i want a refund as the hosts did not turn up to give me a key despite an email with my arrival time

[Helen940]

i was left unsafe in a dark street with no accomodation despite my five sms to them

i can't find out how to contact airbnb to get a full refund $296.89 AUD

Helen

[Anonymous]

@Helen940 Hit the back button and scroll up. There's a pinned thread in this board called "How to contact Airbnb"

If you are currently waiting for your host in a place where you don't feel safe, I suggest going to a more comfortable nearby location and say you'll wait there until they arrive. If you're unable to reach them by any contact method, Airbnb will also make an effort to reach them before terminating the booking becomes an option.

[Helen940]

I was in communication with the hosts earlier. they changed the address where i was to meet them. This alarmed me.i did not know to contact airbnb. it's a bit late to tell me now. I didn't want to move in case they turned up. what a disaster and sooo stressful. I still can't sleep and it is now a week of trying to get my money back.

Helen

[Sarah977]

@Helen940  Have you reported this to Airbnb? How have you tried to get your money back?  If you haven't actually spoken to anyone at Airbnb, you should make contact- the initial unsafe incident is over, but you still should report this, unless you see it just as an unfortunte miscommunication between you and the host, rather than them behaving unprofessionally.

As a guest, it important for you to have the contact phone number of Airbnb with you when you travel- when you arrived to find no one to meet you, you could have phoned Airbnb, explained the situation and that you were alone left out on the street, and they would have tried to contact the host for you, and if unsuccessful, find you othr accomodation, or tell you to go to a hotel for which you would be re-imbursed.

I realize you didn't know this at the time, but it's a good thing to know for the future.

[Helen940]

i can't find a phone number. can u help please?

[Sarah977]

@Helen940  Andrew already advised you, in his post above, how to find this info:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide-UPDATED/td-p/413245

And a simple Google search typing in "Phone number for Airbnb", yields pages of info.

[Helen940]

yes that is the problem. it leads to pages of info but not a phone number. Helen

[Helen940]

My email replies to Meribel keep failing to reach airbnb. any suggestions please? They still won't phone me. Helen

[Sarah977]

@Helen940  They won't phone you- you have to phone them. How are you trying to reply to the Airbnb messages that they aren't going through? You have to go into your Airbnb account and go to your Inbox. You should see the message from Airbnb (I assume that's who Meribel is? An Airbnb rep?), click on it, and there will be a box to reply. You can't just reply to the email in your personal email Inbox- that's just a notification of an Airbnb message.

[Helen940]

of course i did not know that. it has been a huge waste of  my time. I even typed out all the unread sms i sent to the hosts. thanks for your advice. They sZid they would ring back but an hour later they still haven't.

[Sarah977]

@Helen940  Sorry you're having so much trouble. Airbnb customer service is very frustrating to deal with, but they usually are more responsive to guests than hosts. They are well-known for not phoning back, even though they assure you they will. Persistence is the name of the game. And yes, it's a terrible time waster. Phone them back and don't accept them telling you they'll get back to you. Tell them they keep saying that and you never get a call, so you'll hold the line while they find someone who can deal with your issue. Try not to let your frustration come across- stay polite and patient, but firm. It will get you better service.

If you are going to use Airbnb, it's important that you understand the protocol and procedures. You needed to contact Airbnb as soon as you couldn't connect wth your hosts and you needed them to cancel the reservation for you. Then the refund is automatic. I realize you didn't know that at the time, but both hosts and guests should inform themselves before using the platform, of how things work and what to do if they don't 

[Helen940]

thanks for the info. i certainly will never use them again once this is sorted. Helen

[Helen940]

amazingly, here i was stranded in the dark on a city street because the hosts didn't arrive and they have refused me a refund! Helen

[Mark116]

The phone numbers are at the end of the link t hat Sarah gave you:

United States and Canada	+1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)
Argentina	+54 11 53 52 78 88
Australia	+61 2 8520 3333
Austria	+43 72 08 83 800
Brazil	+55 21 3958-5800
Chile	+56229380777
China	+86 10 5904 5310 400 890 0309 (shared-cost)
Denmark	+45 89 88 20 00
France	+33 1 84 88 40 00
Germany	+49 30 30 80 83 80
Greece	+30 211 1989888
Hong Kong	+852 5808 8888
India	000 800 4405 103 (toll-free)
Ireland	+353 1 697 1831
Israel	+972 3 939 9977
Italy	+39-06-99366533
Japan	+81 3 4580 0999 +81 800 100 1008 (toll-free)
Mexico	+52 55 41 70 43 33
Netherlands	+31 20 52 22 333
New Zealand	+64 4 4880 888
Norway	+47 21 61 16 88
Peru	+51 1 7089777
Poland	+48 22 30 72 000
Portugal	+351 30 880 3888
Puerto Rico	+1 787 919-0880
Russia	+74954658090 88003017104 (toll-free)
South Korea	+82 2 6022 2499 +82 808 220 230 (toll-free)
Spain	+34 91 123 45 67
Sweden	+46 844 68 12 34
Switzerland	+41 43 50 84 900

United Kingdom

+44 203 318 1111

[Helen940]

thanks i could not find this