Cancellation fee

[Esther443]

I recently booked an apartment that was advertised as having private parking. 

A few hours after I made the booking and contacted the host he replied that the parking was not available during our stay.

As the parking was a significant factor in choice of where to stay I informed the host I would have to cancel. 

However although I decided to cancel less than 48 after the booking was made it is only 10 before the dates of the stay and as a result we are being charged a 50% cancellation fee. 

Considering the apartment was not as described in the listing I should receive a full refund. 

Please advise how you will resolve this matter. 

[Alice595]

@Esther443  You will need to call Airbnb support to get the 50% refund. The host has not received your money yet. But you can contact host and ask him the permission to give you the refund.

Do a google search to get Airbnb support phone number.

[Esther443]

Thanks. I hopefully I can sort it out with the host.

[Ramona2]

Hello @Esther443 

The host is responsible for the accuracy of the apartment.

Hope you solved with Airbnb. 

7. Terms specific for Hosts 7.1 Terms applicable to all Listings

7.1.1 When creating a Listing through the Airbnb Platform you must (i) provide complete and accurate information about your Host Service (such as listing description, location, and calendar availability), (ii) disclose any deficiencies, restrictions (such as house rules) and requirements that apply (such as any minimum age, proficiency or fitness requirements for an Experience) and (iii) provide any other pertinent information requested by Airbnb. You are responsible for keeping your Listing information (including calendar availability) up-to-date at all times.

https://www.airbnb.com/terms

Have a wonderful holiday!
Ramona 

[Esther443]

I was annoyed by the inaccurate listing but we managed to sort something out and the apartment was lovely so we were happy with our choice in the end.

[Mark116]

@Esther443 If the listing is inaccurate you should be able to cancel without penalty and get all your money back.

[Riva8]

I also booked and then found the listing and pictures on another airbnb listing different number of bedrooms and bad reviews.  Mold ceiling falling in and no heated pool.  When I cancelled within 48 hrs the Host kept all my deposit with the exception of 54$.  487$ for a cancelling within 48 hrs!  I called Airbnb and they said they'll call the Host and see about getting my deposit?  I guess we'll see.  I'll keep you posted.

[Alice595]

@Riva8  $54 is more likely the service charge from Airbnb. Service charge from Airbnb is non-refundable. If you want get that refunded, contact Airbnb support to remove it for you. You can check your original booking confirmation to see if that is the Airbnb service charge.

[Sarah977]

@Alice595 Reread Riva's post- she said she got $54 refunded and is out the other$487.  As she cancelled within 48 hours, I assume it was less than the required number of days before check-in. But Airbnb should make this right for, at least i hope they do if the property is mis-represented.

[Alice595]

@Sarah977  Oops. I read the number backwards. Just wonder how could a host refund $54? Did the host refund using the Send Money button? Is $54 the cleaning fee? Definitely a cleaning fee should be refunded since the guest did not stay.

@Riva8 How much total was the booking? How many days from the check-in date when you did the cancellation ? What was the cancellation policy adopted by the host? These are all factors related to a refund.

[James1641]

I was sent this by a guest -a clear cancellation, and airbnb said would i offer him a bit of a refund as he had to pay me for 1 month $700 odd, then they said $688, then the guest said could i cancel it- i said no, then he put a new one in knowing he couldnt come and lower -i did not cancel it but the system did - he got 1400 refund -i lost a month and owe airbnb $141, and they ignore me -this is not what i expected from them,. it cost me 50+ messages, abuse and denial from airbnb. Why use them? customer wrote:

Dear James,

we should be coming to your house next Sunday.
Unfornately, we received a bad news at work today.

Due to weather condions we are not allowed to work next month in Porirua.
We are tree planters and our planting spots on Transsmision Gully are not prepared for us. We also can't work there because it's dangerous.
Our company decided to move us to Coromandel next month. We don't know when we will be back.

We wanted to cancel our reservation via airbnb, but it's without refund.

We would like to ask you for your kindness, if you could cancel our reservation because of our troubles.
Actually, we are "in the hole" 😞

Thank you very much for your help

Best regards,"

that is a cancellation