Ghosting is a challenge facing the ever-growing list of peer-to-peer travel platforms—and they don't all have the customer support needed to make you whole.
Lauren Gumport was en route to a vacation on the island of Chios, Greece, in July, where she was set to stay in an Airbnb ABNB, -0.41% for five nights with her best friend.
“It was hot and not in a touristy area, so it didn’t feel great,” she says. “We were exhausted from the flights and just wanted to drop our bags, so that was frustrating.” The two-night hotel stay came out to $443.50, and Gumport received a reimbursement from Airbnb to her bank account in a few days. Airbnb also refunded the $434.22 cost of her original five-night reservation.
Related: New York City Airbnb hosts bail on guests due to new short-term rental laws, leaving them high and dry Each company has its own set of policies to mitigate mishaps. Some immediately rebook the closest alternative, which can often entail an upgrade. If the owner of the Toyota TM, +0.43% you booked through Turo TURO, doesn’t show up, the company might instead send a Tesla.
For what it’s worth, many sites that facilitate peer-to-peer rental services have increasingly cracked down on hosts who cancel reservations. In September 2023, vacation rental site Vrbo began instituting financial penalties for hosts. The amount of the fee is based on the overall cost of the listing, as well as how far out they cancel.