Airbnb customer service members are saying completely opposite things

[Medina6]

We made a booking in NY with strict cancelation policy. After I made a booking I tried to reach the owner to ask some questions. The owner didn’t answer my messages, but approved the booking & the money was deducted. When I tried to call the owner - the tel shown in the contact wasn’t the right one..., and smb else answered. So I started panicking & contacted customer service. The customer service lady I talked told me that it can be canceled & that I can go ahead and book another property (what we did). Next morning I was told by another customer service person (this time is messages) that I can’t get my money back. So currently I’m quite lost. 1 - completely conflicting replies from the airbnb customer service team members 2 - the owner of the property has fake tel number n I can’t even reach  them 😳 I need ur help 

[Emiel1]

@Medina6 

The cancellation policy is clear about refunds. Also at the moment you cancel you are informed about refunding (if any). If you wait, things can be changed, especially regarding the "48 hours free cancellation" option you probably have been run out of time ?. If you first wanted to ask some questions, use the "contact host" link on the listing instead of making a booking request. Contact Airbnb again and explain what happened, maybe they can help you out of a situation you IMHO partly created yourself.

Contact Airbnb - Community Guide [Updated]

Best regards,

Emiel

[Lisa1831]

@Medina6 

The responses may not be conflicting. They may be based on the timing.

 If you contacted customer service - within 48 hours after booking, yes you can get the refund. If the second contact was after 48 hours  the strict cancellation comes into play.

This is what @Emiel1 explained as well. 

So I agree you need to contact customer service. Be sure to ask if you will receive a refund. Should you need to cancel in the future contact customer service and see if they can cancel it for you.