You have bought your plane tickets and sorted out your accommodation but then, just days before you are about to set off on holiday, Airbnb suddenly cancels your booking with no explanation, wrecking your plans.

This is what happened to Surrey couple Roger Ridey and Alice Woolley, who had to scrabble around to rearrange their holiday after Airbnb – the company, not the hosts of the property – pulled the plug on their week’s stay in San Francisco, 10 days before they were due to arrive.

They were told their booking, for which they had handed over £1,638, had been cancelled following a change in the law in the Californian city. Their experience exposes what some may see as a major flaw in the system, because Airbnb permits San Francisco hosts to advertise properties that holidaymakers won’t know are “under review” and may later be turned down by the city authorities. If city officials reject an application to let out a property, any future bookings are cancelled, which is what seems to have happened in this case.

Airbnb has been facing legal battles in cities around the world, including San Francisco. Many are introducing tough regulations and it appears that holidaymakers are being caught in the crossfire. With summer holidays just weeks away and with rules being tightened up in more cities, Woolley and Ridey are warning that what has happened to them could happen to others.

Woolley says the trip to California was to celebrate the end of their son’s A-levels and the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary. They found a loft apartment in San Francisco’s SoMa neighbourhood – coincidentally just a few minutes’ walk from Airbnb’s global headquarters. The couple were reassured by the fact that the property belonged to a “superhost” – people who, the site says, “are most dedicated to providing outstanding hospitality” – and made the booking.

We have had to change our holiday plans, which is distressing

But a few weeks later, an email from Airbnb arrived, stating that a refund had been issued to Ridey’s credit card. There was no explanation about what had happened, so he contacted it immediately. It told him that “the reservation was cancelled due to the change in law for the San Francisco area, and the system deemed the reservation to be unable to be upheld.”

Customer services was referring to a new system introduced by the city authorities as part of a crackdown on short-term rentals, where residents must register to be hosts and pay $250 (£188) for a certificate. Residents can only rent out their property for a maximum of 90 nights a year when they are not living there. The deadline for registering was in January and the new rules had an immediate effect, with Airbnb listings in the city reportedly plunging from more than 10,000 to about 5,500.

With Airbnb seemingly unwilling or unable to shed light on what had happened, the couple also messaged the owner of the property, who said she was “as surprised as you” to find the booking had been cancelled. She said Airbnb had told her it was because her licence with the city was not renewed, yet this was a brand new listing, “so there’s nothing to renew because it’s not even two months old”.

The woman added: “I called the city authorities and they confirmed my application, and the licence number I’ve been issued is what Airbnb requires, so that’s what I provided. But Airbnb still says the city rejected my number. Both sides are pointing at each other.” She apologised that she couldn’t book any more reservations until this was cleared up, and was unable to reactivate the couple’s booking.

Ridey pursued the matter, telling customer services that “you have ruined our family vacation ... I think some form of compensation is in order”. He added that he couldn’t understand how Airbnb had allowed the woman to list her property if she did not meet the requirements.

The company did offer a voucher for $200 as compensation but then appeared to warn the couple that if they tried to book somewhere else in San Francisco, that could also end up being cancelled at short notice. “The host’s property is not available, but if you chose to book a property in that area again you may come to the same result,” it said.

Ridey, a freelance subeditor, told Guardian Money that it appeared that Airbnb did not check if a property was registered at the time of listing, but only when the final payment was due. He was notified of the cancellation on the day the second half of his payment was due to be taken. Airbnb had had his first payment – £819 – for three weeks.

Woolley, who is editor of Education Guardian, says: “I would like to see Airbnb answer questions about this. All we have had is PR stonewalling and messages saying they are ‘standing by to support you’ – they are not.”

“We have had to change our holiday plans, which is distressing.”

The couple were unable to find alternative accommodation in San Francisco, so decided to buy onward flights to Phoenix, Arizona, to stay with family. “We will stay three nights in San Francisco in a hotel. It will be lovely to see the family, but it’s not what we had planned.”

Airbnb told Money that as part of the new rules in San Francisco, a host is able to let out their property on the site while their application is under review. The city’s Office of Short-Term Rentals reviews the application and either approves or refuses it. If it is not approved, any future reservations are cancelled and refunded. Hosts have the right to appeal.

Airbnb says its understanding is that there is a backlog of applications, which explains the delay in this case.

In a statement it said: “More than 2 million people a night stay on Airbnb, putting money in the pockets of countless hosts and delivering economic and social benefits for families, communities and governments. Our platform is growing and we have almost five million listings in more than 81,000 cities. We are also making strides in our work with governments to secure the long-term success of our community and business.”

Some of the cities battling Airbnb

London Early last year Airbnb brought in new measures to ensure its London hosts were complying with rules banning them from renting out their entire home for more than 90 days a year unless they have the relevant permissions.

Paris Since January, listings for entire homes in the centre of the city – the first, second, third and fourth arrondissements – can only be for a maximum of 120 nights a year.

Amsterdam Airbnb’s systems automatically limit entire home listings to 60 nights a year, but the city council agreed in January this year to slash the maximum to 30 nights from 2019.

Madrid Proposed rules announced last month will prevent properties from being rented out via Airbnb for more than 90 days a year. The restrictions will reportedly vary depending on where in the city a property is located.

New York A whole host of rules and restrictions make Airbnb rentals illegal in many cases.