Can a guest use the cancellation policy in the app and still pursue full refund for misrepresentation of listing?

[Brendan287]

Hi,

My wife and I checked into an apartment in ** London ** yesterday, 26 December 2022.  

We discovered that although it was the same physical building as the listing, the rooms were not like the photos at all. The rooms in the listing looked warm and lived in and had the usual amount of decorations, lamps, pictures, cushions, etc to convey that lovely homely feel. When we arrived the rooms were stripped bare, and the place was dirty, including mold in some areas. The empty room adjacent next to ours reeked of mold. The place is grim and we don't want to stay here. 

We immediately contacted AirBnB who are now investigating our complaint. Yesterday we were told by them not to cancel using the app while they investigate the issue. The problem is they are still investigating, we are still here, and we have incurred another day's rental.

Can we cancel the booking the in the app and still pursue a refund for the balance?

Any advice is appreciated,

Brendan

PS: We will post photos once the matter is resolved by AirBnB

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[Clara116]

@Brendan287 Wow - if I booked a place and it was dirty, smelled of mold and was stripped down as you write - I'd call the host FIRST, and then airbnb and tell them to "please find us another place, NOW". What are you doing still there? If the host doesn't know there is a problem do you think this is a good approach? 

Just realize that your statements are very important. DID you contact the HOST? That's the most important thing that should happen first. Let the host know what you are finding, perhaps the place was missed by the cleaners?? Perhaps they were robbed?? Give the host a chance to fix whatever the problem is. IF a place is totally misrepresented that is something else, when you write about mold and misrep of a place a host can be closed down, lose all their income and perhaps all the future bookings as well and kicked off the airbnb platform. 

There are people that book Airbnb's and go in a steal everything in the place, stripped down, like you write - maybe that's what happened?? Keep us posted. If you stay in a place why should you get a refund? Its when you are forced to leave you will get refunded. 

I am sorry you have this situation but please look at it from more than just your angle of refund. peace, Clara

[Helen744]

Brendan287, I am not sure how you can stay there at all Brendan , are there beds , etcetera ? You have breeched the rules by not calling the host and getting then to rectify ,but this time of year it could be difficult. i would be in touch immediately with the host on the messaging app and wait until the stay is over if you intend to stay and request a refund later ,but have all your evidence ready to go, if you need to clean things like mould or buy extra things to make the place comfortable for yourself then make sure they are essentials , like clean towels or anything that is on the original listing as available.Tell Airbnb of this and really you need to do this both now and ask for the refund the evening before you leave. If there was a gaurentee that airbnb would be able to find you something else at the moment then I would ask for a refund and move . ask for the whole amount in that case. but present your photographic evidence hopefully with date stamps. it sounds like  a nightmare . All the best   H

[Jenny]

Hi @Brendan287 

Sorry to hear about this.

Has there been any update since you posted this?  You can let us know by typing @ and then Jenny.  Please also tag @Bhumika and @Quincy as I'll be on annual leave after today, and want to make sure that we get this picked up for you!

Thank you to @Helen744 and @Clara116 for your fantastic advice!

Jenny

[Huma0]

@Brendan287 

You can find details on Aircover for guests here: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/3218

Although there doesn't seem to be any information on what happens if you cancel the stay yourself. 

Technically, you are supposed to contact the host first (not sure if you tried that) and then contact Airbnb if you A.) can't get hold of the host or B.) the host can't/won't resolve the issue. You have to contact Airbnb within 72 hours of discovering the issue, which you did, so that's good. 

Airbnb are supposed to refund you if they cannot find you alternative accommodation.

I can only suggest that you continue to pester Airbnb CS until they either relocate you or refund you but, at this time of year, a refund might be the quickest solution. I do not agree that you should complete the stay and then ask for a refund at the end. The longer you stay, the less likelihood there is of a refund and it sounds like you do not want to stay any longer than you have to.