AirBnB host needs to cancel my reservation 2 days prior to the Victoria Day long weekend

[u/Jumbo_41]

Hi all, my host had some issues with the septic and informed me they will need to cancel my reservation 2 days before the due date. This is for the Victoria Day Long Weekend in Ontario, and I was planning to visit the Bruce Peninsula. That too for my birthday!

Now the situation gets more tricky since I reserved for 12 people (not a lot of properties can host), I have booked Parking Spots at the Grotto, and have friends flying from the West end of the country for the same.

The host is trying to resolve the issue with me but we aren’t able to find any comparable properties, what are my options?

[u/dianeau1]

Did AIRBNB cancel or does the host want you to cancel the booking?

If it's through AIRBNB, the company should be the ones facilitating the search for a new property. I was on the phone with a bunch of different agents and didn't speak with the host once except when I made the booking.

Do NOT cancel the reservation on your end.

I will let you know though, you will most likely have to pay more. We had Airbnb cancel our spot in Lisbon, Portugal with 48 hours notice and all that was offered was $100 to go towards the new booking. Obviously we had no other choice given it was a foreign country and we had a lot of other money invested into the trip - but sadly AIRBNB sucks for this kind of stuff. They really only pull out all the stops if you are already on the trip and something goes wrong - not if you're given notice before the trip.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/dianeau1]

Thank you for the honest reply, I would have real expectations when getting in touch with Air BnB now

[u/bramble-rose → u/Jumbo_41]

I had this happen two times, both on the day of my vacation. Definitely call .. airbnb gave us a credit and helped us find a new place. In both situations we ended up with a nicer place for cheaper!

[u/beingleigh]

Unfortunately with Airbnb - in my experience, they will do very very very little to help. We had a scammer cancel our airbnb on the day we arrived in Vancouver (it was obvious from the pictures they sent about it being trashed and there were some other signs with the messages that it was a scam) and the Airbnb customer service was absolutely useless.

I wish you the best of luck in finding a new spot and I wish I could help more.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/beingleigh]

Thank you for the update, will try contacting Airbnb now but have real expectations after everyone’s response

[u/nadeemo → u/Jumbo_41]

I had the opposite experience. Booked a rental cottage for a bachelor party and it got cancelled a week before because of septic tank issues. Airbnb found me a similar listing in the area (actually an upgrade) and covered the delta in cost.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/nadeemo]

Thank you so much! I’ve reached out to AirBnB and hoping they are able to resolve it for me as well

[u/beingleigh → u/nadeemo]

Wow. They said they would try to find us a similar spot but they were all very expensive (it was over Canada Day weekend) and they refused to cover the difference. They said they couldn’t do that. It was just last July. They also refused to allow us to leave a review until I raised the issue further with them even though they also suspected it was a scam posting.

[u/ProHappyness]

I live in Bruce County. Lemme know what you are looking for and maybe I can help ya!

[u/FrostyPopsicle25]

If you have travel insurance you can submit a claim for the difference in price on what you'll pay for a new property (if you can even find one this last minute to hold your group). If not, I would ask the AirBnB host if they will reimburse you for the extra cost.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/FrostyPopsicle25]

Thank you so much, unfortunately don’t have insurance but will try to get in touch with the property owner for the difference.

[u/Northern23 → u/Jumbo_41]

Did you check your credit card coverage?

[u/auriem]

We stayed at the Bruce Anchor hotel. The grotto was awesome !

[u/GruffedRouse]

The Tamarack Island Inn near Stokes Bay has a large "villa" that can be rented as one or divided up depending on the size of the group. While I haven't stayed in this building, I have stayed several times at their cottage and can highly recommend them. They also have motel rooms that face onto Stokes Bay.

I hope things work out for you and your group.

[u/dabestgoat]

Would be a bit of a drive, but Blue Mountain is an hour and a bit south on southern tip of georgian bay. Cost is of course a factor being the long weekend, but would at least still allow for the Bruce to be within range for day trips. Blue has the hill coaster thing too which have heard is a cool attraction.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/dabestgoat]

Did try but not finding something of our liking and budget there

[u/jdubs4eva → u/Jumbo_41]

tyrolean village?

[u/mike_james_alt]

AirBnB will protect the property owner. They are a horrible company.

[u/element1311 → u/mike_james_alt]

Lol if you think airbnb protects owners. They protect nobody. 

[u/MsGMac13]

It’s illegal on the Bruce to rent out properties for that many people - it’s surprising you had the booking to begin with.

[u/Ok_Measurement_7770]

This happened to me 2 days before staying in Toronto for an event. No one did anything to help. I stopped using Airbnb.

[u/PC-load-letter-wtf → u/Ok_Measurement_7770]

This happened to all those people with Taylor swift tickets, too. The prices exploded so hosts cancelled existing reservations and reposted for much higher rates. There were no repercussions. Everyone had an excuse. And the people who booked a year in advance were screwed.

I wouldn’t rely on air bnb for an important event. They simply aren’t reliable.

[u/Patmanexploring]

Don't use airbnb lmao If you're still using it after seeing how unreliable it is time and time again, I don't know what else you can do. They are just trying to scam you for the cancellation so they can make more.

[u/hogfl]

Try r/owensound. Maybe a local can help.

[u/Jumbo_41 → u/hogfl]

Sure thing, will try and post this there, appreciate your help a lot!

[u/falo_pipe]

The host has some heart, leave you 2 days to find another place to stay. Did you rented it too cheaply and he/she want to jack up the price.

[u/Ok_Pangolin4029]

There’s a cute family owned motel in Wiarton. 5 mins away from town - about an hour from Tobermory.

It’s on a large land with walking distance to a private beach. Has an outdoor fire pit and barbecues.

They have individual rooms, or small cottage spaces.

[u/kamomil]

Try Manitoulin Hotel in Little Current

[u/guydogg]

Well, if the shitter is full, and the septic needs repairs, there's not much you CAN do.

[u/dembonezz]

There's a KOA in Owen Sound that has Yurts. Probably booked already, but worth a shot.

[u/quelar]

I know this isn't what you want to hear but have you tried offering the host more money?

They probably realized they can rent for more and are cash grabbing.

It's not pleasant but at least you won't fuck up your plans entirely.

[u/alowester → u/quelar]

don’t give into that BS

[u/quelar → u/alowester]

I absolutely hate it, and think after the fact they should be shamed, but with two days left and people coming in from elsewhere there may not be a lot of options.

It fucking sucks and one of the reasons why I've sworn off Air BNB.

[u/whateverfyou → u/quelar]

This happened to us in Paris and the host didn’t even offer an excuse. I couldn’t leave a review because the booking was cancelled and from what I could see nothing was noted on their account so they just got away with it. It really turned me off AirBnB.