My host will not give me my deposit

[Miranda204]

We cancelled one week before our booking and requested a full refund as we could not travel due to covid . Our host declined the full refund but now will not give us the 50% in line with his own cancellation policy . Air bnb will not intervene and confirm that he is acting against his own policy . How can it be that hosts can decline to repay when the have signed up to a pre agreed policy . What dan I do ? I want to leave a review to warn others but have already cancelled 

[Sarah977]

@Miranda204  What you say isn't clear. A host doesn't need to agree to a cancellation or refund- a guest can cancel whenever they wish and you'll be refunded by Airbnb according to the terms of the cancellation policy in place.

[Helen350]

@Miranda204 Hosts do not get paid for each stay until 24 hours after the guest checks in. So your host will not yet have received payment for your stay. Therefore it is not appropriate that your refund comes from HIS pocket. You need to claim the money back from Airbnb, who will be still holding the money you paid.... I presume you DID actually CANCEL the booking  at your end, and hit the cancel button on the Reservation page of the website, not just tell the host you weren't coming... which would not be an official cancellation? (It would cost the host heavy penalties if HE did the cancelling; it is the responsibility of the guest to cancel, if the guest can't travel...

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Miranda204 To properly answer your post we would need to know

1) When did you book the property

2) What dates was the property booked for

3) What is the hosts cancellation policy

4) What date did you cancel on

5) What was the precise reason for you cancelling.

With knowledge of all the above we can tell you what should have happened.

[Miranda204]

Yes we cancelled and hit the button

1. Booked in june

2week from today 

3.50 percent back of you cancelled 7 days before 

4. we were not coming because of covid ( but I don’t think this matters ) 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Miranda204 Then Airbnb, who actually have your money, should be returning it to you. That assumes you paid in full. If you only paid 50% then there is nothing to get back.

I suggest another call to customer services and hope you get a better trained person

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Miranda204 

7 days before check-in you would already paid 100%.

If you cancel prior to 7 days before check-in you would receive 50%. If your cancellation was within the 7 days of check-in period then you would lose 100%, as that’s what the contract says.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Miranda204, if you canceled 7 or more days before your check-in date and time (!), then you will be refunded automatically by Airbnb.  Your host will receive his % a day after your supposed check-in date.

[Helen3]

@Miranda204  when you say you can't travel because of Covid - where are you travelling to?

If you cancel a booking, your cancellation will be processed under the cancellation policy for the listing which would have been shown when you booked.

If you booked in June you would have known about Covid - so what has changed

As others have said,  Airbnb will process your cancellation under the cancellation policy you booked under, so if you are owed 50% then Airbnb will return it to you.

[Sarah977]

@Miranda204  I don't think you understand what 50% refund means.  It means 50% of the total cost of the booking, not 50% of the 50% you already paid. The option to only pay half up front is simply a convenience to the guest, so they don't have to pay the entire reservation at once. It doesn't have anything to do with the cancellation policy and the % of refund. 

[Miranda204]

No we paid the total amount upfront not half so we were entitled to half of that - it 50 percent of the  amount . This man is a super host and basically won’t speak or write to us . Ignoring us and air bnb will do nothing . I can’t escalate - this is the think no one tells you abt air bnb 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Miranda204 

No we paid the total amount upfront not half so we were entitled to half of that - it 50 percent of the  amount . This man is a super host and basically won’t speak or write to us . Ignoring us and air bnb will do nothing . I can’t escalate - this is the think no one tells you abt air bnb 

Hi Miranda, If you can provide actual dates for your actions we may be able to tell you what to expect. As @Sarah977 mentioned previously, a guest does not need to contact a host to cancel, they can just cancel.

If Airbnb gave you the information that you should cancel your reservation by asking the host to override his cancellation for you, then that is wrong as he has no obligation to do that and in messages from Airbnb to the host it is stated that if the host does not reply to that request then the booking will continue as contracted.

If that waiting period for a reply from your host tipped you over into the 7 day cancellation period, then, rightly, the host would be due full payment and you would lose all your booking payment along with Airbnb's Service Fee of around 17%.

Should you have managed to cancel before the 7 day 100% payment due to host, then rightly you would be entitled to a 50% refund of your booking fee. You would lose in addition the 17% Airbnb Service fees.

Precise dates and actions would help us in providing you with any guidance.

Currently, you have no refund. Currently, neither does the host have your money (unless he's a commercial operator, where he might). You were advised the course of action you took by Airbnb and the host had no input in this, nor any input at all considering the lack of communication, so maybe if you can provide those dates and actions we may be able to help you unravel your issue.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Miranda204 Were you on the cusp of 7 days or did you definitely cancel more than 7 days before your stay?

This information should be visible to you in your guest account.

If it is clear that you cancelled more than 7 days out AND the hosts didn't have a super strict policy then just go back to Airbnb. You do not have to involve the host in any way.

[Mark116]

I wonder if this is nothing to do with the host and the now standard very long wait time for Airbnb to get to the case?  Airbnb, not the host, should process the refund according to whatever the policy is, the host doesn't actually have to do anything, but sometimes Airbnb will ask the host if they will go above and beyond the policy, but if not, Airbnb should automatically process whatever refund is due under the policy in force at the time.  There seems like some anecdotal information that Airbnb may be holding onto people's money longer than normally, possibly a liquidity issue, but that is speculation.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

It is possible. I had Airbnb hold on to my payout from a cancellation for a very long time. The reason they gave me was that the guest had not paid the full amount, but that turned out to be nonsense. She had paid the correct amount almost six months prior.

However, @Miranda204 says, "We cancelled one week before our booking and requested a full refund as we could not travel due to covid . Our host declined the full refund."

What it sounds like is she went to cancel, chose the reason as COVID-19, thereby requesting the host agree to a full refund. That means the cancellation does not automatically process that instant, as the host first has to agree to the full refund, which he denied. If @Miranda204 only sent this request seven days before the booking, her window for getting that 50% refund may have elapsed. Therefore, technically, she is no longer entitled to any refund. 

Or, have I got it wrong and the cancellation date is from the moment the guest requests the full refund?