I have been hosting and traveling with Airbnb for many years now. I have received a Superhost status and always loved what Airbnb stands for and how clean and simple everything works... until now!
I planned and booked a trip to Croatia for me and my family. I saw a listing that was clearly by a company (the profile picture was a company logo). I did not think much of it since I trust Airbnb to vet hosts. Soon after the booking I received an mail from that same host requesting money in addition to what the reservation was. The explanation was that this was for electricity and linens. I asked Airbnb support about this and they replied pretty fast, talked to the host and sorted the issue - I disregarded it and thought it was just a new host getting into how Airbnb works and everything.
Then I received another email from the same host few days ago saying that they had made a mistake and that this property was actually not available due to a mistake. They offered me to go to their website to pick an alternative and that the Airbnb booking would remain active. At this point a couple of alarms went off in my mind and this sounds too untrustworthy. I called Airbnb to notify them, sent a copy of the email from the host and a couple of messages. I have not heard a word from them from the original case for over a week now. I called them again 3 days and for some reason I had to open another case and they could not tell me anything about the case. I voiced my concerns that I have a trip to plan and I am waiting for a resolution. The cancellation policy is strict and my booking is for a week at an expensive property so there is no way I am forfeiting the refund. I have sent many messages and it is getting closer to the travel date (3 weeks) and I want to make another plans. Does anyone have advice for my next steps?
