from Hacker News

More Airbnb Problems

by totalZero on 1/17/23, 1:05 AM with 4 comments

Is there any recourse against Airbnb when they don't refund your money as promised, or when they don't refund in accordance with their policies? I've had two situations in the past year where Airbnb Support passes me from person to person and then never refunds my money.

Short of opening a dispute with the bank, is there any process to have a well-trained person take a look at a reservation? Or is the only solution to let them steal my money and stop using the platform...

  • by realAzazello on 1/17/23, 1:31 AM

    There was an article (can't find the link) where a journalist couldn't get sufficient help from regular Abb Support; so he called up one of their (Media Relations?) people and told them he's writing a piece on customer satisfaction with Abb -- of course conveniently mentioning his most-recent troubles -- *"Would you like to comment for the article?"*.

    He says, his problems were immediately escalated, then resolved properly. And...he still wrote the piece.

    When I can find the link, will post here.

    So... perhaps put a Twitter/HN/etc call-out to journalists, if they're planning to write articles on Abb, that you'ld like to share your experiences (headaches).

    Be sure to link to this thread!

  • by saluki on 1/17/23, 3:16 AM

    We had 2 out of 3 bad experiences with Airbnb in the UK a couple months ago. Not sure we'll be using them again. They don't give the renter much recourse if the listing isn't as promised and you want to change to another airbnb. 1 of the 3 were awesome though so I guess you have to read the description, sleuth the pictures and ask even more questions.

  • by Malky on 1/17/23, 10:31 AM

    Some journalists managed to urge Airbnb handle refunding better https://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/cant-get-refund-a...