Comments on: Barbados Nightmare and $4,500 Taken During COVID

By: Catherine Walcott

Catherine Walcott — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 11:44:32 +0000

If he had stayed in Barbados for the month travelling back to US would have been easy. Barbados was Covid free by July 2020.
However in December some ‘entitled tourists’ broke quarantine and spread the infection throughout the island.
It was discovered in the last week of December 2020. The supply of tests that we had on island was not enough to cover the number of cases. So for January there was a backlog of test results. By February things were back to normal and the backlog was cleared. Since the vacation was a month they could get their three day test and get back home.
Each Airbnb rental picks its own cancellation policy. The cancellation policy is right there on the booking page. There is no exemption for idiots who don’t understand the cancellation policy.

By: Sally Derrick

Sally Derrick — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 21:07:44 +0000

Is this not what travel insurance is for? You couldn’t use the accommodation so make a claim.
This was always going to be a risky as half of the world is in lockdown

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 20:30:59 +0000

Let’s break this down

You booked a month long stay in a foreign country during a pandemic. You knew there were travel risks before booking.

The Airbnb host sets short term stay cancellation policy. The Airbnb sets the Long Term Stay (28 nights or more) which requires that if the stay is cancelled during the stay, a 30 day notice is required. This means cancellation on day 6 of a 60 day stay means the host is paid for 36 days. In your case it means no refund.

It is possible this trip may have qualified for a refund under the extenuating cancellation policy because travel was not possible.

Airbnb is a booking platform only with minimal host or guest support. The 1/20 booking policy probably required a special application perhaps under the extenuating circumstances policy.

Most customer service staff are fairly new & not trained for unusual circumstances. Always ask for your request to be escalated to a supervisor.

As a guest owe it to yourself to know the cancellation policies before booking especially when you book an international trip during a PANDEMIC when things are changing rapidly.