Airbnb will not refund my money, just a coupon. 35 hours on the phone with them!!

[Graham335]

Hello all,

I have had a terrible experience with airbnb. My house was said to have 1.5 bathrooms.The host said that airbnb made her list it that way because it had a sauna. WHAT.. It had only 1 bathroom, no TV, no gas bbq,  the host took pictures from her neighbors view of the lake. I looked at 3 trees. I complained to the host and got a negative feedback comment!! .  I have honestly been on the phone with 13 sales managers, 35 hours of my time. I did this because they gave me 2 partial refunds. One was a coupon, one was cash. Makes no sense. So I demanded that my coupon was also put back to my CC. 7 days later when it was too late to book on a real site like expedia. My vacation is over. They still would not do it. 

 There sales reps have no clue. Half of them actually said it was ok to record them. I am forwarding all to their central office. 

I HAE NEVER DEALT WITH A MORE INCOMPETANT COMPANY!!

[Huma0]

@Graham335 

Can I just double check, did the listing specify there was a TV and a BBQ?

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

Here's the listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/43552826 

It does state gas grill in the written description.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Thank you. Is a gas grill a BBQ? I would take that to mean the grill in the kitchen, but perhaps that's just the translation? I can see that a TV is listed too but according to @Graham335 's review there was a TV, only it wasn't working.

I am just double checking because it looks like the host has updated the listing since it says 1 bathroom, not 1.5. I haven't read the full description, but going by the photos, I would not assume there was necessarily a direct view of the lake from the cabin. I would think these were just photos of the local area.

I can see how these sort of misunderstandings can happen. The host most likely did put 1.5 bathrooms because she innocently thought that was a way of including the sauna in her listing. Perhaps the TV normally works. Was she alerted and given an opportunity to fix it, or it was something she already knew about and didn't bother to rectify? I don't know, and I have no idea about the missing BBQ.

Judging by the small number of reviews, I'm assuming this was just an inexperienced host. The place looks nice enough and @Graham335 's review indicates that the only problem was the lack of these particular amenities, so I don't know if that justifies a full cash refund.

However, it is SO important to be accurate in the description as you never know what will be important to one guest as opposed to another. Personally, I would prefer one bathroom and one sauna to 1.5 bathrooms, but perhaps the half bath was a selling point/necessity for @Graham335 's group?

[Graham335]

Again, the pictures were from her neighbors yard. Thats why it looked nice ughhhhhh. No lake view at all. So she changed her pics since, charges double now, has it listed as a 1 bedroom. Again we spoke daily. And she leaves a negative feedback. But their feedback and refund psges are so verbose and leave a lot to be desired. They can get out of anything...

[Debra300]

@Graham335,

You will see this advice often in the community conversations, always maintain communication between guests and hosts on the Airbnb message system.  If you have conversations/emails/texts, send a follow up Airbnb message recapping what was said, and ask the receiver to confirm what you've written.

[Graham335]

I just want the coupon redeemed again as I will never use airbnb ever again. Next year will be from Expedia. 

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

Yes, gas grill is often synonymous with an outdoor bar-b-que that sometimes looks similar to this.

@Graham335,

During this pandemic, most travel related businesses are giving coupons/vouchers with an expiration date as a form of refund, and not returning money.  

@Lisa723 

[Graham335]

Then why was half cash? They can't even explain that...

[Graham335]

Yes and a second bathroom 

[Huma0]

@Graham335 

Also, the host mentions that you told Airbnb you had vacated the property when you asked for a refund, when in fact you were there the whole time. If that is true, I can see why you didn't get the refund you wanted.

[Graham335]

No I did not vacate as ny children were in the car all day!  I actually called airbnb then and told them. I told them I am not going to complain now so I didnt have a terrible week living next to the host. So I did call in 22 hours and they told me that after 24 hours they would give a partial refund. I never expected a coupon when you read through their pages and pages of garbage where they try to confuse you that they would reimburse partial. That was cool until it was a coupon. So I got it hard for being polite on MY vacation.

[Lisa723]

@Graham335 is your position that you should receive a 100% refund for a stay that you completed, without even alerting the host to missing/nonfunctional grill and TV and giving her an opportunity to correct these?

[Graham335]

I answered these in my post. Her answer was to turn the tv on. Its all in the chats too...

[Graham335]

With no

2nd bathroom 

No working grill

No working tv

And NO Lakeview as shown.

So I again I am not asking for more money! They gave me half my refund as cash and the other half as a coupon. I want them to refund the 138 coupon. It makes no sense why they didn't. Except that if you factor in all fees and their 15% profit. They are not losing a red cent!