Renter Beware

[Herbert187]

Please beware if you decide to acquire a   airbnb, Their refund policy  is a smoke screen. We reserved a listing in Galveston from **. My recommendation is to not rent from this host. We had planned to invite extra guest for a birthday celebration, so we contact  the host.  THEY TOLD US WE WERE NOT WELCOME AT THEIR HOME BECAUSE WE WANTED TO INVITE 3 MORE GUEST. The total cost for the rental was 2259.00. We paid a 1000 deposit, and did not receive a dime. I expressed this to airbnb they were worthless. They kept their service fee and did not  give a care about anything else. I will never rent from airbnb again. You would  do better my moving over to Vrbo

**[Names removed for privacy reasons in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Shelley159]

Hi @Herbert187 

Different listings have different cancellation policies. If you apply the free cancellation filter in your search results on Airbnb, you'll only see listings where you get all of your money back when a reservation is canceled up to 24 hours before check-in.

Airbnb has rules regarding parties:

Airbnb officially codifies party ban

[Helen3]

I'm a little confused if the host told you that you weren't welcome why didn't they cancel the booking ? @Herbert187 

or did they just stay you couldn't have additional visitors which is not the same thing.

it's always best to check before you book whether you are allowed to bring in visitors not on the booking.

Airbnb has a strict no party policy so you mentioning a birthday party is likely to have worries the host. 

[Emilie]

Hi @Herbert187, 

I'm sorry your recent booking did not go as planned. What did the Support team tell you when you contacted them regarding this situation? 

It would be great to know if the pointers Helen and Shelley shared help you understand better what happened, or if you have any more questions that we could perhaps help with. 

Thanks, 

Emilie

[Herbert187]

Hello Emilie, we tried several times to negotiate with the Host. We asked for half the deposit back, but they were unwilling to meet us half way. AIrBNB  ended up retuning our service fee.( thank you airbnb support)  But we are still out 800.00, because of fine print written in the host policy.

[Helen3]

Thanks for the update but you still haven't answered the key question that would enable us to understand whether you have a case.

did the host tell you that you couldn't stay or did he simply tell you that you couldn't invite visitors not on the booking for a birthday party? @Herbert187 

[Herbert187]

Hello Helen, yes the host informed us that we were not welcomed at their home and we should cancel

They also wrote these words in their s resolution statement 

[Herbert187]

Hello Helen, he told us we could not stay there. He told us to cancel or reservation. So we canceled.  Expecting a refund and here we are. He stated  this in his resolution reply. 

[Helen3]

If the host said they wouldn't host you it would have been better for you to ask them to cancel or contacted Airbnb.

unfortunately the host advised you incorrectly and you shouldn't have cancelled the booking yourself @Herbert187