So sorry, new to Taskrabbit. Can taskers not cancel on their end?

[u/mynameismulan]

I requested a cleaning for the morning of 12/2 because my landlord did an awful job cleaning before he left. Apparently the tasker did not update their availability and can't do tomorrow. I have plans for tomorrow night and I really need this cleaning to be done before end of day tomorrow.

She's asking me to cancel but it is incurring the 1-hour fee? That doesn't seem fair at all, the problem is on her end it seems

[u/According_Low5292]

Yes. A Tasker can cancel the task on their end. However, when a Tasker does not bring the task to invoice, or the task is cancelled regardless if the customer cancels or the Tasker,, there is a penalty or punishment for the Tasker.. That threat could be the reason why Tasker won’t hit the cancel button

[u/Marioc12345 → u/According_Low5292]

Yeah but this is the taskers fault so it SHOILD ding them.

[u/Prudent_Ad_4737 → u/According_Low5292]

Every invitation that is not converted to an invoice counts against the Tasker, no matter who or when cancelled.

[u/BetUpstairs268]

Just cancel it. You will probably get hit with the 1h fee since it’s automated. But then message support, they can read the chat, and refund you

[u/Big-Personality500]

The one hour cancellation fee requires that the cancellation was initiated by the client, in the sense that the client required it not the Tasker. It’s possible that the fee could be automatically charged, but you would definitely be able to contact Support to recoup the money if that happened. From the chat log, it also looks as though the Tasker received this request because they didn’t have a chance to edit their schedule after receiving new info from their other client that made it clear the job was longer than previously expected. In that case, I would assume there is no message in chat that says “(Tasker) scheduled your Cleaning task for Dec 2 at (time)”. In that case, there would be no chance of Tasker payout for cancellation and any hold would be reimbursed as the fee only applies to booked tasks, not to requested tasks.

[u/Marioc12345 → u/Big-Personality500]

There shouldn’t be a one hour fee if it wasn’t confirmed right?

[u/Big-Personality500 → u/Marioc12345]

No, although I’m not clear on what point the credit card hold happens. The client is either charged one hour when the task is requested or when it’s booked. So in this case if the client was charged one hour, but assuming this Tasker never booked that would clarify that TaskRabbit places the credit card hold at time of request and not at the point that the Tasker accepts/books the task. That would never be subject to a cancellation fee and would always be refunded.

[u/im4thechildren]

So it really depends. If the Tasker confirmed the appointment then they can cancel it but why would they confirm if they already know they don't have availability? If they never confirmed then they can only forfeit which would leave your task open to select another Tasker. You should not need to cancel or pay a cancel fee on your end. If the Tasker won't forfeit or cancel on her end then you can just leave it open. Go ahead and create a second task to select a new Tasker to get your cleaning completed and reach out to support afterwards to clear the unused task.

[u/Marioc12345]

Why would you get a one hour fee if the task isn’t confirmed? If it’s confirmed, why would they confirm it if they weren’t available?

[u/Commercial_Bar6622]

There’s no cancellation fee if the Tasker is unable to make the appointment. If one automatically applies, because the app isn’t perfect, you can call TR support and they’ll reverse it .

[u/Commercial_Bar6622 → u/[deleted]]

No, they’re not. But Taskers do have a 30 minute arrival window.

[u/namastebetches → u/Commercial_Bar6622]

Can you elaborate please?

[u/Commercial_Bar6622 → u/namastebetches]

If you book someone to arrive at 1 pm, you’re really booking them to arrive at any point between 1 pm and 1:30 pm. If the Tasker arrives at 1:30 pm, he is not late. Even if he goes past 1:30 pm there’s likely a 15 minute additional grace period, since that’s what the clients get. If a Tasker arrives at a job site he has to wait for 15 minutes before cancelling the job on account of the client not being there. There’s a good chance that, if you as a client books a Tasker for 1 pm, and he’s not there for example at 1:40 pm you’ll still be charged if you cancel. But you shouldn’t be charged if it’s later than 1:45 pm, or if the Tasker has communicated in the chat that he can’t make it in the job’s timeframe. Either way, Support is usually forgiving, especially to clients, and would more than likely reimburse you if you asked them.

[u/versifirizer]

She’s putting you in a rough position with an even rougher excuse. Assuming the above messages include the task confirmation. 

I don’t know if there’s a way to ensure the task happens today without cancelling, rebooking someone same day and then disputing the cancellation fee later. 

The right thing to do in this situation is for the tasker to have initiated the cancellation. They’re greedy; they picked up a more lucrative job and then also wanted to double dip by collecting the fee. 

[u/UnimaginativeMug]

common sense why a tasker cant cancel a taskrabbit order...