On the seventh day of our vacation around Scotland, we spent the day sightseeing around the northeast. At about 4:00, knowing we had about an hour of daylight left, we headed for our Airbnb which was twenty minutes away. Unable to find the location, we called and messaged the owner. While waiting for a response, we continued to circle around the coastline looking for the property. The number was not there and the directions were crap, of course. Finally, after twenty minutes we pulled over and messaged again. This time we waited for another 20 minutes. No response.
It was getting dark and we were truly in the middle of nowhere. We had to make the command decision to drive and find other accommodations. The only place to go was west towards a snowstorm or south towards Edinborough. We eventually found a spot twenty minutes away. Our new host actually knew the lady that was not responding to our Airbnb messages. He informed us that during the winter she left the country for three months. That’s why she wasn’t messaging.
Long story short, our host took the money even though she knew she would not be there. Airbnb was a pain in the butt. We called them several times that evening. Their solution was to continue to try and contact the lady. After three hours, they recommended another stay which was 75 minutes away. Because we refused that stay (it was 8:00 PM and we had already found another accommodation) Airbnb said they couldn’t refund us.
We continued to message the Airbnb host for several months, hoping she would pitch in and help facilitate a refund. We never heard back from her. Because Airbnb cancelled the accommodation, we were not allowed to review this host.
Definitely something wrong with the original host however I doubt she actually got the money you paid, as hosts don’t get paid until the day after you’ve checked in. This sounds more like airbnb saw an opportunity to just keep/steal your money.
Did you try to contact the host via the Airbnb app? Or was it personal calls and/or texts? Airbnb holds hosts accountable for response times. Airbnb will always consider communication on the platform, communication off platform may or may not be considered.
As a host who had to cancel a stay due to an extenuating circumstance (A/c died; 95 degree days), Airbnb gave my guests a choice of staying at other Airbnb property or refund; so you may still have hope for a refund.
Always ask for your concerns to be escalated to a Customer Service. Post your concerns on the Airbnb Twitter feed and/or Airbnb Facebook sites. They tend to respond better to those.
Include only pertinent facts.
E.g. (use any/all/none as you wish) requesting refund for dates——. Unable to find original Airbnb rental. Poor directions. Address not available by GPS (? If True?) several attempts to contact owner, no response. Based upon lateness & delay in Airbnb assistance, we booked a different Airbnb. Airbnb offered yet a different replacement stay. Because we stayed on Airbnb platform for a replacement stay, we ask that Airbnb consider our stay at ——-as the replacement stay and refund the cost of the stay at ———. Otherwise Airbnb was paid by us for 2 different stays for the same dates.