Tag Archives: airbnb refund

Airbnb Farmhouse with Unexpected Extras in Store

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We were looking for an Airbnb in Portugal from July 22nd until July 30th for four persons and a dog. After a big search we found a farmhouse in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines. The pictures were looking good: nice bedrooms, a swimming pool, two bathrooms, wifi, a terrace with a mountain view, a clean house, and very comfortable.

We made the reservation, paid the amount of a little more than €1200 and prepared for our holiday there. We bought a bigger car (the dog had to come too), made a list of things we had to take from home, planned the route to drive, booked hotels to stay at night, etc. In the meanwhile our dog become sick so it was better for him to stay at home in a dog hotel.

The hotels to stay overnight while driving to the Algarve were already booked and plane tickets are highly priced in the season; we decided to drive the full 2400 km to the Algarve. When we arrived in Portugal after a three-day drive, we couldn’t find the house, even not with a description of the route by the host. We had to call her several times to explain to us how to drive there. Finally she picked us up at a local gas station.

We drove to the “farmhouse”. First of all, regarding the access road: with a big 4×4 you would easily manage this road, but with a fully loaded station wagon it was a real struggle. The road was so narrow that turning the car was a real test in survival. On one side there was a ditch and on the other side, after two meters a deep ravine. The first signs already made it seem like we were staring in an episode of National Lampoon’s Vacation.

The farmhouse had a kitchen with an oven, full with rust. Frogs were in the bathroom. Salamanders were everywhere in and near the house. Big spiders were everywhere. The swimming pool (a little bigger than a bathtub) was full of green algae. The nice wooden garden chairs we saw in the pictures were replaced by old dirty white plastic chairs and sun beds. The TV as seen on the pictures had suddenly disappeared. The wifi was bad, really bad. Mobile phones didn’t work (no contact from any transmission mast). There were spiderwebs and dirt everywhere.

We arrived there Sunday July 22nd. On Monday morning, July 23rd we were going to the beach and contacted Airbnb to complain and to ask our refund. After several contact moments with some “specialist” they approved refunding us the money we paid and agreed we would leave the farmhouse the same day. Of course we had already booked a hotel in Albufeira to continue our holiday.

Airbnb said they would pay the refund first within 2-3 working days, then it would be within 5-7 working days. This was taking too long. I wrote to Airbnb directly that Mastercard guarantees refunds within one, or a maximum of two working days. After two working days, we had the refund in our account.

That’s not all: we wrote a bad review with pictures that proved the bad shape and bad conditions of the farmhouse. Airbnb decided to not publish this bad review on their page. Questions from our side: why they didn’t do it? It would give the host a bad name. It would not be in anyone’s advantage. Unbelievable. Well, this was the first time for us with Airbnb and for sure the last time.

Noise Issue with Greece Airbnb Vacation Home

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I am a host and just started a vacation in Greece as a guest a few days ago. Unfortunately, as soon as we arrived we discovered that the place was very, very noisy because it is on a very traffic heavy road, and does not have proper modern windows. We could not sleep and after the first night, decided to change our accommodation, as we could not spend our vacation there.

We immediately contacted the host and Airbnb support to get refunded for the unused nights (we ended up staying for three nights, the time to find another place). The host denied the issue, saying we knew all about the place (which is not true, we knew it was near a street, but nothing was mentioned about the level of noise to expect).

Airbnb support has not been helpful at all so far; for three days they have been asking me to send sound recordings, which I have done, but their email address response@airbnb.com does not work, and they don’t understand it. The support staff seem to be very weak and unable to help me. I had to cancel my 21 days stay after three nights, and for now I still have to pay for 50% of the remaining 18 days, so we are paying 1700 Euros for three horrible nights.

Please can anyone help – what would you do in this situation to get a refund? Who can I contact at Airbnb to get a serious resolution and refund? Thanks very much.

First Time Airbnb Experience a Positive One

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This was my first time using Airbnb and it was sort of a horror story. We booked a room in a hotel resort with an option for an all-inclusive package to be paid at reception. Once we had driven several hours and checked in, the agreed price was marked up 50% from what was confirmed prior to booking. We called Airbnb and they advised us that they would honor the price difference as the host was unsympathetic and not willing to do so.

After dealing with Airbnb, night was falling and we started to see an infestation of cockroaches. We requested a callback from Airbnb and advised them we were out of there. They said they would find us alternative accommodation. By that night, we had not heard from them so we requested a callback; they said to book a hotel and they would reimburse us.

We stayed at a cheaper hotel and checked with them the next day. We never heard from them so we decided to just spend the money and book a five-star all-inclusive resort but only for three days and not the six which was initially booked. We never thought Airbnb would reimburse us for the hotel and thought it would be a battle to get the refund. Little did we know after going back and forth with Airbnb and them with the hostess, we got a full refund on the room booked. They also completely paid for our five-star hotel. We were eligible for the guest experience program.

All I can say is keep in touch with Airbnb when the first issues arises. We were impressed with the swiftness of reimbursement and the customer support from Airbnb for first time users. We were browsing this site upon investigating our ordeal. Reading all the horror stories, we’re glad we weren’t left hanging in the end.

Airbnb: The Worst Company I have ever Dealt with

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I had a long, long drawn out fight with Airbnb that I thought would never get solved. My fiancé and I booked a house rental on March 16th, with out check-in date set to May 25th. On May 24th, one day before out trip, my fiancé (the account owner) got an email saying our trip had been cancelled because “We (Airbnb) don’t believe this transaction is legitimate”.

This trip has been booked, paid for, and cleared over a month before this email. The money had been long gone. We called and were told by a woman that it was a computer glitch that Airbnb was aware of, and technical support would call us ‘soon’. She could not offer any time frame at all, and did not seem to care that we were packed, had taken off of work, and paid long ago.

The call from technical support never came. The money was ‘refunded’ to us in the form of account credits. Not money. Our trip was for five days total, and cost about $800. We missed our trip. About five days later, we got another email saying his account was now completely banned and deactivated, and “We sent you an email about this issue back on the 1st”. We searched through all of our emails, and had definitely not gotten that one. In fact, on the 20th we got an automatic email telling us to “get ready!” for our trip.

Now, there was $700 in a deactivated account. Airbnb had no problem keeping their $100ish booking fee, and we never saw it again. Because the account was totally deactivated, and our phone numbers and accounts were blacklisted. This meant if we called or chatted with someone, we were automatically disconnected and never got help. We both even created second accounts. Several customer service people had no idea what to do, and sent us just one or two messages before closing the chat. We got one single message through to someone claiming that they would “forward our message to the appropriate person”. That chat is still open. I sent a message on it every few days asking if anyone was every going to answer.

Finally, my mother-in-law made a great suggestion: go to the BBB. I am 100% positive we would have never seen that money again if we hadn’t taken that advice. I filed a formal complaint, and they kept me updated the whole way. I got an email shortly after filing that said they were escalating my claim and reaching out to Airbnb. Only four days later we finally got an email from Airbnb, offering us a gift card that we could regift. I pushed for a check, and the next week we had $700 deposited into our Paypal account.

Please, other readers, file complaints. You don’t have to be seeking just money back, you can report them for being as terrible business. If enough people do, we can get them shut down eventually. They fully knew what they were doing, and knew that we obviously count not use credits put into a deleted account, and they kept ‘their share; of the money. I fought for that, too, but was told they would not give it back.

Want my Refund after Airbnb Double Billed me

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On April 30th, 2018 I made reservations for an apartment in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. I then paid the fee of $1,400. Unfortunately, Airbnb double-billed me. Using my bank and customer service from Airbnb, I was able to obtain $1,400 back for my double billing. This meant I had only paid for one reservation for June 27th. On that day I called the host to obtain the keypad number. She informed me that my reservation had been cancelled on May 22nd. I then proceeded to call Airbnb; they reiterated that my reservation had been cancelled. After numerous attempts -approximately 23 – and numerous customer services representatives, they indicated that I was in fault and therefore did not deserve a refund. Finally after insurmountable attempts, I was told that everything was resolved and I would be given a full refund and an additional 10% or $180 for my inconvenience. I have not received a full refund.

Issue with Getting Refunds from Airbnb Japan

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I am looking for advice. In January I booked three Airbnbs in Japan. Recently a new bill was issued by the government and a lot of Airbnbs got cancelled, including the three I booked. In this particular case I got a full refund from Airbnb and on top of that 100% of the refund in coupons. This was like a 200% refund which was awesome.

Here comes the problem. In March I changed my bank; I moved from TSB to RBS. Everything went smoothly and without any issues until the refunds were processed. Airbnb stated over the phone that their policy is to only refund the card that was used for the purchase and they can’t change that.

A month later (now) I still do not have any refund. I asked RBS; they say no transactions have happened according to the switch contract so they don’t know anything. I asked Airbnb who said the refund has been processed and there is no bounce back from the bank. They gave me a trace number to track the payment. I asked TSB, who said that they can’t see that transaction and they have no idea what a tracing number is. I asked Visa (the issuer of my card) and they said they cannot help me with this and I should contact TSB.

I have a bunch of tickets raised at Airbnb. I have a bunch of tickets raised at TSB. I have an investigation ongoing by the account SwitchService. I have an investigation ongoing by RBS. I am at a loss and have no idea how to proceed. If you have any ideas or suggestions please help.

Barcelona High Rise Not Accessible to Handicapped

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I booked a room in Barcelona through Airbnb in February, but by the time I traveled in late May, I had developed back and leg problems (sciatica). A couple days before arriving, it occurred to me that I didn’t know whether I would need to climb steps or if there was an elevator.

I contacted the host, who was willing to be helpful, but he was on the third floor without an elevator. I was able to see the building from the outside and could determine I would not be able to climb the stairs, or if I got up there, I would not get back down. The host declined to refund me because I cancelled too late (which I get), and he was generous in offering the same reservation for a future time (I will not get to go back to Barcelona to claim the offer).

At the time of booking, my fee went from the posted $47.00 per night to $125.00 because there was a big music festival in town that weekend. I hoped he would be able to book guests in, but he chose not to open up to a new Airbnb booking. My total fee was $420.00. So far I have received a refund of $18.96.

I contacted Airbnb to request a full refund. I had a case worker who asked for a doctor’s letter by June 14th. On June 10th (I had not yet received the doctor’s letter) I got this email message:

“Thank you for providing me the details. Please feel free to contact us when you have the letter from the doctor and we’ll be happy to analyse it in order to help you. You don’t have a time frame to provide this documentation. However, I’m forced to close this consult for the time being. It will re-open once you provide the doctor’s letter. Keep in mind that the letter is the only way we can help you. Please contact us when you need to. We’ll be glad to help you.”

The next day I sent the doctor’s letter. My case worker had disappeared. All I got were automatic responses saying they received my request. I have complied. Since I have a medical reason for the cancellation, I expect Airbnb to honor my refund request or least to acknowledge and act on it now that the documentation is in place. I have used Airbnb other places and had good experiences. Of course, it just takes one bad meal to keep me out of a restaurant.

Illegal Airbnb in LA Means Sneaking Around

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We booked a two-bedroom apartment in Hollywood for 18 nights as our son is autistic and has allergies so we sometimes like to cook. A few days before our arrival, we received a message from the Superhost not to discuss Airbnb anywhere near the apartment or building; this was because the hotels in the area are losing a lot of money and are going to court to have Airbnb banned.

On our arrival to the apartment it was clear that Airbnb subletting in the apartment building was illegal as there were signs in the lift, entrance and parking lot. The person with our key was not the host but a friend. We also noticed that the carpets were heavily stained, the balcony light had blown out, the Sonos sound system was missing and one of the stovetop burners didn’t work. The next day we went to Walmart and spent $200 on food which was placed in the fridge and freezer.

When we woke the next morning we discovered that the freezer had stopped working; everything had defrosted and was ruined. I sent a message to the Superhost and discovered she was in Europe. I told her we wanted everything fixed. She made no mention of compensating us for the food. She then asked me to take the keys to her friend so they could arrange the repairs. As I was on holiday, I refused (I should not be running around after her). She couldn’t ask management to fix it as she was illegally subletting the apartment.

After much to-ing and fro-ing and abuse from the Superhost we requested a full refund and went to an hotel. Airbnb was good and sorted the refund out quickly. The Superhost gave me a refund because she knew she was in hot water with the apartment if they found out. I’m not sure we’ll use Airbnb again.

I had the worst experience of my life booking with Airbnb

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I’ve got the worst experience of my life booking with Airbnb. My host cancelled my stay the day I landed in New York. After 2.5 hours spent chatting with the customer care without finding a solution, I was told by my representative that she would have finish her journey shortly and another person would take care of my situation soon. I was contacted two days later after opening a complaint against them.

It isn’t over yet. Since I had no place to go I decided to book a hotel (only 3% were available that day), then asked Airbnb for a full refund of the difference I had to pay between the hotel and my room ($600). After about ten days of emails back and forth they agreed to a payment of $300. Be aware your host can cancel your reservation; you won’t have a full refund and potentially no place to go.

Unprocessed Refund from Cancelling Airbnb Host

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Around February, I booked a house for March 14th. On the day, I was informed by the host that the house was not available due to the radiator breaking down, which would need a few days to fix. So, I asked for a full refund because the house was the only one at which I really wanted to stay and other listed houses that the owner recommended as substitutes were not really fancy or worth the price that I paid for. I was not aware that the host has to process the cancellation if a guest wants to get a refund, which he did not process at all. After several weeks, I messaged him to check if he sent me the money back and he said: “Has it not been processed? Can you send me your bank details?”

After roughly one month from receiving this reply, I asked him again and then he said “Can you double check again?”

This was the last reply that I received. Since then, Intentionally or unintentionally, he is not answering my messages or phone calls. Is there any way that I can get a full refund with the proof that I have?