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Making an accidental Airbnb booking is frustratingly easy, and dealing with this error can take time and effort.
How many of us have accidentally one-click ordered an unwanted item on amazon or eBay?
The benefit of these platforms is the option to instantly cancel an order, something Airbnb is sorely lacking.
If you’ve made an accidental Airbnb booking, we’re here for you.
To put together this informative piece, we’ve thoroughly researched Airbnb’s policy regarding bookings, cancellations, and refunds.
We’ll explain the process you should follow and see what other options you have available.
How Can You Make an Accidental Airbnb Booking?
All it takes is an accidental tap of your touch screen or a second-long glance away from your phone, and you could be in for a significant financial penalty.
There are two types of listings on Airbnb – those with the instant book feature on and those with it off.
Listings with it off require the host to approve you, but listings with the instant book automatically accept the booking.
Many hosts have adopted this feature since its 2017 mass rollout, and sadly thousands of people have fallen foul of it.
The instant book feature not only instantly books you an Airbnb but also instantly takes the funds from your account.
This is a hefty price for a misclick.
Guests have accidentally booked stays while simply scrolling through Airbnb listings or trying to view an extended stay’s price breakdown.
It’s a very common problem – Airbnb must implement a fair policy for accidental bookings or risk losing swathes of customers.
If Airbnb were to introduce a 24-hour free cancellation period from the point of booking, it would help to mitigate this issue entirely.
The Airbnb Policy
Airbnb’s policy for accidental bookings defers from the host’s cancellation policy.
While Airbnb has procedures for refunding people in extenuating circumstances, they have nothing in place for accidental bookings.
The official line from Airbnb is that ‘your refund amount depends on your reservation’s cancellation policy and when you cancel.
Overall, not very helpful for people facing huge bills due to their business features.
Check the Listings Cancellation Policy
If you’ve made an accidental Airbnb booking and you’re asking yourself, ‘what now?’, first check the listings cancellation policy.
Airbnb has different cancellation policies available for hosts, with some lenient and some very strict policies in place.
The more lenient Airbnb policies will allow you to cancel immediately with a full refund. However, the likelihood of getting a refund decreases as the policies get stricter.
How to Find the Listings Cancellation Policy
- Open the ‘Trips’ menu.
- Open the listing.
- Click or tap on ‘Show Trip Details’.
- Scroll down to find the listings cancellation policy.
Contact Your Host
We recommend contacting the listing’s host immediately, especially if their cancellation policy is unclear.
Airbnb gives you the option to cancel your booking immediately. However, if you choose this option, it will default to the listing’s cancellation policy.
If the listing has a particularly strict policy, you will have no chance of receiving a refund.
It’s always better to contact the host and explain the situation, as there is always the opportunity for a positive outcome.
As your chances of getting a refund are entirely up to the host, it’s best to remain civil and thoroughly explain what happened.
A little politeness goes a long way! In our experience, some hosts will be more helpful than others.
We’ve noticed that hosts with strict cancellation policies are less useful in coming to a resolution that benefits you.
However, there’s always the chance that they will help resolve your situation and grant you a full refund, so definitely reach out to them.
As always, with things like this, time is of the essence.
A lot of hosts will be more lenient when contacted about an accidental booking that has happened recently.
In our experience, many hosts offer a 24-hour grace period for accidental bookings – but this isn’t a universal policy.
Someone with a strict cancellation policy is less likely to help you out the longer your booking appears for them.
During this period, your accidental booking will have taken up their calendar and may have prevented other people from booking.
Step-By-Step Instructions to Contact the Host
- Go to ‘Trips’.
- Find the accidental reservation.
- Click on ‘Contact Host’.
Sadly, many hosts refuse full refunds for accidental bookings, and guests often end up heavily financially penalized for this accident.
Airbnb has no policy in place to stop this, despite it being such a common occurrence.
What to Do If the Host Is Unresponsive
If the Airbnb host does not reply to you, we recommend immediately contacting Airbnb customer support.
Sadly, Airbnb cannot issue refunds for accidental bookings.
They will, however, be able to contact the host and put your cancellation and refund request to them.
Airbnb has occasionally given full refunds when the host has remained unresponsive, but this has been entirely at their discretion.
This policy has caused many people to turn away from Airbnb, who feel frustrated at the lack of support for accidental bookings.
This is the safest way to ensure they never lose money from an accidental booking again. We wouldn’t blame you if you did the same in this situation.
What Else Can I Do in This Situation?
Sadly, when you’re up against an unhelpful host and inadequate Airbnb policies, there are few options available to you.
As Airbnb defer to the host, any accidental bookings and refund requests are handled at their discretion.
If they’re not willing to refund you, there’s little you can do to claim your money back.
In our research, we’ve seen lots of people managing to get their funds by issuing a chargeback through their bank.
While this can work, it comes with certain risks and rules:
- You run the risk of your Airbnb account being restricted or banned from the platform.
- Your chargeback may get rejected.
- Your chargeback may get rejected, and you can be banned from the platform for attempting it.
- Any chargeback may take up to 90 days.
- After initiating a chargeback, the funds might be placed in your account immediately. However, if the chargeback gets rejected, then that money (that you may have spent) will be taken back by Airbnb.
In one case, we’ve seen a rejected chargeback case end up working in favor of the guest.
They got their money back after contacting Airbnb and once more asking for a refund – solving a six-month-long dispute.
This is, however, one individual’s experience, and all others are almost certain to be different.
Summary
If you’ve made an accidental Airbnb booking, the first steps you take should be to check the cancellation policy of the listing and contact the host.
If the host remains unresponsive, contact Airbnb support.
Sadly, Airbnb doesn’t have proper policies in place to protect people from monetary loss when they’ve made an accidental booking.
It’s a frustrating oversight on their part, and your options are minimal in this situation.
Ultimately the decision on whether you get a refund hinges on the host – if you’re lucky, they’ll refund you.
But if they have a no-cancellation policy on their listing, they have legal grounds to withhold a refund.
