Airbnb Refund

Mr_James

I stayed in an Airbnb for the Great North Run. I was raising money for the bereavement charity CRUSE following the death of my brother from Covid in March 2020. Despite having paid the enhanced cleaning fees the flat had not been cleaned at all. The beds had not been changed, the bathroom bin was still full and a pile of dirty laundry was in front of the washing machine. I took photos and contacted the host immediately.

 

A management company got back to me and said that they would sort it. Despite me chasing them nothing happened. I considered staying somewhere else but I couldn't find anywhere since it was the night before the Great North Run. I ended up sleeping on the couch. Not the best night's sleep.

 

I have pursued this with Airbnb. I have asked for a refund. Not cleaning the flat for a rental is bad enough at the best of times but during a global pandemic when I have paid an "enhanced cleaning" fee it is particularly unacceptable. Given Covid-19 killed my brother, sleeping in what I felt was a contaminated flat was very stressful.

 

Airbnb has said that they can't refund me since I didn't contact them at the time. It is not sufficient that I contacted the host, I should have contacted them. I don't think this is good enough. Airbnb is a broker of sorts. The host is the person that would have actually been able to do something about my situation. Had I contacted Airbnb, I am pretty sure they would have asked me to sort it out with the host.

Is there anything I can do?

Westin

Do the booking terms of AirBNB make mention that you need to contact them should a problem like the one you experienced occur?

sheramber

No mention of having to contact AirB &B here

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/2993/what-to-do-if-the-place-youre-staying-in-isnt-clean-at-checkin

mattyprice4004

sheramber said:

No mention of having to contact AirB &B here

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/2993/what-to-do-if-the-place-youre-staying-in-isnt-clean-at-checkin

‘Depending on your situation, you can request a refund of the cleaning fee or cancel your reservation for a refund through your Airbnb app. It’s important to send the request within 24 hours of noticing the issue.’