reservations and no response from the host

[Melissa1679]

I have a house rented the week of Thanksgiving in the Isle of the Palm for a party of 10.  I have been trying for over a month to get a response from the host.  Airbnb also tried calling and emailing her.  No response.  I had a question about the pool but now that she hasn't responded to me or airbnb, I am getting worried.  I also see the house is for sale and the host is the broker for the home.  Tried calling her company, but no response.   Airbnb said there is nothing they can do at this point so if we cancel, we lose the $2300 deposit.  Anyone have any suggestions? By the way, we are going for a wedding and got the house big enough for 10 people, so no other choices to stay together.

[Emiel1]

@Melissa1679 

IMHO a host not responding for about month to any message from you and from Airbnb should be a reason for Airbnb to take action.  They can cancel the reservation and provide full refund and also provide help to find alternative accommodation. And suspend the host.

[Sarah977]

@Melissa1679  You need to insist that Airbnb cancel this reservation and fully refund you. Them telling you they can't do anything about is BS. 

A host not responding to messages from you or Airbnb is a huge red flag. You can't just show up with 10 people on check-in day only to find you have no place to stay.

Try contacting Airbnb through their public Twitter account.

[Melissa1679]

Thanks guys!  I talked to her just now and all is good!

[Sarah977]

@Melissa1679  Did she offer any explanation for not responding to messages for a month?

[Melissa1679]

She just said she was having issues getting any communication from airbnb. 

[Sarah977]

@Melissa1679  Well,  Airbnb is known for having a lot of tech glitches, so that could be true, but then how is she managing to host?  And when Airbnb is asked to try to contact a user who isn't responding, they usually try phoning them if they aren't responsive to messages. So her excuse sounds a bit lame. 

Hopefully it all goes smooth and your group has a great time.

[Debra300]

@Melissa1679

Be prepared for the possibility that the place isn't habitable upon arrival.  Purchase travel insurance that has coverage that will pay for alternate accommodations.  I checked, and there are still a few places available Thanksgiving week and they also have pools.

[Melissa1679]

After talking with host and getting her reassurance, I received this a few hours later.

The reservation HMQBEN4EZQ is now cancelled. Full refund amount of $2,353.68 will be returned to your VISA account ending in 4677 and it should arrive up to 15 business days and to learn more about the refund arrival, you may want to visit the article below:

[Melissa1679]

I have only had great experiences booking through Airbnb and this is very disappointing. 

[Helen3]

Sorry to hear about this awful host. 

do contact Airbnb to let them know what the host has done and ask them what action they will take against the host ie suspend their account @Melissa1679 

[Colleen253]

@Melissa1679  So sorry this happened to you. This shady host was throwing up red flags all over the place. Never ignore those red flags. I hope you can salvage your plans.

I’m sorry too that Airbnb let you down. They should have cancelled the booking penalty free for you. They outsource their CS and the reps know nothing. 

[Melissa1679]

Absolutely Helen.  I will continue booking through Airbnb.