Last-minute cancellations are high risk when booking relatively anything—flights, accommodations, dinners, appointments, events, and even classes. Sometimes mistakes or circumstances beyond anyone’s control happen, and cancellations leave people high and dry. That’s just how life usually goes but this doesn’t mean that these instances aren’t highly infuriating or that they can’t occur due to the most ridiculous reasons.
Below, our Bored Panda team prepared a whole list of cancelled reservations that made people want to scream into the void. From services and facilities getting canceled due to double bookings to no explanations at all, scroll down to find the most infuriating situations people found themselves in when their plans got called off.
While you're at it, don't forget to check out a conversation with Kari LeMay, traveler and founder of Achieve Your Bucket List, and Tony Jefferson, traveler and founder of TravelingSession.com, who kindly agreed to give us a few tips on how to deal with reservation cancellations.
#1 Details Were Stolen From A Selling Page And Used To Book A Car Rental. Email I Received When I Cancelled The Booking
So I got scammed and went through the fraud team at my bank to cancel / reverse transactions. Police involved.
One was for a foreign car company rental who I called and cancelled a booking after explaining.
The cheek of sending me an email in broken English and trying to guilt me about their father!
The hee hee to say was more than mildly infuriating.
Image credits: T33FMEISTER
#2 Reserved Ride Turns Into Me Chasing Uber Around Block Until They Cancel And Get $25 Cancelation Fee
Incredible experience this morning. Reserved an Uber to the airport a day in advance. Stops half a block away and then kept speeding away when I would get close. At one point, he drove around the block and passed me while I was standing on the street… only to park in an alley way and insist that he couldn’t see me. I tracked him down in the alley way and decided to record. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he sled off again when I got close. On top of all this, I got hit with $25 cancellation fee. I’m just going back to regular taxis.
Image credits: ReDnBlaK
#3 My Credit Card Was Compromised And The Thief Booked An Airbnb. I Asked Airbnb To Cancel The Reservation / Refund The Money, This Was Their Response
Image credits: jessedogg
It’s common to hear that customers are usually the ones canceling their bookings, not the other way around. That’s why many businesses have cancellation policies that protect them from losing money. Some can be refundable if a person is calling off their plans before a certain date, while others are non-refundable.
These policies ensure that businesses aren’t affected by frequent cancellations, but they’re often not in favor of the customers when it happens the other way around. So it’s important to know what you can do when a booking gets canceled, not because of your fault.
#4 If You Needed Another Reason To Hate Airbnb. 2 Weeks Before Our Reservation Our Hosts Tells Us He Over Booked?
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#5 And It’s Not Sold Out Bc I Just Went On The Actual Hotel Websit And Now It’s $600!! So They Totally Cancelled Mine And Another Persons To Charge The Higher Rate
Image credits: SunsetSwift89
#6 Trying To Rebook A Flight After Having Yesterday's Cancelled
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For this, we reached out to Kari LeMay, traveler and founder of Achieve Your Bucket List, and Tony Jefferson, traveler and founder of TravelingSession.com, who had their fair share of bookings and agreed to give us the best tips on what to do when they get cancelled.
"As world travelers, we have been very lucky to never have an accommodation cancel on us, but we’ve had more than our fair share of flights canceled with little warning," said Kari to Bored Panda.
"They always offer to rebook us, but sometimes it’s for 2-3 days later. When that doesn’t fit our itinerary, I’ve learned to be “pleasantly persistent” to get them to book us sooner. But if our itinerary has flexibility, then we ask them to put us up someplace nice to pass the time," she tells us, sharing her trick to canceled flights.
#7 Airbnb Cancelled My Valentines Day Reservation That I Got For My Girlfriends Birthday And Offered Me A $37 Credit
Image credits: TroyMcClures
#8 Delta Canceled My Flight, And Had No Available Rescheduled Flights For 18 Hours, So Half My Vacation Is Ruined. In Return, They're Offering Me 12 Dollars For The Trouble
Image credits: Optimoprimo
#9 Booking.com Cancelled Our Room Reservation 1 Hour Before We Were Supposed To Check-In Leaving Us Standing In The Rain In A Foreign Country
Image credits: Canadian_Kartoffel
Meanwhile, Tony said, "Personally, I haven't encountered a large number of reservation cancellations. When I have, I find it's best to stay calm and contact the airline or hotel directly. In my experience, they are often already working on a solution by the time I reach them."
#10 Not Fair, They Couldn’t Have Overbooked That Many Of Us?!
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#11 This
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#12 Airbnb Host Ask Me To Cancel So They Don’t Have To
Agreed to price. They only do showings by appointment, called and set appointment for first thing in the AM. Told them I’d pay cash, they never asked for a deposit. Drove 320 miles that night, got a hotel, and dealer sent me a message saying the car was unavailable at 8PM when we were 20 miles away.
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"When seeking refunds or compensation, I always try to work directly with the airline or hotel. However, if you booked through a third-party website or agent, you may need to contact them to request a refund. For airline tickets, purchasing refundable fares can simplify the refund process," he advised.
#13 I Booked An Airbnb A Year In Advance Of The Eclipse In April. The Host Yesterday Canceled Because They Realized They Can Make More Due To The Eclipse. The Only Places Available This Last Minute Are 10x More Expensive Than The One I Booked And Airbnb Won’ T Help
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#14 Should Be Laws Against Doing This !
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#15 Update: I Booked A Hotel Room 5 Months In Advance, Was Told They Had No Rooms Left When I Checked In, And I Was The “Guest Of The Day.” The Hotel Is Now Saying I Was A No Show And Will Not Refund Me For The Night They “Walked” Me To A Hotel At The Airport
Image credits: GrandCenobite
One of the most frequent reservations people make is booking accommodations. In fact, 235 hotel bookings are generated every minute, with it totaling 125 million a year. Their cancellation rate, including both hosts and customers, ranges from 18% to 42%.
#16 Vrbo Cancelled My Booking 2 Weeks Before My Family Trip And Said They Found A “Similar” Place For Us To Book
We had a 4 bedroom lake front cottage booked for 10 people including 2 infants and a toddler for our annual family trip. We are flying in for this trip. Here’s the replacement they found us. No you’re not crazy, there is no house.
Image credits: star86
#17 I’m So Sorry
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#18 Expedia Canceled Two Hotel Reservations For My Trip In A Week (One Of Them Is Non Refundable)
Image credits: Red_585
There are a variety of reasons why hotels cancel confirmed bookings, but it usually boils down to these three:
- A change of circumstances: they might hire the venue exclusively or want to change prices if a big event is happening nearby.
- Overbooking in hopes some guests cancel.
- The hotel is undergoing renovations and there’s a delay.
#19 Cannot Be Single In Peace
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#20 So I Had To Cancel My Trip To Breckenridge Due To Covid... And I Get Hit With This
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#21 Airbnb Host Sent This 6 Weeks Out From Our Stay
As the title says, we are 6 weeks out and options for our trip are slim and all nearly 2x what we had booked this for over 2 months ago. If you are even thinking of selling your rental why have it up for bookings?!
Image credits: crashintodmb413
While Tony says that there's no foolproof way to prevent reservation cancellations, to minimize the impact, he suggests that "booking early flights can increase your chances of getting rebooked on the same day if a cancellation occurs. Having extra funds available can also be beneficial in case you need to book with a different airline and handle the refund later. If you're not in a rush, allowing the airline to manage the rebooking process can be the simplest option."
#22 I Booked An Airbnb, Then Received This Message From The Host. A Few Hours Later, They Cancelled The Stay
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#23 Borgo Egnazia Cancelled 4 Room Reservations For May. We Are In Shock. They Could Not Have Been More Rude
Borgo Egnazia canceled four room reservations out of nowhere with no explanation. I was planning on traveling to Borgo Egnazia with my extended family including one baby (we were celebrating her first birthday) in May. We woke up this morning to an email from the hotel saying the rooms we had booked five months ago were no longer available for our dates and we couldn’t stay at their property. They offered us no explanation why. They offered to rebook us at the Rocco Forte next door, which we heard was not as good for kids. They gave us only four days to let them know what our plan is with the rebooking or they would simply be canceled with no compensation, explanation or reimbursement for other sunk costs.
We now have 9 non-refundable flights from New York to Bari booked with nowhere to stay. They have ruined our vacation and we are out thousands of dollars.
We called the hotel and they simply said they were “closed” for our dates. We assume they had someone offer them a lot of money for a wedding buyout and decided to cancel all the rooms the other guests have booked. I imagine this happened to hundreds of other guests.
I highly advise against booking this hotel. They were rude, unhelpful, ruined our vacation and are leaving us out over $20,000 in non-refundable flights.
Image credits: Successful-Trainer95
#24 Got A Cancellation Message From My Airbnb Plus Superhost After Landing In Europe 2 Days Before My Reservation. Ran It Through Google Translate, And…
We were messaging hours before boarding to confirm check in details. Death stops for no one.
Image credits: madeleineeeee
To minimize the chance of cancellation, Kari additionally advises booking with reliable platforms and airlines that have English-speaking customer service. "If we’re going somewhere with an inflexible start date (such as a wedding, funeral, cruise departure, or safari start), we plan to arrive 2-3 days early. We use that time to adjust to the time zone and prepare for that next adventure," she said.
#25 Air Bnb Discriminating Against Me Because Of The Perfectly Legal Activities I Undertake For My Job. No Evidence. Just A Complete Ban. I Had My Accommodation Cancelled Last Minute Which Was For My Long Awaited Holiday And My $450 Fee Held For 15 Days. Absolutely Disgusting
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#26 Out Of State Dealer Sold Car I Agreed To Purchase, Told Me 300 Miles In And At 8pm. Other Options Have An Upcharge!
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#27 Infuriating
Image credits: Co11egeLandlord
The last tip is to check your reservation status periodically. There’s a chance that a booking was canceled without notification so it’s better to take a look at it from time to time than get stranded on the day of the arrival.
#28 ' I Hope You're Having A Great Day' And Then Bang
Image credits: NiallofEast
#29 Someone Made A Reservation And Was Planning On Proposing Last Week, And Cancelled At The Last Minute And Left The Cake. What Do You Think Happened?
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#30 You Know How To Take The Reservation But You Don't Know How To Hold The Reservation
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#31 Never Use Booking
Made a reservation on 7/29/24. The second after making the reservation I get an email from the hotel and booking.com that “the pool, the fitness center, and breakfast is closed until further notice.” I call booking.com they say to call the hotel the hotel agrees to refund me free of charge. Booking.com says after I got verbal confirmation that they need written confirmation. I put them on a 3 way call. Booking.com sends the email to the wrong email address. Holiday inn never gets it. I put them on a 3 way call as they’re processing the refund over the phone booking.com hangs up. It’s the day before the reservation … holiday inn processed the refund and booking.com is now sending me automated messages to “call the hotel and ask for a refund” when they already processed it and it’s booking.com who is charging me.
Image credits: Cashouticey
#32 Help With Customer Service
I had a reservation at Hilton I made days prior to my arrival. I arrived a midnight and was informed my room was given away because they overbooked. As an alt. they offered me a room with no TV. I accepted but when I walked into the room (after midnight now) it was occupied. I ran out and back down to the front desk. After working out that whole debacle they offered me another alt. room with no TV. I accepted again. Once I got into the room I went to the bathroom to discover there was no toilet. I went back down to the front desk to complain only to find no one was there. I go back upstairs to my toiletless room only to discover my keycard doesn't work (I'm kicking myself because I left my wallet, luggage, and keys in the room). I go back downstairs and wait for over an hour till someone finally came back. The front desk manager said I wouldn't be charged for the stay. However it seems they didn't have the authority to make that decision because after hours of customer service having to explain this over and over and over, they've offered me 8000 points/ 50 bucks to a future stay instead. I had my credit card company clock the charge instead. While I realize it's a very small impact, I'm done with Hilton. Tldr. Hilton gave my room away, sent me to an occupied room, sent me to a toiletless room, and then I got stuck in the lobby waiting for someone till almost 2am. They've offered me 50 bucks for a future stay.
Image credits: Background_Dance_666
#33 This Lyft Driver Tried To Make Me Cancel First In Order To Get A Fee
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#34 527 For That Hotel I Booked. I Got It For £51. Most Of Them Now At Least £400
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#35 I Booked A Hotel On Adani One And Got A Confirmation. When I Reached The Hotel, I Was Told That Hotel Is Sold Out And Adani One Cc Team Made Me Wait For 3 Hour And Then They Finally Cancelled
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#36 Plans Cancelled Last Minute
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