What are your recourses when a house, chalet or condo landlord cancels your reservation at the last minute?
Benoit, a reader, says he wanted to be on top of things this year by booking his spring break vacation several months in advance, because prices are always higher as the week off approaches.
He rented a house for two families of four with children based on his plane tickets, itinerary, planned activities and car rental.
A few weeks before departure, he received an email stating “Reservation canceled”, without details or message. Believing it was an error or fake email, he contacted customer service at Vrbo (formerly HomeAway), which is owned by Expedia Group.
“The Vrbo employee told me that the host had indeed canceled the reservation, because there had been a double booking on another platform,” Benoit relates on the phone.
Unlike Airbnb, which requires hosts to pay compensation to guests if they cancel without a major reason, Vrbo does not have this type of policy.
Hosts who display their property for rent on several platforms at the same time prefer to cancel, as you can imagine, those which do not incur costs.
“The customer service person couldn’t do anything for me, I had to find another place to accommodate our group myself,” says Benoit.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
There are many unfortunate experiences on the Vrbo travel platform.
This reader is far from the only one dissatisfied with the services of the Vrbo platform. He was even lucky, when we read the many negative comments from consumers here and elsewhere, who saw their host cancel the reservation with less than 24 hours’ notice and had to find new accommodation at a high price. without compensation. Sometimes in a location further than expected, with transportation problems and which could not accommodate all travelers.
“Rental canceled the same day of our arrival. Support couldn’t find us a replacement rental,” wrote Meg on January 4, 2024 on Trustpilot while on the Vrbo site it says: “If the owner unexpectedly cancels your reservation within 30 days before your stay, we will help you find comparable accommodation. »
“They canceled my reservation two weeks before the trip,” says Serge on December 29, 2023. “What a great bunch of bad guys. Waste more of your time with Vrbo, all they will do is apologize. Save your apologies. »
“Site that scams people,” writes Roger Parent on February 26, 2024; ” Run away ! », signs RG on January 11, 2024.
What do rental platforms plan?
Asked about consumer dissatisfaction, the Vrbo spokesperson maintains that cancellations are rare, but confirms that “there is no established compensation system”, other than refunding the reservation. The policy is the same for all Expedia Group rental platforms.
“We understand how frustrating it can be to see a host cancel a reservation,” said Expedia Group spokesperson Fatima Atmani by email.
When hosts cancel for reasons other than reasons beyond their control, these cancellations negatively impact the performance of their listings and the visibility of that listing to travelers on the site, and too frequent cancellations may result in removal of the announcement of our platform.
Fatima Atmani, spokesperson for Expedia Group
Vrbo reimbursed Benoit, but the amount had declined due to the exchange rate. “Vrbo wouldn’t refund me the difference, even though it was their mistake, double booking. I therefore had to take steps with the issuer of my travel credit card and open a complaint file. »
“I will never book on that again,” says Benoit, who ultimately booked a house with a local company.
Airbnb more severe
If hosts display their condo, house or room for rent on several platforms simultaneously, they will not want to cancel Airbnb customers’ reservations. The American multinational has a policy that imposes fees on hosts who cancel without a valid reason.
“Our new tools and policies reduced cancellations by a third in the last quarter of 2023,” Matt McNama, Airbnb spokesperson, said by email.
PHOTO DADO RUVIC, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Airbnb has a policy that charges fees to hosts who cancel without a valid reason.
The AirCover policy states that if canceled within 48 hours, the charge to the host is 50% of the reservation amount. Between 30 days and 48 hours before arrival, the fee is 25% of the reservation amount. More than 30 days before arrival, it is 10% of the reservation amount.
Hosts may also experience other consequences, such as having affected dates blocked from the listing calendar, removal of their listing, deletion of their account, and loss of their Superhost status.
On the Antilles Exception reservation site, it is indicated that in the event of cancellation by the host, the company “must provide accommodation and services provided in another accommodation in the same destination at least of the same category and will cover the transfer expenses caused by this change”.
Last chance courts
In the case of a host who cancels for a reason that is not justified by force majeure, such as a pandemic or cataclysm, the consumer can claim damages resulting from non-performance of the contract, argues Alexandre Plourde in an interview , lawyer and analyst at Option consommateurs.
“If one of the damages is that he paid more for the same service, that can be part of what can be claimed by the consumer. »
The big question: how do you claim?
“There are no miracle solutions,” says Alexandre Plourde. If there are no possibilities for compensation from the platform, you must go to court. »
If the host is abroad, forget the idea of suing them for small claims.
In the conditions of use of the booking platforms, most indicate that they are in no way responsible for the failure to provide the service by the host and they will discharge this responsibility, indicates the lawyer.
“At Option consommateurs, we consider that these intermediaries should be held responsible for contractual breaches of the final service provider and consumers should be able to make complaints,” maintains Alexandre Plourde.
Option consommateurs and the Consumer Protection Office (OPC) advise vacationers to always use a travel agency.
“In the case of tourist services purchased from a travel agent, the protections offered by FICAV apply automatically and free of charge. Thus, for example, in the case where the place of accommodation initially chosen is no longer available for x or y reason, the FICAV could reimburse a reasonable additional cost caused by the need to change place of accommodation,” explains the holder. -spokesperson of the OPC, Charles Tanguay.
The OPC has received ten complaints over the past two years regarding HomeAway.com inc. (Vrbo) and six complaints for Airbnb Canada Inc., notably for deceptive and unfair practices.