covod19 refund refused by host

[Ramsey14]

Hello, I booked a stay in Spain in January before Covid19 was a global issue.
When time went by and a global travelban was instated, I cancelled my reservation 5 weeks before the actual traveldate.
I gave Covid19/travelban as the reason.
As I had paid the amount in full, I only recieved half of my money back.
They refuse to pay the full amount as there is now no travelban in place.
There was a ban during at the time of cancelation!
According to the airbnb rules about covid19 I have the full right to get my money back!
As they blatently refuse to pay without an solid explanation, how can I get the rest of my money?
When and How does Airbnb step in and protects its customers?

Please advise!!

[Sarah977]

@Ramsey14  It's unclear from your post if you have talked to Airbnb customer service about this, or only with the host. There were clear policies about full refunds for COVID for bookings made before March 14, for stays before April 14th. Then they kept extending the cancellation dates as it was clear that the pandemic was still raging. 

 When was the booking check-in date? Have you only been communicating with the host? If so, you may as well stop that, because she's obviously not going to relent. It's Airbnb you should be dealing with at this point, and if they are refusing to refund you in full, I really don't know what to suggest except persistence.