My friend paid the cabin deposit, then charged me for the empty bedroom

Six of us booked a three-bedroom cabin for $1,080. The plan was simple: $180 each. My friend Dana put the $540 deposit on her card, and everyone sent her $90 that night.

Ten days before the trip, one person canceled. The final payment was already nonrefundable under the booking we had chosen, and the empty spot did not make the cabin cheaper.

Dana divided the remaining $540 among the five people still traveling and requested $108 from each of us. Added to our deposits, that made our totals $198. The person who canceled had paid $90 and was asked for nothing more.

I stared at the request because I had expected the canceling person to remain responsible for the other $90. Dana said she did not want to charge someone who would not be there. I said the rest of us had not agreed to insure each other’s cancellations.

Both positions had an emotional logic. Dana was protecting the friend who had a family problem. I was protecting the amount I had agreed to spend. The $18 difference was not huge, but five people absorbing it made the canceled traveler’s loss half as large.

We eventually split the missing $90 in a messier way. The canceling friend paid $45. Dana covered $20 because she had told them not to worry before checking with us. The five travelers added $5 each. Nobody loved it, which may be why it felt closer to the actual shared responsibility.

Before the next group booking, we wrote one sentence in the chat: after the refund deadline, a person who cancels still owes their share unless the group agrees otherwise.