Host not refunding a Sep 2021 booking they say now can't honour

[Carl5786]

In early June I booked a place for Sep 2021 & my credit card was charged. Within 10 minutes the host messaged me to say he couldn't accept the booking as he was winding up his operation etc. When I pointed out that my card had been charged he assured me he'd arrange the refund. I didn't receive the refund & when I messaged him he  insisted that he had spoken to Air B n B & they were organizing the refund. This struck me as odd as I always though that the host was in control. My booking is still showing as accepted. I have kept messaging him as I have not received the refund still & he keeps insisting it is Air B n B who are not complying. I don't want to cancel the booking myself as I will not then get all of my money back.

In the meantime I have tried to get Air B n B to resolve & have been in contact by both message and phone. Each time they say they will look into this and come back to me. I have heard no more. They don't seem concerned that not only is the host blaming them, a host was advertising a service they could not fulfill.

After using Air B n B successfully a number of times over the year this whole episode is more than irritating. I appreciate that Air B n B must be busy but their customer service has been very poor & I am questioning how legitimate the host is.

Does anyone have any ideas/tips on what I can do next / get my money back.

[Nanxing0]

Did the host accept your request or declined it? If he accepted the request and told you he couldn't accommodate, then the host needs to cancel the reservation on his/her side. If the host declined your request then you need to contact Airbnb customer service. Call them (instead of messaging), and ask to talk to the payment team. If the representative cannot handle ask to talk to supervisor.

There are sometimes unforeseen circumstances going on with individual hosts so it's not surprising to have this type of "cannot accommodate" incident. Just like some guests find themselves sick before boarding the plane. We are human so things do happen.

[Huma0]

@Carl5786 

The host is correct in saying that Airbnb must issue the refund, not him. The host only gets paid their share AFTER a guest checks in and Airbnb holds on to any payments prior to that, so the host has no ability to issue you a refund unless it is for a stay that has already started.

However, if your booking is still showing as active, it sounds like the host has not cancelled it, which would explain the lack of refund. It may be an oversight, or it may be that he is hoping you will cancel from your end as a host is much more heavily penalised for cancelling on a guest than the other way round. 

As it is the host, not you, who wishes to cancel, then it is only fair that they initiate the cancellation and face the penalties. I would contact your host again and explain that you understand that Airbnb holds the funds, but that he needs to cancel the reservation from his end in order for them to do that. If he refuses, then you do need to take it up with Airbnb again.

[Anonymous]

@Carl5786 It sounds like your host is trying to evade cancellation penalties , if your booking still shows up as active. Usually when the correspondence shows that the host was the party who initiated the cancellation, Airbnb's customer service will process it as a host cancellation - thereby granting the guest a full refund (including Airbnb fees) and penalizing the host. However, a lot of people are reporting especially long wait times and conflicting messages from the support staff since the pandemic began. 

Sadly the only thing I can suggest is persistence; fortunately, there is still some time until your trip to re-book.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Carl5786 was the message on Airbnb? If yes then a call to Airbnb (and potentially long wait) should sort this out. The number for the UK can be found in a post pinned towards the top of the help section

An alternative would be to use the message as proof to your bank and initiate a chargeback on your card. 

[Sarah977]

@Carl5786  Unfortunately, guests do sometimes report this kind of host behavior- the host says they will "take care of it", but they don't. As others have said, the host simply needs to hit "cancel" for you to get a full refund, but will receive penalties for doing so.

So either the host is being dishonest with you about him contacting Airbnb to work out the cancellation (he could get a penalty-free cancellation if he provides Airbnb with acceptable documentation as to why he can't host you) or he is actually trying, but there are ridiculous wait times right now for customer service- hosts and guests having to wait up to a week or more for a response to a message, or hours-long phone wait times.

The thing is, as the host notified you 10 minutes after you had booked that he couldn't honor the reservation, you could easily have cancelled yourself at that point- you have 48 hours to cancel a booking and receive a full refund, so it's too bad you didn't do that at the time. 

If I were you, I would contact Airbnb and explain what is happening, and see if they have any record of the host contacting them to cancel the reservation or whether he is just BSing you. In which case, ask them to contact the host and please get your reservation cancelled so you can get your refund.

I hope your communication with the host has been kept on the Airbnb messaging system so Airbnb can see that the host is the one who wants to cancel and has been telling you it's now in Airbnb's hands.

[Carl5786]

Thank you all for the help and feedback.