Horrible experience with AirBNB

[Julie7384]

Please consider before booking with AirBNB!!! They are designed to keep your money, much like the time share business. This is the first time that I had used their platform. We will stick with hotels next time that are legit, and never book with an AIRBNB again. A $400 stay turned in to over $1200 stay. There needs to be a click for the reserve, and a click to confirm and pay. Once you reserve you will never see your money again. Do not leave your credit card on their site.
My first stay I booked before midnight. Then realized the stay was not available for our last night. I called 9 hours later, 4 days prior to the stay and for the $386 booking, the refund was for $112. I booked a different three night stay, and somehow I was also booked for a different location that I was not aware that I booked. I was billed for three nights at two different locations. One that I never stayed in. Please beware and spend your money in a hotel. It will be worth it in the end. There will be no refund after you hit reserve and in a hotel you will receive a refund up to the day before your booking. You do not want to deal with these people. It is one of the biggest scams that I have ever experienced.

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Julie7384 

You probably selected “Request to Book,” correct? Once the host accepts your request, the reservation is confirmed and your payment is processed according to Airbnb’s payment terms. You should also receive a notification right away confirming the trip, along with the reservation details.

If you ended up with a second booking that you did not intend to make, I would recommend contacting Airbnb Customer Support as soon as possible and explaining what happened. Ask them to review the booking activity and determine whether the second reservation can be cancelled or disputed without penalties, especially if it was made accidentally or resulted from a technical issue.

It would also be helpful to provide Customer Support with screenshots of both reservations, the booking confirmations, and any relevant notifications so they can properly investigate what happened.

[Snehal1]

Hi Julie, that sounds like an incredibly stressful and frustrating introduction to the platform. Turning a $400 budget into a $1200 expense is enough to ruin anyone's trip, so I completely understand why you are angry.

Getting charged for two locations simultaneously definitely sounds like something went wrong during the booking process. Don't give up just yet—try contacting Airbnb support again and ask to speak with a supervisor to look into the overlapping bookings. Wishing you the best of luck getting some of your hard-earned money back! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Julie7384 Indeed if you are incapable of using the internet to book a stay correctly then steer clear of Airbnb and other sites. Perhaps use the phone instead although even then you could still end up booking the wrong dates. Also do be warned that hotels have different cancellation policies and not all of them allow you to cancel up to the day before your stay. Perhaps just stay at home - Much safer for all concerned.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Julie7384 

The listings that offer free cancellation are marked  (on the search page). Large numbers of listings offer free cancellation, meaning you get a 100% refund up to 24 hours before the listing’s stated check-in time. Thereafter, you may also get a refund at the host's discretion.

Airbnb pushes very hard for listings to implement less strict cancellation policies, but they also recognise that many listings are the kind of places that can't afford to have flexible policies. For example, someone's 5-bedroom holiday home should not be booked 7 months in advance for 3 weeks and then canceled the day before.

So there has to be different policies, but stick to Free Cancelation listings if that suits you best.