airbnb

[1andrea]

We always use VRBO and message the owners for the best price, we have always had a positive experience x

 

[e_yerger]

I just wanted to share my experience with Air BnB as people use the service to book vacations.

This summer I booked an Air BnB for a weekend getaway. 3 weeks before our travel we had a medical emergency come up and we had to cancel our reservation. I paid in full ($1200), and Air BnB only wanted to give me a 50% refund. In their terms and conditions, it says if we were able to supply a doctors note and explanation of cancellation, they would give us the refund. We had the traveler with the medical emergency get a note, and Air BnB said that they were still unable to grant the refund because the person's name was not assigned with the reservation (only my name was on it + 3 guests).

Air BnB said it would be up to the host to issue the refund at this point. I tried reaching out, and Air Bnb tried reach out and the host would not respond to anyone. Air Bnb pretty much said we were SOL and they wouldn't be able to give us the money back. I ended up having to file a claim through my credit card company in order to get the refund. The entire process took about 6 weeks to get the refund.

So learning experience: read the fine print to the cancellation policy, make sure to assign names to all guests on a reservation, and if all else fails be prepared to file a claim via your CC.