COVID-19 Airbnb cancellation please help

[Melissa1434]

Dear fellow Airbnb guests,

I am new to the community. I am advocating on behalf of my elderly parents. They booked a stay to New Orleans and cancelled within the 45 day period. We were supposed to be refunded 50% of the approximate $1,000 trip but only received $32 after canceling with Airbnb. We do not understand how to dispute this as our emails from Airbnb just come back unresolved. Can someone please help us? Thank you sincerely. 

[Emiel1]

@Melissa1434 

" and cancelled within the 45 day period".

Depending on the cancellation policy 50% is refunded if cancelled 60,30 ,7 or 5 nights before check-in.

What was the cancellation policy attached ?

And when the reservation was cancelled , how many nights were left before date of check-in ?

BTW The $32,- refund, was it the cleaning fee ?

[Melissa1434]

@Emiel1thank you sincerely for replying! To answer your questions, we had 49 days to go before our trip. Our cancellation policy was “strict:” it says: Free cancellation for 48 hours after booking. After that, cancel before 4:00 PM on May 12 and get a 50% refund minus the service fee. 

We canceled March 27, so this should not be an issue, correct?

As far as the $32 refund is, we have no idea. It should be $500. We’re at a total loss.

[Melissa1434]

@Emiel1  Cleaning fee of $80 was already subtracted. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Melissa1434 did you pay in instalments, 50% up front and 50% closer to arrival. If the second instalment had not been paid, there would be little or nothing to refund on a strict policy.

If booked before Covid, airbnb had a policy in place where you could claim extenuating circumstances and get a full refund, so you might look into that aspect as well. 

[Melissa1434]

@Marit-Anne0thank you so much for joining in! No, we paid the full $913.44 up front charged to an AMEX card. Then upon cancellation, we were  supposed get 50% returned but only received $32 to date. This was back in May and we’ve been patiently waiting for an explanation. Any help would be great! 

[Melissa1434]

@Marit-Anne0  I just spoke to my mother. Turns out yes, that’s how it happened. 50% on her credit card & 50% closer to the time of arrival. That’s what she did. I apologize for the confusion. The first payment she stopped payment on because COVID-19 began and she spoke to the owner. They came to a full 100% refund agreement. Then they received notice that their trip was fully canceled (no shock) via Gmail due to “failed payment.” Then they received $32. This was all to be on my stepdad’s 80th birthday. This is sad.

[Colleen253]

@Melissa1434  You say the booking was to be paid in 50/50 installments, and that the first payment was made, but then your mother put a stop payment on it. What did the credit card statement show? Was anything at all successfully charged to the credit card by Airbnb? Because you also say your parents got notice the trip was cancelled due to failed payment.

[Melissa1434]

@Colleen253  Hi Colleen! Yes, the “failed payment” is due to my moms stopping payment on the first payment. This payment did go through. It says PAID $456.72 USD (for a non existent trip). This payment went through despite our objections. The second payment did not.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Melissa1434 if we are past the original date for the check-in, the owner has received the payout of 50%, so I suggest you contact the owner and ask him/her to keep their word and refund as agreed. Hopefully, the conversation with the owner regarding full refund is kept on the airbnb messaging board and possible to prove.

[Melissa1434]

@Marit-Anne0  Thank you. We decided to do just that. However, when going to look for him we discovered that the owner has gone missing. He’s taken his profile down and is no longer active in the Airbnb community. We truly feel hurt by this experience. Hopefully, like you said, most everything is recorded on Airbnb messages between my mom and the host when this occurred. This was unjust and I’m not done until my mom and stepdad receive their promised refund. Do you have any other ideas? We’re at a loss with the Airbnb host but not giving up.

[Lisa723]

@Melissa1434 I don't understand. If your mom stopped payment on her first payment, then did she actually pay? Also, if your mom actually canceled the trip, it would have been canceled on the date she canceled, not when the second payment was due (and failed?). Can you clarify how much your mother has actually paid to date, whether/when she actually canceled via Airbnb, and what you are hoping to get refunded?

[Melissa1434]

@Lisa723  She paid 50% on Jan 08 of 456.72 and had a price breakdown of $94 x 7 nights (658.00) Cleaning fee (80.00) Service fee (95.20) Occupancy taxes and fees (80.24) = $913.44  Payment of 50% taken Jan 08, 2020. Canceled March 27, 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. We’d like the full refund as promised since the trip was never taken.

[Lisa723]

@Melissa1434 OK, so your mom has effectively received a 50% refund, which is what she is officially due. It's regrettable that the host didn't deliver the 100% refund promised. Airbnb might grant it based on the message history, but probably not if the host has deactivated his account.

[Melissa1434]

@Lisa723  I hope this gets resolved too, especially based on that message history, yes! Thank you for your help, I do feel as though I have at least read this correctly. I’d like to see them receive a full refund due to the cancellation being surrounding COVID-19, and there’s not a thing they could have done differently to change this outcome. So why then does the host benefit nearly $500. (??) This is unfortunate. I’m not done with this. My mom and I will continue!!  🙂