Difficulty in getting a refund for cancelled apartment

[Nathalie1140]

Myself and my family arrived at a fairly upmarket Airbnb in Paris at the end of July, and after not being able to get in we called the owner who sent her agent round. She let us in and we discovered the apartment had been burgled/robbed. We immediately called the owner and Airbnb, and at our suggestion the police. After 2 hours of trying to sort things out, trying to find another Airbnb we decided to go to a hotel. It was night by now.  This was July in Paris, the height of the tourist season and the last day of the Tour de France was in 2 days. It was 40 degrees and I was getting quite upset, as this was meant to be our special family time.  We were told by the Airbnb support case worker we would be compensated for the hotel. We submitted the bill, not including bills for meals out which we otherwise would have prepared at the apartment and last night Airbnb agreed to pay approximately 1/6 of the hotel bill.  This is far from promised, and we are shocked at the lack of comprehension especially as I’m a super host in my home city, though this shouldn’t matter, all guests should not have to appeal. 

Any suggestions as to what I can do? Or who to apply to in the Airbnb company? Thank you

[Rowena29]

Hi @Nathalie1140 .

I'm so sorry to hear about things going wrong on your recent trip.

It's so frustrating when things like that happen isn't it?  And it doesn't really help that it is no ones fault.

You're not going to like what I 'm going to say next, but very unfortunately this is the 3rd story like this I have read recently - ie airbnb promising to cover a hotel bill,  and then failing to follow through. In at least one case the guest had this in writing, but they still spent months trying to be reimbursed -  I never heard whether they were successful or not.

My very strong suspicion is that you will do your head in going around and around in circles with airbnb customer support,  who are usually woeful. ( they are just as bad for hosts - not that it's any consolation with your current predicament.

Some people have reported that they get a far superior quality or support when the contact customer support via twitter or facebook so that might be worth a try.

If you feel very strongly about it ( and I would)   airbnb really don't like bad publicity. If you are prepared to go to the media you may very well get a different outcome.

An experienced superhost  and guest, @Gordan reported that when a similar thing happened to him a while back, he WAS fully reimbursed to stay at a hotel.

This is the trouble with online entities -  you can't report them to any authority as they are stateless. Publicity seems to be the best option.

Perhaps other hosts might have better advice.

Good luck!

[Nathalie1140 · Accepted solution]

Thank you Rowena, had thought that it would be a long shot. Am grateful for your reply, Nathalie

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Nathalie1140 

If you didn't already, then contact Airbnb and ask them to refund you your canceled reservation. It will cover at least a part of your hotel bill.

As I've heard, in situations like yours, when the guest is left on the street at the last moment, Airbnb gives the guest a voucher or a compensation around 100$ to help him find another accomodation.

[Susan17]

Hi @Nathalie1140 

Long shot or not, you were left high and dry in peak-season Paris, through no fault of your own, and if Airbnb told you that they would reimburse you for your hotel stay, then that's exactly what they must do. Let's see if we can figure out your best course of action... 

Can I just ask, did you receive any help from your support agent to secure alternative accommodation? Who cancelled the reservation, and when? And did the support agent promise that Airbnb would reimburse you for the hotel before or after you had already checked in there? 

[Nathalie1140]

Hello, just to let you know that I didn’t get any help to find alternative accommodation. The Airbnb host cancelled the accommodation, understandably as the apartment had been robbed . The support staff said they’d reimburse me BEFORE I went to the hotel. So the update from Airbnb is that they’ll compensate me me for a 1/6 of the hotel costs, and none of the meal and taxi costs. Feel very let down by Airbnb, but it was expected as suggested by the community, I would not get compensation.