Chargeback Declined by Halifax

NAKK

Hi all,

Thought I will post this issue here to see if anyone has any suggestions.

I recently visited Malta and booked my accommodation through Airbnb. Upon reaching the accommodation, we faced numerous issues which are detailed below:

- Listing advised that the apartment has air-con but the air-con was only confined to the dining room which was next door to the kitchen. As kitchen had no ventilation, anytime we used the kitchen, we had to open all the doors and windows - this defeated the purpose of the air-con. I raised this with the Host who advised us to leave the air-con on all day but that didn't work either as then we were told to only use it when we were in.
- Wifi didn't work first 1 1/2 days due to the wrong password. 
- First night, the main door couldn't be locked due to the wrong key given by the host.
- Building works were happening next door which used to wake us up early morning around 7 am or so. So not only were we going to sleep late (due to excessive heat) but also waking up late. 
- Washing machine didn't work and it took the host 2 days to come back to us.

This runied our holiday and was even more challenging as we had 3 little children with us all below 6 years. I highlighted all this to the host during our stay through Airbnb and Whatsapp so have all the chat evidence. 

I got in touch with Halifax as I paid for the accommodation through my Halifax Credit Card but they denied my chargeback claim on the grounds that I stayed at the accommodation throughout my stay. They claim I should have left, however, I advised them that I was in a foreign country with kids and I had provided the Maltese authorities the apartment address in our Passenger Locator Forms so couldn't just change accommodation but they still rejected my claim.

Can members please advise whether I have a fair chargeback claim on the above grounds. Curious to see others viewpoint.

y3sitsm3

Seems reasonable to me.

born_again

They are correct on the chargeback point. That is covered in the card regulations.

Your best chance of any refund is a complaint via AirBnB.

NAKK

y3sitsm3 said:

Seems reasonable to me.

I'm unsure about your response. Are you referring to my complaint as reasonable or Halifax's stance?

NAKK

born_again said:

They are correct on the chargeback point. That is covered in the card regulations.

Your best chance of any refund is a complaint via AirBnB.

I tried to complaint to them but they have rejected it citing the reason that it was out of 24 hour window. 

y3sitsm3

NAKK said:

y3sitsm3 said:

Seems reasonable to me.

I'm unsure about your response. Are you referring to my complaint as reasonable or Halifax's stance?

Halifax.

The issues were relatively minor, but you've short yourself in the foot by staying in the accommodation for the entire period.

kaMelo

Trying to initiate a chargeback is wrong in this scenario.  I'd liken it to going to a restaurant and ordering a steak, eating the the whole steak and then saying it wasn't up to scratch and want your money back. If you're not happy with the steak then don't eat it, hence Halifax response to the chargeback that you shouldn't have stayed there which seems fair to me.

I would second the complaint via AirBnB as the best option.

[Deleted User]

kaMelo said:

Trying to initiate a chargeback is wrong in this scenario.  I'd liken it to going to a restaurant and ordering a steak, eating the the whole steak and then saying it wasn't up to scratch and want your money back. If you're not happy with the steak then don't eat it, hence Halifax response to the chargeback that you shouldn't have stayed there which seems fair to me.

I would second the complaint via AirBnB as the best option.

It was Malta - not Timbuktu - if you couldn't sleep without aircon and couldn't lock the door then you could have found another location such as a hotel relatively easily. 

born_again

NAKK said:

They are I tried to complaint to them but they have rejected it citing the reason that it was out of 24 hour window. 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1370/request-a-refund

Request a refund

If you would like to request a refund before or after your trip, refund requests of any amount can be handled through our Resolution Centre.

We recommend discussing any refund amounts with your Host through your Airbnb message thread before submitting a request in the Resolution Centre. However, if you and your Host aren’t able to come to an agreement within 72 hours, you'll have the option to ask Airbnb for help mediating.

Note: You have up to 60 days after your reservation's checkout date to submit a Resolution Centre request.

If you’re experiencing an issue during your stay, you can send your Host a refund request through your Airbnb app. It’s important to send the request within 24 hours of noticing the travel issue. <<

Did you raise the issue while you were there?

eskbanker

NAKK said:

- Listing advised that the apartment has air-con but the air-con was only confined to the dining room which was next door to the kitchen. As kitchen had no ventilation, anytime we used the kitchen, we had to open all the doors and windows - this defeated the purpose of the air-con. I raised this with the Host who advised us to leave the air-con on all day but that didn't work either as then we were told to only use it when we were in.
- Wifi didn't work first 1 1/2 days due to the wrong password. 
- First night, the main door couldn't be locked due to the wrong key given by the host.
- Building works were happening next door which used to wake us up early morning around 7 am or so. So not only were we going to sleep late (due to excessive heat) but also waking up late. 
- Washing machine didn't work and it took the host 2 days to come back to us.

Sounds like the wifi, door lock and washing machine were all resolved by the host within a day or two, and the building noise is hardly something within their control, but you might have scope for complaint on the air con issue if the listing stated, or even implied, that it's in every room, but valuing the impact (clearly some way below 100%) for any refund purposes could be problematic....

NAKK

Deleted User said:

kaMelo said:

Trying to initiate a chargeback is wrong in this scenario.  I'd liken it to going to a restaurant and ordering a steak, eating the the whole steak and then saying it wasn't up to scratch and want your money back. If you're not happy with the steak then don't eat it, hence Halifax response to the chargeback that you shouldn't have stayed there which seems fair to me.

I would second the complaint via AirBnB as the best option.

It was Malta - not Timbuktu - if you couldn't sleep without aircon and couldn't lock the door then you could have found another location such as a hotel relatively easily. 

I did try to search for other accommodations but there were 2 reasons I couldn't - I had already listed the apartment on the Passenger Locator Form so couldn't simply change the address after submitting it to the Maltese authorities. Secondly, I tried to get in touch with a few other Airbnb hosts but the prices were extortionate.