Tag Archives: Airbnb coronavirus

COVID-19 Scam Over Bali Cancellation

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I booked an Airbnb in early February 2020 with a host in Bali, Indonesia from May 15, 2020 through May 28, 2020. Well, sure enough, because of the coronavirus, my flight got canceled and both Singapore, where my layover was, and Bali are no longer accepting non-essential travel. This can be proven on both governmental websites.

I decided to cancel on March 25, 2020 and called Airbnb to speak to a representative. The representative informed me that because of their extenuating circumstances policy, I would be able to get refunded since I booked in early February.

Due to her negligent misrepresentation about the company’s policy, I cancelled my trip only to be refunded $0 and my cancellation had to be accepted by the Airbnb host. I immediately called back and was informed now the host had to accept my cancellation.

Well, the host never accepted my cancellation, told me he basically “had mouths to feed”, and I wouldn’t be seeing my $560 deposit. I immediately called Airbnb and told them I was impossible to go to Bali and it is unconscionable to take my money due to the first representative’s misrepresentation and the fact the government isn’t allowing me to travel. She informed me to submit documentation for internal review.

After this, Airbnb informed me he’d be eating my money too since I cancelled before the policy updated to extend to May 31st even though I cancelled five days before the extenuating circumstances policy updated.

I am advising everyone not to book with this Superhost who should have this status revoked and never to book with Airbnb. I have filed a complaint with the BBB since this is unconscionable and is a complete scam.

Even people who are covered under the extenuating circumstances policy still have to go through the same runaround and get the host to accept their cancelation. Airbnb is a scam.

Anti-Social Behaviour from Guests Escaping Pandemic

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We had a family move into our village Poulton Gloucestershire Airbnb. They have been here since Friday before the lockdown and are still here. Their anti-social behaviour is getting worse.

Their rubbish piled high at the property will be too much for the district council to remove. They are loud, unruly, and acting as if they are on holiday and not compliant with a pandemic and lockdown. They are flouting every social rule that we are all trying to respect as this unprecedented time. They are raucous and have no respect for social distancing.

I am sure they believe that now that they are in Gloucesterhire, they are immune to COVID-19. We have an elderly community and I feel that Airbnb has been irresponsible to allow people to circumnavigate the government guidelines. My next step is to lodge a complaint with Cotswold District Council and then my MP.

COVID-19 Airbnb Cancellation not Refunded

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I have never experienced customer service as terrible as this. I had a house booked in a couple weeks just outside the full cash refund bracket but that was fine; I was still entitled to a full credit refund which I could use in a future trip.

When I had realized the current state of emergency wasn’t getting any better, cancelling the Airbnb booking was a must. I went through the app to cancel and was shown two options. The first was a “receive a $0 refund from host” as it had surpassed her cancellation date, and the other option was “receive $320 travel credit for next trip.”

Part of this was my mistake, as I didn’t realize I needed to select an option. I had thought it was giving me the details of my refund rather than giving me the two options I had. As far I remember I don’t think there was anything that said I needed to select an option either.

Straight after that I had contacted Airbnb, first through messages and then a call. I was on hold for about 50 minutes, which is understandable during this period. Once I got through I explained my details to a very uninterested lady. She asked if I was looking for a full refund to my credit card, I said I was more than happy to accept travel credit.

I explained I think I had accidentally selected the wrong option as I didn’t see any travel voucher/credit to my account after that cancellation. She had told me she didn’t have the power to do the refund and that she’d speak to someone higher up and contact me later.

One week later, I hadn’t heard anything back. I sent them another message in case she had forgot. At that point I decided to call back, this time with a different person. I explained the whole situation again, and told him I had been waiting to be contacted by Airbnb. I asked if he could help me but once again he said he could not but will speak to somebody that can.

He then sent me a message after the call and said: “Thanks your patience, somebody will get in contact with you within 24 hours to resolve your issue.”

Six days later… nothing. So now I’m wondering if they’re going to refund my money or just tell me there’s nothing they can do as it is my fault for selecting the wrong option. Is it common for these guys not to contact you when they have promised or do they just try getting out of giving your money back?

Prague Airbnb Nightmare During State of Emergency

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I’ve been wrangling with Airbnb since March 13 when I canceled my reservation in Prague. On March 12, Prague went into a minimum 30-day state of emergency. That increased over time.

My reservation was from April 29 to May 2. The host refused to come off his strict cancellation policy and would not return my last 50% payment, even suggesting I request one under extenuating circumstances. I did; he still refused.

Since then I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time messaging Airbnb, dealing with front line people who have been instructed to just pass the buck and stonewall. Delta/KLM has cancelled my flight to Prague and are willingly going to fully refund me in cash, not eticket. Clearly everything around my reservation screams extenuating circumstances.

I keep reaching back to Airbnb even after they deemed my case closed. We’re talking $265 owed to me. I asked them if this amount was really worth it to Airbnb to screw with me. Apparently very much so.

Be wary and keep fighting if you’re owed money. I’ve been an Airbnb Superhost in Florida. As I stated to Airbnb, I’ve never been out to make a buck on a legitimate cancellation. It’s just unethical and dirty.

Partial Refund for Traveler from Korea

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I booked a stay, paid the deposit, and everything was fine, and then… COVID-19. Our stay was from May 7 until May 9. My husband is stationed in Korea. He was coming home to see our son graduate. The government stopped travel from March 16 until May 11. I cancelled our reservations.

They sent us a $50 refund out of a $160 deposit. I have been going back and forth with customer service for a week. I’ve sent them the document showing that travel was cancelled and that isn’t formal enough for them. They won’t budge.

Dance Around Extenuating Circumstances Refund

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I made a reservation on Jan. 15 for a stay in Kent April 25-May 9. My international flight from the U.S. to the U.K. was booked for April 1. All hell broke loose in March with COVID-19. With a travel ban, cancelled flights and looming domestic restrictions, I cancelled my Airbnb.

I was told I would get a partial refund, basically my first payment minus the reservation fee. Then I was told I would get the service fee back as a coupon, with many restrictions. I tried to print a copy of my refund amount; it stated zero. My host said I should be getting a refund from Airbnb. They said I need to get it from my host.

The extenuating circumstances policy for COVID-19 dated March 30 states reservations made before March 14 with a check-in date before May 31 are covered. Contacting Airbnb again, I was told it doesn’t apply to my booking as it was cancelled before March 30, despite my reminding them my flight was cancelled and no one could travel anywhere.

Are you confused yet? I have an English degree yet this has me frazzled. If my host cannot come through with a decent refund, then my next step is to try my credit card company and my travel insurance but this should not be necessary. Neither should my host have to carry this burden. I will not be risking Airbnb again.

COVID-19 Double Standards of Airbnb

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I booked accommodations in Brasilia, Brazil for a longer period, from February 24 to April 20. I am a PhD student and visit Brasilia once a year for my research work.

This time, unfortunately, four weeks into my stay, I had to return to Germany due to the travel advisories from the government. However, Airbnb’s COVID-19 policy doesn’t cover me only because I checked-in before March 14.

The policy is extremely flawed as it would cover me if I had made two separate bookings: one from the end of February to March 13, and another from March 14 to mid-April. Because I made one long booking, I’m not covered.

I definitely learned a lesson. Never book a longer stay with Airbnb. Now due to this policy not helping me, I am at the mercy of my host who has refused to refund me.

The funny part is that the accommodation that I booked was sold by the host to me with certain amenities — gym, pool, and sauna — but all those facilities are closed since March 16 due to COVID-19. The host still kept all the money and is not willing to reduce per night price.

Ironically, someone from the Airbnb support team replied that it was not the host‘s fault that the facilities in the building are closed. It is due to COVID-19 that the host won’t refund me.

Now the host is suddenly entitled to rip me off in the name of the coronavirus even though the host is not willing to accept my situation — canceling due to coronavirus — as an extenuating circumstance. If Airbnb or the host is not willing to refund me on the grounds that I have to cancel due tot the coronavirus, how can they use it as an excuse for not providing me the amenities that I paid for? If I do not get what I paid for, am I not entitled to a refund?

One support team member at Airbnb also told me that the host‘s financial situation doesn’t allow her to refund me. I feel as if I’m not a student but a charity organization who has to provide money to a host in need. So the new development in this coronavirus crisis is that the financial situation of a host entitles them to rob people of their money and Airbnb sides with them.

Disappointed with Airbnb During COVID-19 Response

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I’m very disappointed with Airbnb. As a result of the coronavirus, I was forced to cancel my reservation as everyone is in lockdown. To cancel my reservation using the coronavirus selection for canceling, two choices were provided to me: to have half of the money I already paid for the reservations credited to my credit card; or take a credit for Airbnb with tons of rules to use the Airbnb property another time.

This is unacceptable as they suffer no hardship for the current environment — only the host and guests pay the price. At worse, they should have at least provided me with half of the money back to my credit card and credit for the other half for the next stay using Airbnb.

It is impossible to speak with customer service and their online materials are so confusing and in no way help you to understand the enormous amount of rules and inflexibility. They barely had my business, but no more.

Airbnb is Scamming Hosts During this Crisis

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I’ve been a host with Airbnb for about seven or eight years. We’ve had our differences but nothing too bad. Mainly, after the first couple of years, getting help from them for a situation was difficult, then they got better, but really, it was for minor things.

I’ve been a Superhost now for a couple of years so I take my role as host very seriously. Well, I had a guest that I was in communication with the whole time and she had to cancel at the last minute because of travel restrictions back in March due to the virus.

As per my cancellation policy (100% if a week, 50% if less than that), I received half of my expected fee and she got her half. Just last week, we get this email with great fanfare from the CEO about how they were putting five million dollars into helping the Airbnb community. I thought that was nice.

I have one guest who is here because he’s working on a job for an essential industry. When I received my payment, Airbnb had deducted my 50% from the cancelled guest and had returned the entire fee to the guest.

I don’t object to that given all the money Airbnb has but to take it from me, who is a small business person who relies on this income and works hard for it  — in Massachusetts we register as small businesses and pay business taxes — seems very unfair, especially because they are giving a false narrative about how they are taking care of the whole “Airbnb” community. Three hundred and fifty dollars is nothing to a corporation like theirs. They should be able to take care of the guest and me.

Trapped in Dirty Airbnb Apartment During Pandemic

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I rented an Airbnb apartment in Lima. The description said there were two beds, an air conditioner, pots and pans, microwave, oven, stove, and a washer/dryer. In fact, there was only one bed, no air conditioner, no washer/dryer and no pots and pans. The microwave, oven, and stove didn’t work.

In the pictures there are two couches, and there was only one, which was much smaller. Nothing is like it was the pictures. It’s a totally different apartment. It smelled bad, and was quite old. I talked to the host, and he said that the original apartment was dirty, and not usable (he told this to me via Airbnb messaging). The situation got worse.

I checked out of my hotel because I knew I had an apartment, and now they won’t let me back in (due to coronavirus, it’s really hard to find hotels that accept new people). I was waiting on the phone with Airbnb for almost three hours. When someone finally picked up, she told me that someone else will call me back. Of course I never got a call back.

Now I’m stuck in Lima. Two people in a dirty, smelly, small apartment which has one normal bed for $70 a night (which is expensive for Peruvian standards).