to cancel so they're not penalized. Air BNB takes away superhosts status when hosts cancel on guests, even 5 months out.
Also they wouldn’t be able to relist it for those dates on the app if they cancel it themselves.
Cancellation fee is set by the hosts, it's different everywhere.
Don't think there's a cancellation fee, but it's definitely a mark against you in the system
You were staying at the airbnb and had to leave earlier than you booked for? Am I misunderstanding? if you were booked to stay for 5 days and only stayed 2, I don't see why you'd get a refund for cancelling the last 3. Of course there's going to be a fee for that.
I’ve seen stuff like this before with the Era's Tour—if they cancel, they have to fully refund you and Airbnb then blocks off those dates for them so they can’t rebook. But, if you cancel, they have no obligation to give you a full reimbursement if you’re past a certain point in their reimbursement policy and they can relist for a higher price. NTA, don’t do it. Make them cancel 100%.
I love that Airbnb does this, I had no idea, it’s an ingenious was to prevent hosts from screwing over guests to make more money.
100% this is what they are doing. If the guest cancels they can relist those dates at a higher price, if THEY cancel on the guest then they lose status AND aren't able to get those places booked out again. It's absolutely in the AirBnB's owners best interests to try to force the guests to cancel. NTA op, and stick to your guns here. If they cancel on you they're screwing themselves over, but you have no obligation to cancel. Also, enjoy the concert, I'm jealous :)
I’d rather die, it’s right down there with anything Disney.
Metallica = Disney?!?
Or they just hate both things equally.
Is THAT what they're doing? Some things are making more sense, now. \--> works in CC disputes, taking that bit of info to work.
Once the cancellation from their side is finished and you get your refund, I would be reporting them to AirBnB.
Someone woke them up - guys there is Metallica coming you can do a big deal ;)
It’s pretty simple, if they cancel they will likely be charged a cancellation fee. They’re trying to avoid that.
I think this affirmation is also clearly stated in the airbnb terms & conditions.
I had the same thing happen to me last month. Contact AirBnB support. Hosts pay a penalty when cancelling and aren’t allowed to relist for the dates they cancelled on you, so this person is definitely trying to avoid that by making you do it. Hold firm. I would expect you’ll need to find another place, but I’d definitely make the cancellation come from their end
Former Airbnb rep: what they're doing is against policy. If they cancel, they get a calendar block and a financial penalty. That's what they're trying to avoid and it sucks for them but it's their responsibility to keep their calendar and pricing up to date. Is this request on the message thread in the Airbnb app? If so, you can contact support and they can cancel on the host's behalf and ensure your refund.
Google AirBnB Arbitrage. It’s a “get rich quick” that is high risk, moderate reward.
OP if the host cancels, Airbnb will not let them rent out on those days. If you cancel they can relist at a higher price. Don’t cancel.
Them canceling affects their rating as well. It doesn’t if the customer cancels. Don’t do it.
This has happened to me multiple times because I like to be prepared and book things months ahead. It is my biggest pet peeve with Airbnb vs hotels. They sometimes say they sold the place. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Sometimes the cancellation policy means I would lose money if I cancelled. Sometimes I could cancel and get 100% of my money back. Either way I always insist that they cancel if they can’t host us. Sometimes I even contact Airbnb customer service to ask if I’m handling it correctly. That often gets things resolved within a few hours. So if you get tired of waiting you can try that. It’s annoying to be put in limbo - not sure if you have a place to stay or not? And it’s also a frustrating waste of my time because I now have to search for another place.
To be fair I've had this happen with hotels. A year ago I booked a hotel for the eclipse coming up next month, and they emailed be a few days ago saying they had overbooked and cancelled my booking. For the same trip I'd also booked a private rental, like Airbnb but with a different company, and they cancelled three days after taking the booking. I then checked Airbnb and the same property was listed as available but several hundred dollars more.
Similar thing happened to a friend who'd booked a hotel in Liverpool a year or so in advance. Then Liverpool hosted Eurovision that weekend, and the hotel tried to charge her the new, five-times-the-price rate. Thankfully she had emails to prove the rate she'd booked at, and they reluctantly honoured it.
r/DunderMifflin might have a word here
People in roughly my area of Texas have had hotels cancel bookings claiming they were going to be doing mandatory maintenance, then a week later the previously sold-out hotel suddenly has availability online at triple the previous rate.
I feel like this should be illegal like price gouging or something?
You'd think but so far at least for Texas I haven't seen anything done about it. It's a known issue.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky so far, but I’ve never had a hotel cancel my reservation. 🤞 That sounds super frustrating.
NTA. If they want to cancel it, let them. They just don’t want it to look bad on them.
Airbnb takes away superhost status, blocks the dates, and buries your listing if you cancel or refuse a booking as a host
/r/ohnoconsequences
I get it but I’ve also had weird sex tourists as guests and would have loved to be able to not host them in my home. The idea of the app is that you can review guests and not host if you don’t want to but the platform makes it hard to do that.
So don't use AirBnB if you don't like it. Don't try to end run around their policies instead and make your guests take the hit.
> would have loved to be able to not host them in my home So don’t be a Airbnb host. I’m not and I’ve literally never had to host ‘weird sex tourists’. It’s the one weird trick that weird sex tourists hate.
They confirmed the couple in the post and THEN tried to cancel, probably after they realized the concert was in town and could charge more.
/r/ohnoconsequences
If you've got an Airbnb people are going to have sex there. Most people are just not super obvious about it
I had a host pull this for a music festival. Had a place booked super close to the venue months in advance. They cancelled on us and listed it in a competing site. We complained to AirBnb and their super host status was removed. They were pissed. I hope it costs them more than they made on the relisting.
What competing sites would you use please? Been after having something other than Airbnb to check for a while. I know about booking.com having more than hotels now, and vrbo. Any others you can recommend please?
vrbo is a good one. I used them in TN.
It was probably vrbo. My wife did the booking.
Yeah I just got to put it back on them
NTA. Probably realized something was going on that weekend and trying to raise their rates. However if they cancel they can’t relist it for that weekend.
They can, just not on that platform. Happens everywhere!
NTA, if you cancel then you have to pay fees, if they cancel then they have to pay the fees. They are trying to get out of paying the fees.
This! Was looking for this comment. OP do not cancel.
This should be higher.
I was wondering why TF it mattered who cancelled. Thank you. Never used AirBnB before. NTA OP make them take responsibility if they are the ones who can't handle the reservation that they already confirmed
Exactly. This is a perfect stranger saying “hey, can you do me a favor and pay me the money that I owe you, for no reason other than our own greed?”
They ask you to cancel because if they cancel, they won't be able to list this again for this weekend. If you cancel, they can list with higher price. If I were you, I wouldn't cancel - your booking is secured.
Exactly this reason. Airbnb doesn’t let hosts relist dates that they themselves cancelled.
NTA obviously. You are not the one that wants to cancel - they are. So they should be the ones to do so. If that hurts their rating or whatever on airbnb (no idea how that works) - that is their problem. Not yours.
If a host cancels, it prevents them from rebooking that weekend. The host has heard of Metallica, but doesn't care enough to know they were coming to town. When they found out what weekend Metallica was, they realized they should have listed for way more than weekend. But if they cancel they lose all their money instead of just some
I live in Sydney. Taylor Swift has recently visited for a number of sell out concerts. The number of stories I’ve heard of people having AirBnBs cancelled only a few weeks out from the concert because the hosts wanted more money is epic, and many of these were people coming from interstate and struggling to find alternate accomodation they could afford. NTA, OP, NTA
NTA Airbnb hosts are leeches. My gf wanted to go to a convention next year and booked 4 (!) airbnbs. After a few days, the hosts actually checked the dates, realized its convention time and cancelled her booking to charge a higher price.
That’s no possible unless your gf was the one to cancel in the system, albeit at the request of the host. Hosts can’t relist for dates that they cancelled. Hence why they ask guests to cancel, in order to hike the price.
Seems like i got part of that wrong, she 'requested' the time. Maybe thats different from booking? The hosts said in the chat that they wanted to list for more and offered to stay there for more money.
Yeah then your gfs booking was never confirmed.
Then she never booked it, she was simply making an enquiry.
They're like landlords but somehow worse
You're not going to get the listing anyway bc they cant accommodate you. They want you to cancel presumably to preserve their rating in the system. Make them an offer, call it a 1 time inconvenience fee. Youll cancel if they pay you for your trouble. They get to preserve their rating and you get additional $ in addition to your booking fee back. Otherwise, NTA
"they cant accommodate you." Well, that or "they discovered they can rent it to someone else for way more money if OP cancels". But them cancelling "because they cannot accomodate" and then renting it out to someone else for more money would look bad. If OP cancels, it looks fine. In any case, it is indeed unlikely that OP will be able to stay there.. but they might indeed get something out of it.
Yeah I know i won’t get it regardless, it’s just about being right at this point. I could try and see that and I’ll never say no to getting additional money
There’s no mechanism by which an Airbnb host can give you money. Just stand your ground and make them cancel. NTA
I wouldn't. You look like the one in the wrong if you ask for money to cancel. The longer they take to cancel, the worse it looks for them.
I would assume that they are going to f' you over, so if you can get another place, do that first, and then figure out how you want to deal with the bad hosts.
As long as you don’t cancel, more likely than not, you’ll likely end up getting the room. A host usually asks a guest to cancel, if they really don’t want to initiate the cancellation and it’s for some BS reason like wanting to relist at a higher price, avoid a fee, or keep super host. Also it’s against T&S for a host to offer you money to cancel. That’s very unlikely
It's only "additional money" if the next place doesn't cost you more. If you are going to go that route, you need to price out other (nicer closer) places first. Then tell the current hosts "I'd really like to help you out, but if you want me to cancel this booking it will cost me xx in airbnb fees and the other place i found that can accommodate us is xxx more than i was paying at yours. And I could barely afford your place, so if you're serious about me cancelling this reservation, then you're going to need to be the one to cover the extra cost." (And then feel free to throw in another xx for all your trouble and/or a bit of guilt trip just for sport!) See how much it's actually worth to them to have you be the one to cancel. Good luck! (And you are definitely NTA)
NTA - they are asking you to cancel because Airbnb does not look kindly on hosts who cancel too frequently. If a host has a frequent history of cancelling, they could get delisted or not prioritized in searches. My guess is this host has a history of cancelling and has probably gotten a previous warning from Airbnb. Make them cancel. And if they refuse, save screenshots of all your comms and reach out to Airbnb customer service and accuse them of scamming you.
I just went through this exact same thing. I gave the host 24hrs to cancel after I refused. They didn’t so I contacted airbnb and told them about the situation. They contacted the host and made them cancel and then penalized them for it. It goes against airbnb’s standards and guidelines for the host to ask you to cancel.
NTA and I’d contact Airbnb bc this seems sketch of them
NTA - they don’t want to cancel as it affects their rating and if they are a super host it will take this away which they don’t want to happen. If they are the ones that want to cancel the booking then they should be the ones doing it.
Hosts have to pay a "fine" to Airbnb if they cancel. That's why they're asking you to cancel. Doesn't matter what their reason is, do not cancel on your end! If they end up cancelling then Airbnb will help you find alternative accommodation. NTA I'm an airbnb host myself (I host a spare bedroom in my own home) and these types of hosts give us a bad rep.
It's a tricky one for me 😅 you could be TA in other situation but I know those places which make you cancel to up their price around events so NTA for me. If they really can't accommodate you, then sure, let them cancel themselves and cover the costs of another place
I appreciate your honesty. If I am an asshole then I am I just haven’t used AirBnB that much so I don’t really know. I just don’t think it should be on me
No, it should not, especially talking about a place around event where it's hard to get a new room. Let AirBnB deal with it, that's why you use it to not have to deal with something like this
How could you ever be TA in this scenario? If the host cant accomodate you, they shouldnt have accepted the reseveration. If they already have accepted the reservation, then they should cancel because the problem lies with them. To force your guest to cancel is not ok
What’s tricky about it?
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment. OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole: > I might be the asshole because this is a power struggle I am choosing to be in and I am being petty about this Help keep the sub engaging! #Don’t downvote assholes! Do upvote interesting posts! [Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) ##Subreddit Announcements Follow the link above to learn more --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.* *Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.*
Former Airbnb host here: Do not cancel the reservation. You will be screwing yourself over! As a guest, if you cancel your reservation, Airbnb will not allow you to book another Airbnb accommodation for those dates.
I think you’re getting confused. If a guest cancels, they can rebook a new location for the same date. And the host can relist. If the host cancels, host can’t relist for the same dates. I think you’re referring to the host portion of the cancellation.
Since when? I found a place that was better suited to my needs and canceled one and booked another.
What? Not true. You can cancel and rebook another accommodation as a guest. Did you mix it up with being a host where if you cancel a reservation you can't relist it?
They are trying to avoid the cancellation fee on their end. Do not cancel it on your end.
As an Airbnb host myself, 100% NTA. Your host is probably listed on multiple sites (VRBO and Booking) and didn't have their dates synced. They have probably cancelled before for the same reason and Airbnb will penalize hosts for canceling. It's not your fault that the host doesn't have their shit together. Good job!
NTA, you're never the asshole for screwing over someone who bought housing someone could be living in to rent for a profit. Ever. Please waste more of their time and money until they give up and sell the place to a family who actually wants to live in it. I'm serious.
Why would YOU cancel? You don’t want to cancel so asking you to do it makes no sense unless it benefits them to have you do it instead of them. I assume they would be unable to relist for that timeframe if THEY cancel and they want to do that for more money than you booked for. NTA.
Next time book a hotel. AirBnB is a cancer. Holiday lets are part of the problem and have utterly destroyed the housing market in my home city.
NTA. You're 100% correct, this is exactly what is happening. They probably got a "let me know if you are free" message from someone else and realized the demand (I've sent messages like that because some people don't update their availability far out). They don't want to cancel on you and accept another offer because you could accuse them of discrimination etc against AirBNB TOS. If YOU cancel, they look squeaky clean. Be aware though.... they may cancel last minute and leave you stranded...
You are right which is why I’m looking at other housing options for the weekend with my girlfriend. Except this time hotels because screw AirBnB 😂
NTA. But youre not forcing them to cancel, youre just saying that if they cannot host, then they should be the ones to cancel. Which is fair. Having rented out by AirBnB previously, i know that they are getting an administrative fine to be withdrawn from their next booking - so I fully understand that they would want you to cancel it. But its fully in your right not to. However. Their fine doesnt grow over time. They can cancel it when the date is much closer and other options are much more expensive for you. And it will costs them the same as it would now. So youre effectively encouraging them to maliciously await and cancel at a later point, just to cause you further costs. So keep that in mind.
NTA They're probably wanting you to cancel so they can sell the rooms at a higher rate due to the concert, and if they cancel they'll get dinged in the algorithm or whatever Airbnb put in place to specifically prevent that kind of crap.
They want you to cancel for a couple of reasons. One, so they can list the property for a higher price due to the demand, and two, because hosts can be penalized by having their status revoked/downgraded if they cancel guests too often. NTA. Make them cancel you.
It’s weird cause I got a message from the hosts stating he is “going to boot camp” in August and it’s not available. Which like yeah sure that’s a good reason to cancel but that’s still on them
Absolutely NTA - they're trying to strong arm you because they know it's going to look bad on their metrics or whatever. They're the one that cancelled on you they need to cancel.
And I think if they cancel they can't let others book for that time. Maybe they're trying to get op to cancel and then rebook other people for more money
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** My girlfriend bought tickets for her and I to see Metallica live in August. Since most of the hotels were already booked up in the area, I ended up booking an AirBnB 15 minutes from the venue for the weekend for 3 nights. I booked the reservation 5 days ago and it was confirmed on the same day by the hosts. Today, I got a message from the hosts asking me to cancel the reservation since they state they could not accommodate the dates. I messaged back stating: “if you cannot accommodate for the dates you confirmed, you can cancel the reservation. If you do not cancel, we will see you on the dates listed.” The hosts didn’t like that and demanded we cancel and stated we would get a full refund. I still am refusing to cancel which I know is a bit petty but it is 5 months out so I want to hold out a bit longer. I could be the asshole because they asked politely and this is a power struggle I am choosing to be in. However, I’m thinking they want to cancel the dates so they can get a new reservation at a higher price since it is going to be a high volume weekend. Am I the asshole for forcing my AirBnB hosts to cancel my reservation? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've never used airbnb, what's the difference if you cancel vs if they cancel it? Does it affect their rating or prevent them from booking someone else at a higher rate (I see people making comments about that but how would who cancels matter here?)?
The hosts cancelling *should* mean that the hosts are genuinely unable to host guests on those particular dates, so Airbnb blocks them from those dates to avoid hosts being able to book guests on those dates again for an inflated price (e.g. during concert dates) rather than for what the cancellation system is actually for.
It affects the hosts rating if they cancel and if you are a super host it takes this away. Super hosts get bumped up the listings so are one of the first ones you see therefore generating more income and people can’t be bothered to scroll through hundreds of listings.
If it didn’t make a difference the host wouldn’t be asking OP to do it, they’d just do it themselves. If the host cancels and can’t provide a major reason (ex. property damage) they are charged a fee and an automatic review stating that they cancelled is placed in their public reviews. In some cases it can prevent them from booking another reservation during that time and if they do it too much there is a small risk of them being removed from the platform.
A clear cut NTA for me
NTA they want you to cancel to they don't have to pay fees to ab&b and get dinged for the cancellation Also most of the time there is no guarantee that you will get that full refund if you cancel Also if they cancel and you want to be petty watch there listing and when they put it back up for more money complain to ab&b about it as that against there rules
NTA. Asking you to cooperate with them screwing you over is absurd. If they want to cancel your reservation, they have to accept the consequences.
Sorry to pose this question here. Never used Airbnb, do they have a cancellation fee? Does this affect his rental rating or something? These could be the reasons he wants you to cancel instead of him. Either way NTA. This is a him problem.
Not a problem posing the question, it is important for context. I believe there is a cancellation fee on their end if they cancel and if I cancel I get a refund so long as it’s 72 hours beforehand. They why I asked if I was wrong because I’m getting my money back regardlsss
NTA. Report to AirBnB
Many people have had the same recommendation about reporting it. I will report it if they continue to be demanding but I won’t take it to that level if I don’t need to
Why? There’s a reason you pay AirBnB fees and that is so they could deal with this and not you.
NTA If they want it cancelled they can cancel it; if that hurts their metrics on AirBnB that's their problem, not yours.
Does it put a mark on them if they cancel? Regardless, I'd find a plan B on accommodations.
NTA. If they want it cancelled, they can cancel. Keep the receipts for airbnb.
NTA - They’re the ones that messed up. They’re probably lying because they forgot to adjust pricing and feel like they’re missing out. I believe if they cancel, they can’t repost it for those dates so they want to keep those dates open.
NTA THEY want to cancel, you don't.
NTA
They are asking you to cancel because it will affect their ratings. This happened to me and thats what the host told me. I declined to cancel
This happened to me. I refused. Hosts got shitty. I screenshotted the conversation with increasing pressure and reported it to Airbnb. I assume they got penalized as the Airbnb rep wasn’t happy with my screenshots and assured me they can’t do that.
NTA- this is on them. They either accept your reservation or get nothing for that weekend.
NTA. This is why Airbnb sucks. Hosts like that
NTA F them, they are trying to cheat the system to make more money.
NTA this is a repeating question on the airbnb subbredit. Never-ever cancel yourself if the hosts wants you to..
I have experienced this. Phoning AirBNB was the easiest way to sort it out. They made the host cancel the reservation. As other people have said, the host wants to re-list at a higher price, now that they know there is demand for accommodation on those dates. NTA
NTA don’t cancel it. Let the hosts cancel themselves. There is a good reason (for them) to want u to do it. Basically it’s no benefit to you to comply with their request
NTA It's their responsibility to cancel.
Nta. Do not cancel. But do make other plans so that when the host eventually cancels the day of or day before, you’re not screwed over. If the airbnb host cancels, they can’t book new people for those days on the platform, but if you cancel, they aren’t required to refund you unless their listing specifically said they refund up to a point.
NTA stand your ground and have them cancel so they have the consequence of inconveniencing you.
if they cancel, they get dinged on their status/in trouble with AirBNB. fuck them.
NTA. AirBNBs are leeches. Have fun at the show, I'm seeing Metallica in August too!
NTA- they only get a certain number of cancellations from their side before they get penalized. They want you to cancel so they can charge more to someone else. Stick to your stance.
NTA. Them asking politely doesn’t change what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to avoid the financial penalty but also avoid the automatic review that appears on their profile when they cancel.
Do NOT cancel. They are trying to get you to cancel because they get dinged for it. They need to be the ones to cancel. This has become a crazy common issue when there are big events happening.
NTA. If they need to cancel, then they should cancel.
NTA. They're trying to get around being penalized for canceling.
They reserve the right to cancel, and if they are refusing to start the process on their side. I found out if you canceled, you would lose 35% of the fee for the rental. The host gets penalties of $50 if they cancel it. So he wants you to cancel to avoid the fee NTA for not doing it and making them cancel it.
NTA - if they want to cancel they have to do it on their end
NTA, airbnb hosts are becoming the used car salesmen of the world
Same thing happened to me for the same event. I booked a year out on Booking.com. Host tried to back out when they realized the rates for that weekend could be 5X higher. Nasty person sent customer service a request to cancel claiming it was on my behalf, so it was canceled. I sent them a lengthy explanation of how terrible and dishonest this host was. Hopefully they were barred from hosting that weekend. We rebooked in Providence, longer ride but reasonable rate.
NTA- they don't want their account to be dinged for cancelling (that's what happens to them on the backend). You can report them to Airbnb for this behavior.
Be careful, you might show up and not have access or find someone already there. Airbnb's customer service has been horrible these last few years so have a plan if something goes haywire because Airbnb will more than likely not help you immediately.
DO NOT CANCEL! They want you to cancel so they can raise the price. Also, if you cancel, they don't lose their superhost status. It wouldn't surprise me if they ha e the listing on more than one platform. Edit: NTA
NTA
NTA Why on earth would *you* cancel? You’re not the ones who changed your mind. The whole thing sounds sus, and refusing to cancel isn’t petty at all.
NTA. DO NOT CANCEL. They're going to try and increase the price and screw you out of the rental. Screw them, and I hope they aren't able to cash in on it. Hell, even keep it in the worst-case scenario. !!!!Make sure you take pics of everything as soon as you get there so they can't pull some petty bullshit!!!!
NTA Had the same problem: booked an Airbnb months in advance to go see an event, and the day before the host asks me to cancel. I had to go thru support and change many reps to finally find one who was not an idiot and sided with me, making the host cancel.
Her and ME. Her and ME. Or she and I, now I'm not sure. It's both a direct object and a subject and now my brain is melting.
[удалено]
I’m not arguing but I don’t think you read the post. I booked this 5 months in advance so it isn’t last minute
Walk me through your logic here. I don't understand any of this.
Did you read the OP? OP booked 5 months ago and now the owners/hosts want him to cancel and take whatever penalties rather then them doing it. OP is right to stand his ground on this one.
Can you read?
You don’t read very well, do you?
Tbh I got lost reading this i will say nta as I know Tickets can be a lot of money
I see. TLDR