Partial Refund due to amenities not available

[Gehan4]

Hi all, 

I recently had a 4 night stay at a Sydney apartment costing $1420 for 4 nights. We booked about 7 weeks in advance and chose this property specifically because it had a pool, spa and rooftop sundeck - all advertised in the listing under Amenities. 

On the day of check in  (prior to our arrival) i coincidentally was looking at the property listing and realised that the host had updated the listing to say that the pool, spa and sundeck were closed for 3 weeks (including my travel dates). I contacted the host on Airbnb straight away and advised that this info was not listed when I booked and she replied saying that she updated the listing as soon as she found out but couldn’t remember exactly when that was.

I said I was Sure it wasn’t updated when I booked as this is the main reason we chose this property. She replied saying 

that she is not obligated to inform us of such changes or provide any solution but as a goodwill gesture she will offer a $100 refund. The host also said that if we wanted to cancel we would still have to pay the full amount and will receive no refund.

I was unhappy and contacted Airbnb who advised that this was untrue and that we could either cancel and receive a full refund or still attend and request a partial refund of 50% of the nightly rate (x4 nights). 
we tried to find alternative accomodation but as it was the same day we couldn’t find anything available. So we chose option 2. We checked in and made a request for a partial refund of $710 (50%)

The host didn’t respond to my request and so I involved Airbnb just today. I was happy to have a case manager contact me within an hour via text but I was a bit disheartened as the case manager advised that they had spoken to the host and they can see her offer of $100 for the pool closure and basically hinted that I should take that and be happy. Which is the opposite of what the other Airbnb rep said. 

is this standard practise? The host completely violated her obligations to inform me of the changes and instead just amended her listing. 
I would like to know what others believe is a fair outcome? Or if you’ve experienced anything similiar?

thanks!

[Helen3]

I would ask for a discount for each day of your  stay for such key missing amenities. @Gehan4 

Have a look at Airbnb Help I think there is something there about missing amenities 

100 sounds low 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gehan4 $100 sounds low but $700 sounds high. Hopefully you will get to a fair point somewhere around 300 perhaps

[Anonymous]

@Gehan4  The host was totally in the wrong for yanking back their listing's key amenities at the last minute. That sounds like a dodgy bait-and-switch operation to me.

But if you were offered a free cancellation of the booking, that was probably your best option. The Guest Refund Policy entitles you to a full refund of the stay if you have to cancel it because amenities are missing. But it doesn't explicitly give Airbnb the authority to dictate the rate of discount for guests who choose to complete their stay (sometimes they do it anyway - it's luck of the draw in your case). You basically waive your rights to a refund if you don't vacate the property, so your host's lowball offer  would in theory take precedence. I say in theory, because actually it's totally random how the policy actually gets applied.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Gehan4 

Similar thing happened to me when I was staying at a large local resort several years ago - I booked a 2-night weekend stay there because of the main pool but it was closed for maintenance that week (and only the kiddie pool would be open). We found out about the main pool not being available during check in as our key cards were being handed over to us. When I expressed serious disappointment about the main pool not being available, the resort *very grudgingly* gave me and Henry two drink vouchers worth total $12 (if we both ordered the most expensive drink allowed). The overall impression I got from the staff when I was expressing my disappointment was they saw the pool as a only a very small part of the stay, and we'd still have full use of the room (with the nice view that we paid extra for) and other facilities at the resort (like the gym and game room). The overall experience left a bad taste in my mouth and we make an effort to avoid that resort brand. 

I don't know what would be *standard Airbnb practice* in these situations but considering the level of consistency (or rather lack of) in handling these types of issues, if I were in your shoes I would have probably continued to contact a new Airbnb CS until I got someone willing to allow a full refund per the Guest Refund Policy.