We booked through Airbnb for an event in DC that was supposed to happen the weekend of April 16-19. Well, the event was cancelled due to the global pandemic.
Airbnb instituted a policy in which they would provide a full refund to anyone with a check-in date on or before April 14. Since our check-in date was two days after that, it was completely up to the host to approve our refund. She denied it.
We messaged constantly for days on end. She wanted us to put the money we had already given Airbnb for this reservation toward a reservation on another one of her properties that was smaller, had fewer beds, and less space… but cost the same. We of course did not want to do that for the obvious reasons, but also because we were no longer traveling to the area in the near future.
After several phone calls with Airbnb, and several unanswered messages to them, we were told we had to submit documentation that the United States government had warned against travel during our travel dates. When I asked what that documentation had to be, I was told it had to come from, and I quote: “The government website.”
To which I replied, “There is no unitedstatesgovernment.com so you’re going to have to be more specific.” Of course there was no actual answer to that.
We are still in the middle of this battle, having provided documentation for an “extenuating circumstance” and are waiting to hear back if it has been approved. I am attaching a screenshot of the host’s profile so that you can avoid this heartless wench at all costs.
Hey I made a petition about this on Change.org. Sign it, share it, comment on it all you want:
http://chng.it/Wjk4MsP9
In reply to James above, the same thing happened to me except we could not get refunded even though our reservation fit under the extenuating circumstances policy. I canceled on March 25th and their policy updated on March 30th. I have spoke to NUMEROUS people at Airbnb only to be told that we do not fit within the extenuating circumstances policy because I canceled 5 days beforehand. Even for the people who do fit in this category are not seeing their money because it still has to be accepted by the host. Airbnb is a scam company and is taking advantage of people during a global pandemic.
I am literally dealing with the same thing! had a trip planned to go to Bali, our host, of course, denied us our refund and we were supposed to check in on May 16th to the comment above we were covered under their policy but still denying us to claim a refund even though the country we are traveling to is no longer issuing visas! I want to make a thread and have people join experiencing this problem so we can all get our money back that we are entitled to.
I’m dealing with the same exact situation, unfortunately. We are under a ‘stay-at-home’, no one goes out unless for essentials order in the state of FL (like everywhere else in the US) and I was told it’s up to my Airbnb host if she wants to give me a full refund. Makes absolutely no sense! I didn’t make the decision to cancel my trip or cancel the Airbnb, I’m literally not allowed to go to Miami per our governor.. this is a complete joke to deal with.
Sign a petition against AirBnB’s lack of decency in an Emergency:
http://chng.it/mt8Py92Hpm
Good luck getting your refund.
Airbnb is a scam!
You booked a property with strict cancellation policy and you agreed to forfeit half of your money if you cancel unless you qualify for extenuating circumstances. This is not a host from hell. The host is sticking to her cancellation policy and that is her right until Airbnb overrides it with their extenuating circumstance policy.
Note that Airbnb extended the COVID-19 extenuating circumstances policy to May 31, so your reservation now qualifies.