Reservation cancellation and reimbursement denied by host

[Monica1645]

Hello everyone. I need directions or suggestions to solve my problem.

I am very disappointed with Airbnb and disagree strongly with them.

I am from Florence, Italy and I booked an apartment in The Hague, Netherlands for a whole month from mid May on. No reimbursement condition.

By late February Coronavirus outbroke strongly in Italy and I thought it will be lasting for a long time and lockdown was starting. I tought was no right to keep the reservation waiting for a policy from Airbnb and I contact via whatsapp the host asking to cancel and reimbursement. He accepted the cancellation and no claim or complain or saying anything else about reimbursement. On the contrary I was encouraged to do so which I did on March, 3rd. . At this time I had already asked a reimbursement using the Resolution Center which is pending until now.

Airbnb install its extenuating policy on March, 9th

Meanwhile I have talked to the host asking him if the host has received money from Airbnb and he said not but if does he will reimburse me. Time went by and before yesterday I wrote to Airbnb asking for a position. They replied to me saying they paid the host and because my cancellation was on March, 3rd and their policy was in placed on March, 9th I have no rights and suggested to contact their Resolution Center to ask reimbursement conflict which I had already done on March,4th and it is still pending and the host. Also they say the host has already been paid and they can not return the money to me washing their hands.

And yesterday I sent a message to the host in Airbnb site and he answered me he will not return the money.

I do not what to do I was mislead by the host.  I can prove it but Airbnb do not care because all conversation was by whatsapp and they do not consider it and they onle say my cancellation is not covered by their policy.

Sorry it is a long explanation. I really appreciate any suggestion that could help me get my money back because I am an old man and this money will help me a lot.

Thanks in advance and be safe.

valter

[Anonymous]

@Monica1645  Even in the case of cancellations, Airbnb does not pay out the host until after the scheduled check-in date. If you were scheduled to arrive in May, the host has not received any payment, and is therefore unable to reimburse you.

However, it is also true that the cancellation policy which applies to you is the one that was in place at the time you cancelled. It's not clear to me where you got the idea that the host was obliged to provide an additional reimbursement on top of the amount displayed to you at the time you cancelled.  You say the host didn't complain or mention reimbursement - that does not sound to me like an agreement to return your money.

If Airbnb has closed your ticket, the best thing I could suggest is that you contact your travel insurance provider to determine if you're eligible for a claim. Of course it would've been better to do this before you submitted the cancellation, but surely for a trip of this length you bought some pretty good insurance ahead of time?