Two ways in which Consumer protection is violated by AirBnb.

Hello Peter, Just wanting to know what your take would be about this story. I booked accommodation advertised by Angela Hawkins on AirBnb on the 19th October 2017 for our nieces and nephews attending our daughter’s wedding from the 18th to 21st Feb 2018. It wasn’t possible to see the exact location as AirBnb only provide a circle in which the property lies. No address. The property was very nice and was within a few minutes of our house. The full amount needed to be paid immediately and Angela required a 50% non refundable deposit. After the full payment had been taken off our credit card immediately by AirBnb, we received the address, and realized that there were safety concerns. The property was on the other side of the railway line from us and our guests would need to use a subway to get to our house. We contacted Angela immediately explaining our concerns and asking if she would consider waiving the 50% deposit. As the cancellation was within hours, she agreed in writing and we cancelled the booking with AirBnb. Airbnb’s portion was refunded quite soon, but they said Angela had to give permission for them to release her portion. Suffice is to say that over 20 e-mails to Angela and 7 months later, we have not managed to get a penny from her. I am handing this matter over to a debt collecting firm, as I have it in writing that she agreed to pay. She has had a long term rental on the property, our dates falling in that period. Unfortunatey, this will be an expensive business, as one is only given a client custom e-mail address by AirBnb. So there will be tracing fees involved. Feeling ********** and sad. My concerns with this story and Airbnb’s modus operandi. The consumer doesn’t know exactly what he/she is getting at the time of payment( i.e exact address) Secondly that one doesn’t have concrete contact details with the host. Do you have any advice?

Many thanks

Kind regards

Sue Blair