Early Charges

[James2365]

In February we booked a trip for Christmas and paid half the fee as a deposit with the remainder due 2 weeks before arrival so early December. Last week we were charged the remainder of the reservation. I contacted Airbnb and they said there is a known issue and a specialized team is working and monitoring the issue. I’m want to find out if others have experienced this and if they have received a refund? If this is normal business, I might cancel my reservation and tell the host it is due to a glitch in the system and an early charge that the company cannot correct.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James2365 

I would advise against cancelling. At the moment you are in the right and can/should hassle Airbnb for a refund. Apparently Twitter works well in some cases.

If you cancel you will probably  forfeit the first 50% you have paid (if it is a Strict cancellation policy) and you will definitely lose the booking fee to Airbnb (approx 16%)

[Andrew1951]

I had the same issue. Booked a large group trip in February for July of this year and I was charged the remaining amount on 4/27 without my consent despite email confirmations showing the balance would be charged in late June. I've talked to customer service three times since then and they won't refund the charge to me. They said they're aware of the issue and should have it resolved in a couple weeks (as of today). I'm disappointed with the company's refusal to provide a prompt refund for their error and putting a burden on their customers. 

They gave me a coupon for a future stay, but I'm not sure if I'll be using Airbnb again after this experience.