Cancellation of long-term booking due to visa rejection ( Help needed ASAP)

[Zakir1]

Hi,

We booked a place for about four months (7th Sep to 20 Dec, 2018) with four guests.  Unfortunately, one guest got his visa rejected. Now we want to cancel our trip, as it is not possible for the three of us to rent the place.

We contacted our host and explained the situation, and requested for refund of reservation fee as he has sufficient time until September to let his place to someone else. He replied I will not refund, you deserve this, and you should not have booked in the first place.

As the host is not willing to refund, now we want to know that can we get a full refund under Extenuating Circumstances Policy.

[Lisa723]

Call Airbnb customer support.

[Letti0]

@Zakir1  I believe you will still be responsible for the first 30 days as this was a long term rental, but not the remaining days. 

[Elizabeth429]

@Zakir1,

If the other three remaining guests are travelling, you could have asked the host to make an offer and reduce the price of the four months total.

I am totally against refunds even though I have the Flexible Cancellation Policy. I agree with the host when he says you shouldnt have booked if your plans were pending on legal issues.

As somebody else suggested, call Airbnb.

[Claudiu-Nicolae0]

I personally think, that refund should be done according to the hosts's cancellation policy. Host doesn't have to pay from his pocket because you wasn't able to obtain visa (missed your train/flight, etc.). These circumstances should be covered by your travel insurance or from your pocket, since this is the result of the lack of planning on your part. Despite of this, you can contact AirBnb directly and ask them for refund under Extenuating Circumstances Policy. It depends on them.

[Zakir1]

Thank you everyone for your reply. Under the list of circumstances covered by Extenuating Circumstances Policy the following point is written (https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1320/what-if-i-need-to-cancel-because-of-an-emergency-or-unavoid...)

- Changes to Visa or Passport requirements that make it impossible to travel to the destination. This doesn’t include lost or expired travel documents.

Just wanted to know does our situation comes under this point. 

[Sarah977]

@Zakir1   Well, having one's application for a visa rejected isn't "changes to visa requirements". But I have no idea how Airbnb will view it.

[Letti0]

@Sarah977  That was why I said he's going to have to pay the first 30 days booking on the long term rental policy.

[Sarah977]

@Letti0  I love it how you've read through EVERYTHING on the airbnb site- kudos for that and the wealth of info you're able to help others out with because of it. 

I have to admit I haven't done that, I've basically read through everything I felt concerned me and my listing, but nothing past that. But I can relate- I'm the kind of person who sits down and reads the instruction manuals from cover to cover of anything new I buy. 

[Letti0]

@Sarah977  I've had CS rep's give me wrong answers and had to find the right ones myself. I also read manuals and instructions. I remember when my children where little on Christmas Eve reading the instructions and watching husband put something together wrong only to have to take it apart again and redo it because he will never read instructions. Men lol....

[David126]

@Zakir1

Which country were you seeking to visit?

[Zakir1]

UK

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Zakir1

You should have thought about the visa issue BEFORE you made a booking - you (and ABB and the host, all relevant parties) agreed to a cancellation policy when the booking was confirmed. It doesn't matter how much time is remaining till the intended check in date. It doesn't matter if there is "plenty of time" for the host to get new bookings.

Imo, if your decision is firm about cancelling, the best you can do for now is for YOU (guest) to cancel and then contact ABB and submit documentation for special review. ABB will review and determine whether your case deserves a refund or not. I faced a similar situation a while back, at first I thought about a partial refund but later decided I need to follow and respect the rules as we all agreed to, not make exceptions so that people would stop expecting hosts to issue refunds when the policy clearly states they are not due a refund. Rules are rules~

[Zakir1]

We booked the place in advance because it is very hard to find a place in Edinburgh UK especially for four months so we needed to book one or two month earlier. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Zakir1

Well....... just think of it as a a non-refundable down-payment amounting to 1 months worth rent to get a confirmed booking for 4 months. No host is going to take on a 4 month booking that can be cancelled at anytime without some sort of protection from guests like you who want to cancel any random time later when things don't work out in your favor. All actions and decisions come with consequences - YOU may not think cancelling is a big deal, but would you have felt the same if a host were to cancel on you? I mean..... the host wasn't exactly nice (I get that) but I'm sure he was very upset about you cancelling and insisting for a full refund when the host did nothing wrong - why should the host be penalized because your friend did not get a visa?

FYI, most of my guests who book stays longer than 1 month book anywhere from 2~7 months in advance so keeping my calendar blocked for weeks then backing out with less than 2 months remaining on a long-term booking could have serious consequences and be extremely problematic.