Not my listing - just my kid stuck in Europe with an Airbnb nightmare!

[Michelle2475]

My daughter booked an Airbnb in Barcelona.  The host cancelled on her at the last minute.  She has spent most of her vacation trying to find another decent place to stay - ended up being almost double what she booked.  Airbnb has not helped her at all.  Her credit card was charged 3X - they've only refunded one but $148 less than what she paid.  There is now a huge hold on her credit card for a $900 stay plus the new one at almost double.  She's been trying to get someone to help continuously for days.  The last communication was that s/he could not respond until the next day.  Each phone call is 10 cents a minute so she's now wracked up a huge phone bill and still is without the money back.  She's also worried about maxing out her credit card and having no further funds and a hit on her credit score for maxing out the card.

Is there any way to escalate this?  I've only been only the hosting side so really didn't know the struggles of a guest who is left hanging in the wind by both Airbnb and the host.

[Anonymous]

@Michelle2475  What's supposed to happen when the host cancels a stay is that Airbnb issues a full refund of the booking charge, and when it's happened to me in the past they've also offered a short-term voucher worth about 10% of the original fee, that can be credited toward another stay. There's really no point in seeking any further help from them, because they don't have an inventory of emergency properties available to re-house guests. All you really have is a remote operator looking at the same screen of search results that you can pull up yourself. If it's high season in a major tourist destination, what's left on Airbnb at the last minute is not going to be the cream of the crop, but it's not within Airbnb's power to conjure up better options.

If they're failing to refund her in full for the booking, that's definitely worth pressing the case about, but it sounds like something more complicated is going on. Did the host maybe deceive her into cancelling from her end?

[Michelle2475]

Airbnb did offer her a coupon (not sure if it was for the rebooking).  They deducted $148+ from the original payment - in addition to charging her card 3 times for that stay.  She did not cancel.  She received a cancellation notice and could not get in touch with the host.  She was then offered "sketchy" places to stay.  She lives in New York city so for her to say that it must have been really bad!  It's hard to get specifics over text but she's going to continue to plug away at getting the refund and deduction straightened out.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Michelle2475 

This is most unfortunate, and I feel for both of you. Definitely get with the travel insurance folks. I am with @Anonymous (as usual) with my life-long experience that when the plans go awry, that's when the adventure begins - and the fun. Of course I do relish a challenge, not everyone does, and I choose my travel buddies carefully! I hope this turns out well, after all. 

[Michelle2475]

Thanks for your great attitude!  I wish I could say this is her only hurdle - part of her trip is tagging along with a college thing.  She graduated 2 years ago but is friends with the dad who's running it.  It's been awful!  I think she's learned many lessons here!  I just feel bad because she works a lot and this is supposed to be a stress reliever!

[Gillian166]

my 19yo daughter is heading off to Europe next month for a month long trip with friends, she's been so determined to book it all without my help (but also moaning about how much work it is, and back hand complimenting me on arranging travel for our family of 5 all these years), but I do fear this might happen to her, but i'm pretty chill so long as her personal safety is not the issue. she's just now organising travel insurance and this is probably the key component, although really it can't be that hard to find new accommodation even if you have to venture off the beaten path. (granted, you need to be savvy enough to realise what's safe and what's dodgy)

Let us know how it works out. 

[Michelle2475]

I think the hard part for international travelers is knowing what is a safe area and what is not.  She does have travel insurance but I'll have to look in to whether they cover anything regarding Airbnb cancellations.  I was more concerned about medical coverage and lost bags.

As a host, I never cancelled anyone's reservation so it's all foreign to me.

[Anonymous]

@Michelle2475   For what it's worth, in cities like Barcelona and Berlin, nearly all of the safety-related incidents affecting outsiders happen in the popular tourism spots, where criminals go specifically targeting tourists (primarily for theft). You're far likelier to have problems while sightseeing, going out in, or transiting through a "nice" area than you might while straying off the beaten path into what looks like a gritty or down-at-heel neighborhood.

Granted, young women have safety concerns that extend well beyond neighborhood dynamics and are way undercounted in the official crime stats. But generally, the safety risk factors here are much more about situations than geography.

[Laura2592]

@Michelle2475  this is one reason to book with Superhosts when traveling abroad. As we all know, you cancel upon pain of death lol.

[Emilia42]

I'm confused why your daughter was not automatically refunded? The second the host cancels a full refund is released. The host does not have an option to "hold" this money. Although, it will take some time for the funds to be available again on the credit card, depending on the CC company. 

[Michelle2475]

We're confused too - they charged her card three times for the same reservation.  They refunded the first charge less $148 (for no reason because she wasn't the one who cancelled).  The other two are still on her card.  Last I heard Airbnb never got back to her.

[Michelle2475]

She was charged 3x for the original reservation and only got a partial refund for the first - which she did not cancel, the host did.  I'll have to wait until she gets home to have a better conversation than via text.

[Helen3]

Awful situation for your daughter .

what sort of contact did she have with the host before arrival regarding her check in?

you can use what's app or Skype with wifi to make free calls so won't cost her anything to call Airbnb

I'm sure you've already advised her of Airbnbs guest policy if accommodation is not available that they will help her find somewhere even at higher cost 

Alternatively she could have found somewhere else and asked airbnb to transfer her balance to the new booking .

There's still quite a lot of accommodation in Barcelona currently so hopefully she's now found an alternative. (Just come back from there) 

she can use public channels on social media if Airbnb are not responding 

[Ana7]

My experience is that Airbnb answers pretty quickly when you address through their Facebook page, in public. They answer and fix things in matter of minutes! Have you tried that?

[Michelle2475]

I think she decided to wait until she gets home at this point.  She spent 3 days wrangling with this and it ruined those three days for her.  She did get another Airbnb (for double the price) and has been happy with it.

[Suzanne302]

@Michelle2475 

What a mess. But I'm not surprised. When Covid first hit, and before I shut down my listing because of it, I had a "possible exposure" and out of an abundance of caution I asked Airbnb to rebook the guests set to arrive in 3 days. (Back in those days test appointments weren't readily available and it wouldn't be until after the guests arrived that I would know the results.)

BIG mistake.

One, it triggered a complete mess of a lockdown on my listing and a contentious back and forth via phone and email between myself and CS. And two, I was in constant contact with the guests trying to get them booked someplace else. Even though Airbnb made the cancellation, they did not contact the guests at all in those 3 days to try and help them!!! I was appalled and disgusted and felt so bad for my poor guests as they simply had to cancel their entire trip.

So, no, I don't trust Airbnb CS as a host OR a guest.