hi i had to cancel my reservation when i discovered bugs in the bed. The host had left at that moment and was not reachable until we had actually cancelled on the website, so we lost 200$ in service costs which sound really unfair ! what can we do ?
The key with claim or refunds is that you report any issues immediately or normally within a limited time frame, you should have contacted Airbnb immediately to give them an opportunity resolve the problem. They would have contacted the host and also offered to find alternative similar accommodation or a refund - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/248/what-should-i-do-if-something-s-missing-or-not-as-expected...
If you communicated with the host regarding this issue via the Airbnb platform then you can contact Airbnb and ask them to review/ consider your situation although even if they decide in your favour you probably won't get the Airbnb service fee refunded at this stage.
How about the host - any offer of a refund under the circumstances? It must have been a nasty experience and I do hope you manage to recoup some of your loss back.
You also should take photos immediately, just to "prove" what you say is real- that's what I was told when I had the similar situation.
And, yes, the best way is to call the Airbnb service phone number straight the way. I paid for my lesson to than this. I'm sorry for your experience. Hope you'll solve this quickly! Orchid