Cancellations by Guests

[Chantal573]

My Niece booked at an Airbnb in Margate - upon booking they paid half of the fee and almost 3 weeks before they were due to go to the Airbnb they cancelled - She received an email stating that she will be refunded what they paid and now there has been a change and she will not be getting any money back - I have read the policy and no where in there does it say you will only get a refund if the whole amount is paid.

Please advise or I am taking this to the socials....

[Mike-And-Helen0]

There's no point in threatening us with social media, this is a community of hosts and guests, not airbnb staff.

Has your daughter checked the refund policy of the listing she cancelled? Is what airbnb have done consistent with the stated policy?

[Chantal573]

I have read the policy but what I am questioning is the email stating she will get a refund - I know I am on the community Forum - I assumed someone on here would be able to give me some sort of direction.

[Helen3]

I highly doubt that this is what actually happened @Chantal573 

It sounds like for whatever reason your niece didn't pay the second half of her booking fee. (This is due a month before travel) and you stated she had only paid 50% three weeks before travel.  In those circumstances Airbnb would first remind her that the payment has not been offered and give her an opportunity to pay. If she didn't respond to the reminder they would cancel her booking and she would depending on the hosts cancellation policy be liable for the first 50% of the reservation fee, as it would be treated as a cancelled booking.

Before you take to social media, you may want to check what actually happened.

If she did actually pay in full, then yes she should be refunded in full. In that case she should just give them a call explain their mistake.

[Chantal573]

Thank you Helen for that - I have all the correspondence between her an Airbnb and there is an email stating that she would be refunded for a specific amount and then she is told after receiving that email that she will not get anything back for me that is not how a business is run - The cancellation was made 3 weeks before they were to book in. Surely there is some sort of contact system for Airbnb besides overseas contact numbers.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Chantal573 if you go to "help" you'll eventually get to a "contact us" form.

It is a good idea to keep it all in writing since CS reps are not especially consistent in the answers they give.

[Chantal573]

Thank you.