Last month I made an Airbnb booking to stay with a woman who lives near Stansted airport. It was confirmed both by the host and Airbnb.
A week or so later she contacted me to cancel the booking, stating that for security reasons she would prefer female guests only. Of course, I had no alternative but to accept her decision, and made other arrangements.
I thought that would be the end of the matter, but found that £45 had been extracted from my account. All my efforts to reclaim it, including two emails to Airbnb, have come to nothing. The host has said it is nothing to do with her. I don’t know if you feel able to chase Airbnb to recover what is a relatively small sum (paid by direct debit).
I note others have been “inconvenienced” in a similar fashion. While the potential loss to me is relatively small, a family, say, making a booking for a longer period is potentially exposed to much larger sums. TK, Petersfield, Hampshire
Several staff at Guardian Money have used Airbnb, and we are great fans. It’s fair to say that it is now the first place many look if they are going away and need to book accommodation. Given its size – it has so far placed 40 million guests worldwide – we have had very, few complaints about it, which is partly why we were interested in your letter.
For those who have not used it, Airbnb acts as the intermediary for people with spare rooms or entire properties they want to rent out by the night, week or longer. Renters request certain dates, and it is up to the host to either accept or decline. Hosts are allowed to change their mind if they wish – but renters usually face cancellation fees as high as 50% until a week before, then 100%, if they decide to withdraw.
The payment, including Airbnb’s service charge, is taken at the time of booking and held by the company until the day after the renter checks in – a good security device to stop fraudulent listings.
Like you, we had assumed that if the booking was cancelled by the host, the renter was automatically refunded. However, it seems this is not the case. Airbnb told us: “When a cancellation is made, the refund is automatically transferred to a new booking once accepted. Or guests can opt for a full refund which is usually granted within 24 hours.”
It seems if you do nothing, the money stays as a credit on your account.
To get a refund users have to log into their account, click on “my trips” and look for the option to “request refund”. It is not clear why this didn’t happen in your case when you emailed – but your refund has now been processed.
Last week we reported that Avis doesn’t automatically refund a customer when they cancel a car rental. Is this set to become a bigger consumer issue as more companies adopt a similar stance?
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
