Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Abla Skali, and I am contacting you regarding a payment dispute.
On the 22nd of May 2023, I made a booking on Airbnb that I cancelled on the 23rd. However, I didn't get a full refund for that booking. This situation seems very unfair and frustrating to me, because I was basically tricked and blocked in this situation by my host.
To explain the situation, around the middle of Mai when I was accepted for a one-month internship in Geneva. Therefore, I needed to rent an apartment. I went on Airbnb and found one. I started to message the host of the apartment and explain to him why I was coming to Geneva. After a long conversation about my internship, he accepted my booking. I booked the apartment and made the payment on May 22. When I booked my apartment, it was written that I had until five days before my arrival to cancel my booking and get a 100% refund. Unfortunately, on May 23, my employer called me and told me that my internship was cancelled due to visa issues. I immediately sent a message to my Airbnb host, explaining to him the situation. I told him that I needed to cancel my booking because my internship was cancelled, and I could not get a visa to come to Geneva. I went on Airbnb and tried to cancel my booking. However, it was mentioned that the cancellation would not give me a 100% refund. I was very confused because I wanted to cancel my booking less than 24 hours after my payment. I messaged the host again, telling him that if I cancelled the booking, I would not get a 100% refund, which wasn’t making sense. He told me that he was confused and that his policy was that I could cancel until five days before my arrival.
I still have the screenshots of this conversation. I included them in my email. The conversation is in French, I don’t know if you have someone to translate them. But the host said, « My conditions are fully refunded 5 days before » and « My cancellation policy is 5 days. ». He kept repeating this but I still couldn’t get a 100% refund when I was trying to cancel.
Things were getting even more confusing, and the host became super evasive. He was saying that he couldn’t do anything, that he hadn’t received the money yet, so he couldn’t cancel the booking on his side and that he didn't know how to help me. He said he did not receive the money, so he can not refund me for now. He told me he had to wait until he received the money to refund me. I never booked an Airbnb before that; I didn't know how things worked. So I trusted him. He knew that it was my first time booking an Airbnb and took advantage of it.
At the same time, I called my father, who is the main cardholder, and explained the situation to him, so he called AMEX to block the payment. It was done on May 23, less than 24 hours after I made the reservation.
A bit later, I found the option to make a cancellation request directly to the host. He never told me that this was possible. He kept telling me that there was just nothing he could do and no options for me, except to wait until he received the money. I made a cancellation request; I explained the entire situation about my visa and about my internship cancellation situation again, which my host knew about. The host ignored my cancellation request. He kept sending me messages but refused to answer my cancellation request for days, until it was too late. This situation is so unfair. I have respected the cancellation policy. I tried to cancel 5 days before my arrival. My host kept saying that he couldn't do anything for me when he could have accepted my cancellation request. However, he decided to ignore it for days. I was basically trapped in this situation. I didn't know anything about Airbnb, and my host took advantage of it. I shouldn’t have to pay for this appartement, because I respected the cancellation policy and the host stopped me from getting my money back by refusing to answer my cancellation request. I never came to Geneva, never used this appartement. I can't pay for something that I never used. I can't pay someone who basically took advantage of my lack of knowledge about Airbnb and trapped me in this situation.
Please, there has to be a solution to get my money back. Please, understand my situation and my distress.
Kind regards.