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.

[Amy1554]

I thought AirCover would take care this situation as Airbnb promised? 

[Michelle2475]

Not at all!  She's been getting the run around and very little help.  I'm guessing the shortage on one was due to either an exchange rate (wrong) or put in as if she cancelled (wrong).  It took a long time to get either the host or Airbnb to respond.  I told her to go with hotels from now on!

[Amy1554]

It's a very unfortunate circumstance. I guess your daughter would only get a refund from the original reservation but cannot cover the cost of new place. I think it will be a heave penalty to the host but it doesn't help your daughter. Can you contact Airbnb support in behave of your daughter? 

[Michelle2475]

I tried but, because it's her reservation, and not mine, they could not help.  The woman I talked to was very sympathetic but couldn't help.

[Pat271]

@Michelle2475  This happens at hotels too. One year, our family of 5 could not check into our room at a fancy Westin because the previous guests refused to leave, and there was nowhere else to put us. These situations are rare, but they can happen at any type of accommodation.

Agreed that Airbnb should be more responsive. This type of thing happening is the reason that host cancellations carry such severe penalties, like fines, a blocked calendar, and Superhost disqualification.

[Helen744]

@Michelle2475 Maybe try the US embassy from your end and try and hook her up . not much else you can do except send her money and as Andrew says find other accomodation a bit off the main way especially if there is a big touristy weekend happening or something. Very bad on the hosts part and Airbnb. please alert Airbnb on your daughters behalf . with booking numbers etcetera if your daughter can send the reservation email to you. All the best Maybe one of the co ordinators here can help . I think Airbnb Spain is a separate site H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744   The US embassies have never dealt with minor tourism concerns that basically amount to consumer-affairs complaints and cash-flow issues. That wasn't within the scope of diplomatic affairs even before the State Department was gutted and consulate crews were reduced down to basically 2 paper-pushers and 10 security guards. 

Airbnb Spain is the same site, but the Spanish-language customer support is probably run by a different contractor and may be more useful if you're fluent in Spanish.

[Helen744]

@Anonymous Mothers . We always 'call the embassy ' or think we can when its our kids. H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744   Haha, I know what you mean. But this is a 24-year-old woman looking for optimal accommodation, not a missing child. 

[Z-2]

@Michelle2475 That is terrible! I feel really sorry for you and your daughter. Can’t imagine how bad she felt. Airbnb really should improve their customer service and should give a heavy penalty to those kind of hosts!

[Michelle2475]

I don't think the cancellation was an accident or overbooking.  I think the host found his rates were going up and took a gamble on getting a higher price.  She could not get a response after multiple inquiries.  I think this has soured her on out-of-country Airbnb's.  At least at home she has recourse as to driving home, etc.

[Pat271]

@Michelle2475 I can pretty much guarantee you that this isn’t the reason, since there are severe penalties imposed as well as a block placed on the dates your daughter booked, which disables the ability to rebook. The penalties on the host are too high for the host to be able to pull that off.

[Anonymous]

@Michelle2475  What an awful situation! Depending on which kind of travel insurance your daughter is using, she might have an easier time getting support through them, but the more affordable plans are usually no help when the tied-up funds leave you in a cash-flow emergency.

"Air Cover" for guests is a joke - they list all these things they'll do to help you if you have a travel issue or get cancelled on, but then at the end of the sentence they say they'll either do that "or you'll get refunded." In reality, a refund is the best you can hope for, and even getting that is like pulling teeth.

I've been in the same situation as a traveler, and one stroke of luck was that I was on vacation, and not attached to the destination due to work or school or prepaid activities. That meant that when I was stranded in a super-popular spot that was expensive and hard to find last-minute accommodation, I could just do some quick research and find a lesser-known locale where my budget stretched out farther. In hindsight, that's been a blessing in disguise - some of the most interesting experiences I've had came because I had to pivot away from mainstream tourism at the last minute. If it's any consolation to your daughter when reflecting on the trip later, those things that feel like nightmares at the time often turn out to be where the real adventure begins.

[Michelle2475]

I hadn't thought about travel insurance - I did purchase it for her.  Perhaps I'll try that in addition to having her plug away at Airbnb.  It's really hard when your "kid" is almost 25!  There's nothing I can do other than advise and console her.  BTW - I realized one of the things she sent by text is that Airbnb was offering her "sketchy" alternatives.  She lives in New York City so, for her to think it's sketchy is pretty bad!