Airbnb Issues

chalmski

Hi all,

first time poster (thank you for having me!) looking for advice as i have exhausted a lot of avenues and seems noone is willing to help me in any way! I read the post requirements so hope i have covered everything below

I booked a Florida villa through Airbnb in March 2021 for me and my family to enjoy our 'trip of a lifetime' in October 2021. The cost was approx £1100 which we split into 2 paypal payments, first 550 as a deposit and the other to be taken 3 weeks before our booked dates. Everything was fine but our flights were cancelled on 01/10/21 due to do the pandemic and the US still having closed the border to non US citezens. I immediately contacted 'the host' to advise i wouldnt be able to make the trip and requested it be deferred for 12 months to Oct 2022. They got back to me via the messenger to say that was fine and they have "sent an update to change the dates from this year to next Oct/Nov". I left it at that thinking nothing more. I did notice though 1 week later the remaining balance was taken from account through paypal so assumed all was proceeding as it should.

2 days ago was the time i logged into the Airbnb app again to check all OK with the host and confirm the date of our arrival. I was then told that following my message they had sent me an alteration request email which i never responded to and so they let the booking stand for the original dates. I did not see this email, i am not sure whether it went to a spam box or where but they said they assumed i was travelling and so there is now nothing they can do as the property would have been let unoccupied and the host couldnt have resold my dates so its my fault. i have lost the full £1100 and not prepared to offer any refund or reach an amicable solution.

Just to add this was my first ever booking with Airbnb so was unaware of any processes or proceedure i needed to follow; just when they said they sent 'an update' i thought to airbnb as i had asked in writing for my dates to change. They also advised they are not the property owner but a management company and tough luck basically.

I first tried to go through the airbnb support channels, but they said it was at the host discretion and nothing they can do about it.
I then tried raising a ticket with paypal who immediately cancelled it saying buyer protection was not covered on the transactions as i guess they were scheduled payments.
I then tried my bank to which the paypal account is linked and they have told me as both PP transactions were taken outside of the 120 visa dispute timeframe they cannot do anything. The last being on the 8th October, a week after my request to change dates!

So i come to this forum, to see if anyone can advise me if or how i can get any kind of money back for a house i didnt stay in, couldnt stay in... and gave them notice as to why. Or has a missed email cost me £1100 which i really dont know how i am going to find prior to my rebooked flights this October. I understand i might be partially to blame for missing this mail, but if the hosts were in any doubt to whether i would be hiring a plane, flying myself to Florida, and managing to get past border controls for the October 2021 booking they had my telephone number... They could have called to check. i do have the full correspondance of the chats but seem to have been 'cut-off' now from the 'host/management company' and the support assistant at airbnb who havent responded to my messages for past couple of days.

If anyone could offer any kind of advice i would be immensely grateful, many thanks. 

m0bov

Do you have evidence of the agreement? If its been agreed then that's the end of the matter. I suspect the contract is with the Host under US law.

chalmski

thanks M0bov for your reply - i have this message which i sent on 01/10/21 which to me confirmed it was ok?

comeandgo

I don’t see that as any agreement, did you not answer his e mail before your query of 18th April?

chalmski

No - tbh i didnt see the email and didnt log back into the app until this week.

More money was paid the week after the above messages so i assumed it had been done...

pinkshoes

In your opening post you have said they have:

 "sent an update to change the dates from this year to next Oct/Nov" 

But in the screenshot it says:

"sent an update that WOULD change your dates from this year to the same dates next year".

These are not the same thing. In the former it is an agreement changing the dates, but from the actual screenshots it says they have sent you an update that would change the date e.g. it implies you need to confirm something/click on something/do something. It's not clear, but the implication is there.

Surely you responded to that message asking if it was all now booked in for Oct 2022?


Your only course of action is to try again with the host, sending them screenshots of their message, and saying it was agreed by them that the holiday would be moved to October 2022, and that if they are no longer able to offer that booking, could they please refund your £1100 so you can book elsewhere. 

I'm not American law expert so no idea how you could manage this legally. You'd need to find an American consumer rights forum.

lammy82

I'm afraid it looks like you never actually accepted the revised date offered by the host, as I think you now understand. You needed to do that through the AirBnB app or website, so it would move your booking to the new dates and free up the original dates for the host to resell them.

The fact that the remaining money was taken doesn't tell you anything, because that's what would have been happening anyway.

The host worded it quite carefully actually: "I sent an update that would change your dates" - so it's something that may or may not happen. The change of date was conditional upon you accepting the update.

Sorry but I personally don't see what options you have got to force them to give you a new booking for free - I think you'd be relying on goodwill.

chalmski

thanks for your responses....

I guess my inexperience with the booking/amendment process has 'done' me. I genuinely never even saw the email to change the booking and so this missed mail has cost me dearly. I did hope to find at least some middle ground with the host but there is no "goodwill" forthcoming. Guess im up that creek

born_again

I would have thought that the 2nd payment being taken, given you had moved the dates on a year should have been a red flag to check something.
As that should have been part of the conversation on moving dates. When would they be taking the remaining balance?

sheramber

Would you not have to go into AirBnB and book for the new date once the owner had updated the record?

pinkshoes

I've never had to change a date on AirBnB, but under their information it says:

Submit a change request

1. Go to Trips and then click the trip you want to change
2. Click Show details under your reservation info
3. Click Change or cancel
4. Click Next under Change reservation
5. Change the dates of your stay or the number of guests and click Continue
6. Review changes, then click Send request

How it works

Depending on the Host’s policy, changing the number of guests may affect the total cost of your stay.

The original total and the new total will automatically show once the Host confirms your changes. You’ll be charged or refunded, if necessary, and this will be shown before you confirm the change.

If the Host declines your request or doesn’t respond, your reservation will stay the same.

So did the OP follow the procedure as above? It seems you log in, click on your booking and send a request to change it. So was the response from the owner agreement it had been changed or was it asking them to go and change it??

I'm now thinking the OP did not follow the procedure above.