Reposted by request:

Between 80,000 to 100,000 people are expected to descend on Orlando, Florida, for the Yom Tov of Pesach, as reported previously on Matzav.com. People are excited, looking forward to traveling down south for what promises to be an uplifting Chag HaPesach. But what of those who have had to deal with cancellations or double-bookings, having been scammed out of their rented houses by unscrupulous homeowners or agents?

Matzav.com looked into the matter as a group of those who have been left out in the cold are looking to hire an attorney and pursue legal action.

However, from speaking to those in the know – agents, attorneys, and so on – there may not be much recourse for those who have been cancelled on, as disappointing as that may be.

“It all has to do with the terms of a contract and the fine print,” said one lawyer who will be spending Pesach in Florida.

“Yes, it’s been a long year and you were really looking forward to Yom Tov in Orlando,” said an agent, painting the following scenario: In February, you booked and paid for your flight and your house in Champion’s Gate or Encore. You found a stunning accommodation on Airbnb that is just perfect. You check the availability and the price and instantly book it before it is snapped up by someone else. But then, two weeks before Yom Tov, the Airbnb host cancels on you. Now you have to find alternative accommodations for your family of six, and at the last minute, any accommodation you do find – if you can even find anything, which this year was not likely – costs a fortune.

Yes, Airbnb will refund your money, but that doesn’t help much, for you are stuck without a place for Pesach. What to do?

“The answer is that while over 60 million guests have stayed on Airbnb and Airbnb ostensibly protects its customers, Airbnb’s measures to handle cancellations are not as punitive as you may like them to be to dissuade owners from cancelling on you shortly before Pesach,” said the agent.

Currently, Airbnb has the following penalties in place for last-minute cancellations:

  • If an Airbnb host cancels any reservation within seven days of check-in, they will be charged a $100 fee. And if they cancel more than one reservation within a six-month period, they will be charged $50 per cancellation.
  • If a reservation is canceled, an automatic review is added to the host’s listing page to say that they have canceled one of their bookings. The host has the ability to respond and explain for future bookers the reasons for the cancellation.
  • Hosts who cancel a reservation will not be eligible for super host status and the benefits that bring for one year after their most recent cancellation.
  • The host’s listing calendar will be blocked for the dates the canceled reservation was due to take place and they won’t be able to accept another booking for the same dates.

“The fact that the calendar is blocked for the canceled reservation date is a great way to ensure that hosts do not cancel a guest’s accommodation as they think they are able to sell those days at a higher price to someone else,” said the agent.

What about the money?

When it comes to the money, Matzav.com has learned, Airbnb protects is users by holding the money, and it does not pay it out to the host until 24 hours after the guest has checked in. Therefore, if the host cancels or the listing is not what a guest expects, the money can always be refunded directly from Airbnb and no fights need to be had with the host.

Some of those who encountered double-bookings in Orlando this Pesach season made their reservation through VRBO, whose policy is that cancellation of a reservation is the discretion of the owner.

So, if you rent a home through VRBO or Homeaway, even if you pay 100% of the booking price in advance, the owner can casually cancel it at any time, at his or her discretion, without any penalty or compensation to the tenant. The owner will simply refund the money paid in advance. On the other hand, if you, as the renter, cancel the trip less than 30 days before the stay, you have to pay a 50% penalty on the rent amount.

“It sounds unfair, and it is,” said an agent, “but all of this is in the fine print. The loser, in the end, is always the renter, especially in popular areas or busy times, like Yom Tov time, when unscrupulous homeowners and agencies will cancel reservations when they see that they can get more money from someone else.”

Indeed, a number of agents outside of Airbnb and VRBO are accused of doing just that in Orlando for this Pesach season. One person involved in several reservations estimates that there are two to three dozen such cases this year.

So, again, if you book with VRBO, the owner can cancel the reservation at his or her discretion without the possibility to enforce the booking legally, because these are VRBO terms and conditions.

On the other hand, if you rent a property from a real estate agent, they can – if you insist on it – provide you with a rental contract that you will be able to enforce with the help of a lawyer.

To compound matters, on VRBO, a cancelled tenant is unable to leave a bad review about his experience with a given property because VRBO says that “you can leave a review only after your stay.” Of course, if the stay is cancelled, there is no stay, so there is no way to leave a review on the property listing, which would help other prospective clients be aware of an owner’s business manners. In other words, on VRBO, as disturbing as it might sound to those who have experienced disappointment in Orlando, although the owner cancels a stay at the last minute, he or she keeps their 5-star rating, which is one of the reasons people would decide to book with them. And so, the next VRBO visitors will see the 5-star rating and will count on the other tenants’ reviews to make a decision, not knowing that the owner, when it is in their best business interest – or greediness – might cancel the booking, even at the last minute, leaving Yom Tov visitors stranded.

Matzav.com has discovered that VRBO has not been willing to disclose double booking by owners in their listings. “Plain and simple, VRBO is hiding last minute cancellation and double booking to public view,” said one VRBO victim. “I booked and paid for a house in Solterra, only to find out that the owner had double booked the property and we have nowhere to stay. That’s the kind of review and information that other travelers should know. Why would it not be posted? If you don’t allow travelers to post about negative experiences with the owner, it really undermines the purpose of the site.”

{Shimon F. Katzover – Matzav.com}