A REFUND

[Terry714]

My wife & I were going to Hawaii in December.  My wife has pulmonary issues & contracted COVID.  We cancelled our air fare, our timeshare reservation, our rental care reservation & tried to cancel our airbnb reservation but it was DENIED.  We appealed to the owner / manager of the facility in Lahaina but our appeal was denied.  They charged our credit card almost $1,500.00.  I'm 77 & my wife is 75 years of age.  We don't have a lot of money & this $1,500.00 charge will really hurt us.  Anything airbnb will do.....anything.........will be greatly appreciated.

[Emiel1]

@Terry714 

When you cancel a reservation the attached cancelation policy will calculate the refund (if any).

Regarding Covid there is a special "Covid extenating circumstances" policy, which can provide refund if the guest or host is infected with COVID (Airbnb will ask for documentation)

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2728/cancellation-options-due-to-covid19

[Sarah977]

@Terry714  You should have read the information re cancelling a reservation. As a guest, you don't cancel by asking the host, nor asking the host for a refund. Neither the host nor Airbnb can deny you a cancellation- guests are always  free to cancel- you simply cancel from your end. 

The question then becomes how much of  a refund you are owed, which is calculated automatically according to the cancellation policy for the listing. 

Guests should purchase travel insurance to cover themselves should they need to cancel, as you can't expect hosts to be your de facto travel insurers should there be unforeseen circumstances that dictate you needing to cancel. And especially considering that everyone is well aware now that Covid may lead to disruptions in travel plans.

And FYI, the host does not charge your credit card. Hosts have no access to your credit card information. Airbnb charges you and releases payments to hosts 24 hours after check-in.

In your particular case, a positive Covid test is one of the few things that is covered by the extenuating circumstances policy, so had you followed the proper procedure for cancelling, and contacted Airbnb instead of the host, you would have been fully refunded. I'm not sure if you can still pursue that, as you have waited 2 months, but it's worth a try.

[Terry714]

I guess I don't understand how we COULD cancel our timeshare reservation, our air fare reservation, our rental car reservation.......BUT, could NOT cancel our airbnb reservation.  GOT ZERO REFUND

[Mark116]

@Terry714  The way to understand it is to have read the agreement you made with Airbnb.  It's pretty simple. 

If you can prove that your wife had covid and would not have been allowed to travel you might still get a refund, but it's your own fault for not paying attention to the contract or getting travel insurance.  

[Terry714]

Thanks Mark

I'm sure you wade thru pages of contacts when you sign one.  It was my fault but my point is we COULD cancel 3 other reservations for this trip but not airbnb

[Mark116]

@Terry714 The difference is that the airplane has plenty of other seats, the rental car agency has plenty of other cars, the hotel and time share have other units, but the host probably only has 1 airbnb which is also probably why it is a strict cancellation policy, because the host may need that income.  It goes both ways.  Airbnb isn't a hotel and doesn't work like one.

[Terry714]

YES, and I'm not a millionaire

[Sarah977]

@Terry714  You don't seem to have absorbed anything I wrote. All a guest has to do to cancel a reservation is click on the cancel button. You don't cancel by asking the host to cancel (although of course it's polite to inform the host that you are going to cancel and why).

You didn't get a refund because you did not contact Airbnb to explain that your wife tested positive for Covid and that you needed to cancel.

And when you don't cancel, that means you still have an active reservation blocking the host's calendar, meaning they cannot rebook those dates to anyone else. So of course they would not be willing to refund you if you haven't cancelled.

What you essentially did was the equivalent of needing to return an item to a store, but instead of going to the customer service desk, you ask some lowly sales girl for a refund, and when she says she can't give you one you walk out of the store angry, blaming the girl for not refunding you. 

When all you had to do was go to the customer service desk with your receipt and the item and you would have walked out with a refund or credit.

You cancelled your airline ticket by calling the airline's customer service, not some flight attendant, right? Why didn't you call Airbnb customer service to cancel your booking? The host didn't have your payment at that point, Airbnb did. 

That you didn't get a refund is entirely due to you not bothering to inform yourself of how to cancel if someone in your party contracts Covid. And you don't need to wade through 50 pages of a contract to find that out. You booked through Airbnb yet you didn't contact them when you had to cancel. 

All you have to do to get the cancellation information is go to the Airbnb main site Help section, type in "How to cancel as a guest if I test positive for Covid?" and you would have found the info. Or any other number of appropriate questions.

Responders here are trying to explain how to get a refund and how to cancel. We are trying to help you and you just respond with rude aggression.

[Terry714]

I have emails from airbnb denying my request to cancel.  They say I did not conform to this airbnb cancelation policy.  Not sure what else i could do

[Mark116]

@Terry714  I think you mean denying your refund.  No one can prevent  you from cancelling, you just cancel and then 1) the host cancellation policy applies or 2) you contact Airbnb to plead extenuating circumstances.

If you have told Airbnb that  your wife tested positive for covid and so would not have been able to travel on your trip dates and provided evidence, and you still were denied a refund, then I would say that is the end of that.

As an aside, our cancellation policy is moderate, you can cancel up to 5 days before your trip and get a full refund.  This is because we are in the NYC area, so there are a lot of last minute travelers and rebooking generally works fine.  But IF my Airbnb was in a vacation destination where guests had to fly to it and therefore made their plans months in advance I would have a strict policy, just like, apparently your host does.

[Terry714]

Mark, i understand your position as an airbnb host.  However, business was way off with lots of availability in Hawaii.  The Governor of Hawaii was even asking tourists not to come over.  We MADE the reservation inside of 30 days & the cancellation policy was outside of 30 days

[Colleen253]

@Terry714 

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2701/extenuating-circumstances-policy-and-the-coronavirus-covid19

It is wise to read all the policies and terms that you agree to. Not fun, but wise. The policy above tells you what you needed to know. It sounds like you ran into issues as you didn't follow the process to cancel your trip and submit your covid test result.