No show host and no refund

[Stacey177]

Last weekend (11th May) we had booked to stay in an apartment in Manchester. We contacted the host via email to say when we should be arriving with no reposonse. We rang repeatedly and the line was dead. We showed up at the apartment and no ne answered. In the end we stayed elsewhere. We requested a refund within the 24 hours and contacted air bnb however air bnb have just stated that they will contact the host about a refund. We have paid for a service we did not receive. We have since read the reviews and they are all terrible. We are out of pocket £218. We ended up paying a further £200 for another apartment. All we want is our money back, hosts should not be able to do this and by the looks of things he is a repeat offender. 

[Lisa1831]

@Stacey177 

Hi Stacey, did your host respond to your reservation - Meaning did they contact you within 24 hours of you making a reservation?

Was this a last minute or same day reservation? 

Either way sorry this happened to you. It is not indicative of all host behavior .

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Stacey177 

in the future, you should read the reviews first and if they are good then you can contact the host or instant book.

Be persistent and contact Airbnb until you get some competent rep. You can contact them via Twitter (Airbnb help) it seems they are the best.

If you tried to reach your host through Airbnb messages and have a proof he was not reachable and if you contacted Airbnb the same they then you have your case and will be refunded.

[Sarah977]

@Stacey177  I'm so sorry that this happened to you. As others have said, be persistant- you should not be charged for this reservation, obviously. 

I don't understand why you wouldn't have read reviews before booking, though. Those reviews are there for the benefit of prospective guests, seems strange not to make use of them before committing to a booking.

Also, in the future, if a host is non-responsive, always contact Airbnb right away- they will attempt to make contact with the host, and if they are unsuccessful, they will usually find you another place to stay.And don't wait until just before arrival to communicate with a host- start communicating when you book- if you don't get responses, that's a red flag, and you should contact Airbnb.

And you should also contact Airbnb immediately if something like this happens- not wait up to 24 hours and then request a refund. Had you contacted Airbnb as soon as you arrived to find no host to let you in, they would have immediately cancelled the reservation for you and tried to find you alternative accomodation.