A Campbell River, B.C., couple who host a short-term rental say a popular travel site cancelled thousands of dollars worth of bookings without warning.
They are now trying to reassure guests and recover the losses but say Booking.com isn’t giving them any answers.
Erin and George Roach have a two-bedroom suite in their home that has become a popular short-term rental for their guests from all over the world.
“Booking.com suddenly came up with an issue, and cancelled all 13 of our bookings through September,” Erin said.
Last week, the online booking platform suddenly cancelled all of the peak season bookings at the Roach’s rental, wiping their calendar, with no warning or clear explanation.
The Roachs said the calendar was cleared, blaming the owner over-booking and cancellations, system glitches and local permitting issues.
“We don’t know how many people in B.C. have been affected by this,” George said.
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“It could be hundreds, it could be thousands, we don’t know.”
The couple’s suite is properly registered under the province’s new short-term rental requirements with bookings on other platforms still working.
Some of their guests have since re-booked through Airbnb and VRBO with the Roaches, determined to accommodate all of them and offering a discount.
“I feel bad for them,” Erin said. “I don’t want to lose them as clients. We’re just going to have to take a loss on this one.”
Michelle Davies, the Roach’s neighbour who also has a short-term rental, said she has also been impacted by the booking glitch, losing seven bookings.
“The e-mails said that we were overbooked, which is why they cancelled,” she said.
“Which we were absolutely not. It’s happening all over the place in B.C.”
Booking.com did not give an explanation by the deadline to Global News.
However, the company committed to resolving the issue in a matter of days.
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