How do i request a refund for Air BnB's fees?

[Jamie665]

I have requested a refund for a holiday i have been forced to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the amount of the refund is only £3,245.66 of the £3,748.09 i paid for the stay.

How do i also claim a refund for the other £502.43 which is presumably AirBnB's fees?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jamie665 To help we would need to know

1) Cancellation policy when you booked

2) Date of booking

3) Date of stay

4) Where was the stay relative to you

5) How you cancelled (ie what options you chose)

My suspicion is that the host refunded everything (either generously or through policy) but Airbnb didn't as you didn't qualify - Cant tell for sure without answers above

[Jamie665]

Hi

1) Cancellation policy: Super Strict

2) 27/10/2019

3) 18/07/2020

4) In Croatia, we are in the UK

5) I chose the option of "Documented extenuated circumstances" with the documentation being the UK government's current ban on anything but essential travel. Plus the fact our flight had been cancelled due the to COVID-19 pandemic.

The host hasn't actually refunded anything yet, it was just that £3,245.66 was the most i could request.

many thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jamie665If you read the Airbnb policy (click on covid policies on Airbnb website) you should be able to get a full refund - You will find that Airbnb are far easier to deal within you accept credit vs cash.

[Yadira22]

HI @Jamie665 

The host has not manage refunds, Airbnb does and from what you describes it seems as they are who you should get a hold of.  I know that before ABB would refund their service fees up to x3 per calendar year but not sure if this has changed.

Hope you are able to get into contact with them- heard that Twitter is best, otherwise try to message them on the website/app. 

Good luck . 

[Sarah977]

@Jamie665  Hosts do not get paid until 24 hours after guests check in. Airbnb has your money, not the host, the host has nothing to refund. And when you cancel under COVID, there is no need to send a request for a refund to the host- you just cancel. 

It's Airbnb you have to deal with at this point, not the host.

I don't really understand why you waited until a week or less before the stay to cancel- The UK ban on all but essential travel has been in place for awhile, has it not? All this time, since Oct. 2019, you have blocked the host's calendar with your booking. Waiting until now to cancel isn't a very nice thing to do to a host- had you cancelled earlier the host might very likely have been able to fill those dates.

I realize no one planned on a pandemic, but it wasn't hard to see even a few weeks ago that the restrictions wouldn't be lifted anytime soon.

[Jamie665]

The reason why I cancelled yesterday was because it was only yesterday that my flight was cancelled. With Croatia being a green country in terms of the risk and the possibility of air bridges being established from the UK travelling remained a possibility. If easyJet had cancelled my flight 2 months ago that's when I would have cancelled my accommodation but if the flight had gone ahead then I would have been left with a flight but nowhere to stay. Cancelling accommodation while the flight remained a possibility would not be the best option in my opinion.