air bnb refund on canceling after accidental booking

Rafael1065
Level 2
Alpharetta, GA

air bnb refund on canceling after accidental booking

 

On the 9th of August we were looking for a last minute getaway 3 day stay, for that same night. Among the options were a few houses my wife saw in AirBnb,, but the thing is that she wanted to see if they would take us with our two dogs,,, so she was texting back and forth with 2 or 3 of them through the online chat.  But then she got to this one house in particular, comunication with the host was different, in order to ask the question she had to use some "confirm" button,, so she did..

An instant latter she got a message saying that we were booked, and she saw they had  charged  a business credit card was in the system form a trip in 2018, that we didn't t even remember was there....she  canceled RIGHT AWAY,,, like, less than 20 minutes after the booking.

 

The host answered a few minutes back saying that it would cost us the first night etc.. and that we were SCAMMING her,,,(beats me how that could happen)

 

After the call we saw got a credit  for 1,000 form the 1,500+ that we had been charged.
the message said that the difference were cancelation fees..

 

We called Air bnb  and after a few tries and waiting we got to Giselle,, she heard the story and said she would look into it and gave us a Case number....√ 

Nothing for 3 weeks.....

I kept trying the phone and not getting any response,,

Last Friday I was able to get through to Christina,,  and my wife explained from the beginning ,,
She said the case had been closed on the same day we called,! 8/9

and that there was no refund coming!

outrageous!

She explained patiently and she offered to talk to the hostess

By the next day we got a message from her saying that the host had decided to return the fee...

 

But that we were only getting a credit for the Air bnb portion,, ($185),

My wife is so displeased that she does not want travel with Air bnb ever again.. 

 

I can not understand that air bnb would not Return the money in a case like this,,, 

 

anybody have any ideas or suggestions.?

 

 

2 Replies 2
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Rafael1065 

 

As the booking was confirmed, the payment had come through. So IMO you better could have done niothing and  correct the failure using the wrong credit card in private. Otherwise you could have contacted Airbnb and ask for a solution. But if you cancel, the cancellation policy (which you accepted  at time of booking) is applied. In most circumstances the Airbnb Service fee is not refunded (there are exceptions, read the policies, but not when using a wrong credit card).

 

I think the host was generous to refund you the first night charged.

 

So i fear Airbnb can not do much more as they already did. But if you still want to book the trip, maybe they can give compensation on Servicecosts charged... ?

 

 

 

Kind regards,

Emiel

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Rafael1065  It sounds as if you mistakenly Instant Booked. But it seems odd to me that there was nowhere on the listing that said "Contact Host", which means you are sending an Inquiry in order to ask some questions and which doesn't commit you in any way.

Can you post the link to this listing?