refund and no response from airbnb or host - $2500.00

[Elizabeth1936]

We booked a month at an apartment in Austin for our 30-year old son who was returning from a job in Louisiana. When he arrived the front door was half open. Not unlocked - the door was OPEN. He walked inside to see what was going on. There was red wine spilled at the bottom of the steps (he was relieved not knowing at first what it was). The bed was unmade; sheets dirty; comforter on the floor. Dirty towels were everywhere. The counters and furniture were all filthy. Trash was strewn about. We called the host who apologized profusely; offering to pay for a motel room and saying she would cure the mistake in a day or two. He declined.
Our son filmed the entire apartment after walking us through the apartment to see what he was looking at. We have emailed that video a half dozen times for AirBnB to fully understand our complaint. The video speaks for itself. The host never responded with a refund and AirBnB has shamefully ignored us. We've sent emails and texts and bank statements along with the video.
This is no way to run a business. This is the way criminals run scams. What is going on? No one, Host or AirBnB responds?

**[Sensitive information removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]

[Helen350]

@Elizabeth1936 People make mistakes. If the host apologised profusely, it probably WAS a genuine oversight, & he either got his dates mixed up, or was expecting your son much later. This unfortunate event of unreadiness might have been a 'one off'

Airbnbs are not hotels. They are all unique enterprises, run by individuals. You can list anything on airbnb, from a sofa bed in your own living room, to a high end luxury mansion. Quality control is provided solely by the users, the reviews which guests leave. If a place gets LOTS of bad reviews, Airbnb will de-list it, so the place you booked was either a new listing, or a place with previous good reviews.

It sounds as tho' you have NOT followed Airbnb policy in claiming your money back... You should have CANCELLED the booking, as soon as you were not satisfied.(Tho' I don't think you had grounds for a refund, as the problem was fixable....) - If it looks as if you stayed a while before claiming, it's hard to convince them there was a problem..... It is also policy for a dissatisfied guest to ASK the host to fix the problem, before claiming a refund, in this case, I'm sure giving the host an hour or two to service the place would have done the trick! - Bit of an over-reaction to cancel & demand a refund!

- And anyway, when you booked you entered into a contract. You can't just change your mind, unless the place is uninhabitable, & it sounds like nothing that some strenuous housework wouldn't fix.....

And why was the accommodation not ready? Did you/your son NEGLECT to inform of your arrival time? Or arrive early, BEFORE the earliest check-in on the listing? Airbnbs are NOT hotels with 24 hour reception, it's always been the Airbnb way that guests communicate their arrival time accurately, so the host knows when to show up...

Actually, the host would have been within his rights to show your son the door... - THIRD PARTY  BOOKINGS ARE NOT ALLOWED on Airbnb, the person who intends to stay must book on their OWN account!

[Helen350]

Here are the Airbnb Cancellation Policies: https://www.airbnb.co.us/help/article/1338/how-is-my-refund-calculated-if-i-cancel-my-reservation 

- Sounds like you booked a property with a 'strict' cancellation policy, if you got no refund at all?

[Helen350]

https://www.airbnb.co.us/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member 

[Sarah977]

@Elizabeth1936  A. It is against airbnb policy to book for someone else. The booking guest has to be one of the people staying. That you did this for your 30 year-old son, who is perfectly capable of setting up his own account and booking for himself, is likely what led to this scenario- he probably was not aware of the listed check-in time, did not communicate his arrival time with the host, and apparently didn't even have the host's phone number, instead mommy phoned the host for him.

B. The Airbnb protocol when you arrive to find a place unacceptable in some way is to first notify the host, giving them an opportunity to correct the issue, then if they are not willing or able to, the guest at that point cancels the reservation. Then Airbnb handles any refunds owing. Hosts are not even paid for a reservation until minimum 24 hours after check-in.

 If you are going to use Airbnb, you should really inform yourself as to how to use it properly. All the above information is readily available to read in the information provided for guests on the Airbnb site.

[Helen3]

Did your son follow the approach outlined on his booking confirmation to alert Airbnb within 24 hours or arrival @Elizabeth1936 

[Anonymous]

@Elizabeth1936  The problems you describe are all entirely fixable. I don't know if your son arrived before check-in time or the host made a scheduling error with the cleaning. But either way, the host made a very reasonable offer that would have solved the problem. So on what grounds did he decline that offer?

If the property was genuinely not what was advertised and/or was missing key amenities, a full refund would be appropriate. But I don't understand why you talk about criminals running a scam, if the property only needed to be cleaned and the host was willing to pay out of pocket for the inconvenience. Nothing in your description of her suggests that she's some kind of hardened criminal. 

And if you were emailing bank statements to Airbnb, it sounds like you were asking for not just a full refund but also some other kind of compensation - thereby ultimately profiting from your booking at the host's expense. That sounds much more like a scam than anything the host did.