Airbnb refund and Covid-19 extenuating policy

johnnyboy08

Good morning all,

I had accommodation booked abroad for 5 days at the start of July through airbnb. The booking was made on 4 Feb before Covid-19 became a serious problem in Europe and started impacting flights etc.
The accommodation cost the bones of 1000 with 160 being airbnb service fees and 840 being paid to the host.

Upon cancelling the booking due to Covid the host refunded the 840 pretty much straight away with no hassle whatsoever, same with the flight, had no problem at all. However, airbnb are refusing to refund the 160 service fees or offer a voucher for the same value to be used at another time.
The argument they are using is 2 fold; a. that they need to keep that to maintain their website and b. that it doesn't fall into extenuating circumstances.

It's point b that is really frustrating me. The only terms for cancellation/refund at the time of booking were the terms set out by the host e.g. if cancel within 2 days of booking then 100% refunded, between that and 2 days prior to arrival 50% and nothing within 2 days. There wasn't anything about the service fees.

Airbnb say themselves here: https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/2701/extenuating-circumstances-policy-and-the-coronavirus-covid19 :

Reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before 14 March 2020, with a check-in date between 14 March 2020 and 15 August 2020, are covered by the policy and may be cancelled before check-in. Guests who cancel will have cancellation and refund options, and hosts can cancel without charge or impact on their Superhost status. Airbnb will either refund all service fees or issue travel credit that includes them for covered cancellations.

I have been in contact with them numerous times and they're not budging, the last terms and conditions they pointed me to was:

Please be advised that the details are always included in the cancellation policy before you even complete the reservation, which you agreed to.

Service fee can only be refunded if the reservation is qualified for extenuating circumstance.

The link for the cancellation policy is included below.

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies?guest_fee_policy=at_most_48_hours#strict-with-grace-period

Has anyone else faced the same thing? To me it appears that they're using terms and conditions to justify not refunding the services fees even though they're own extenuating circumstances say so and to be frank seems really dodgy.

Umpalumpa

johnnyboy08 wrote: »

Good morning all,

I had accommodation booked abroad for 5 days at the start of July through airbnb. The booking was made on 4 Feb before Covid-19 became a serious problem in Europe and started impacting flights etc.
The accommodation cost the bones of 1000 with 160 being airbnb service fees and 840 being paid to the host.

Upon cancelling the booking due to Covid the host refunded the 840 pretty much straight away with no hassle whatsoever, same with the flight, had no problem at all. However, airbnb are refusing to refund the 160 service fees or offer a voucher for the same value to be used at another time.
The argument they are using is 2 fold; a. that they need to keep that to maintain their website and b. that it doesn't fall into extenuating circumstances.

It's point b that is really frustrating me. The only terms for cancellation/refund at the time of booking were the terms set out by the host e.g. if cancel within 2 days of booking then 100% refunded, between that and 2 days prior to arrival 50% and nothing within 2 days. There wasn't anything about the service fees.

Airbnb say themselves here: https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/2701/extenuating-circumstances-policy-and-the-coronavirus-covid19 :


I have been in contact with them numerous times and they're not budging, the last terms and conditions they pointed me to was:


Has anyone else faced the same thing? To me it appears that they're using terms and conditions to justify not refunding the services fees even though they're own extenuating circumstances say so and to be frank seems really dodgy.

That's a strange one. I had a booking made before covid and was due to fly July 10th.airbnb email me 8 weeks ago offering me a full refund of my deposit if I could confirm I needed to cancel due to covid restrictions or I could get an extra €100 if I chose a voucher.

Dav010

Op, I have a property on Airbnb and am used to dealing with their support, it can be very hit and miss, sometimes their call centre give conflicting advice.

It looks as if the support person was working off the old cancellation policy and linked that in their reply, rather than their Covid response which clearly states you are entitled to a refund. I would phone their support rather than email.

Just a small point op, the Host didn’t refund you, Airbnb did, the Host doesn’t get paid until the day you check in.