Recourse on non-refundable lodging

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, depends on what credit card you use, you may have travel insurance. We have Chase Sapphire and if we use this card, we automatically get travel insurance. I think it's worth calling your credit card company and see what can be done. It sucks, OP!

If you are really not going to be able to get credit or refund, I say, take the trip!

CSR does not offer “cancel for any reason” insurance which is the only kind that would help OP in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP try fighting with your cc company.

I did that once after our trip was ruined by a hurricane. They said no refunds but my cc company sided with me since the services purchased were not delivered.

Haven’t booked an Airbnb since.

Thank you.

Except in OP’s case the services are still available. OP just doesn’t want them anymore. I bet she posted on the travel thread a week ago she was *definitely* still going.

Exactly. The service is still available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have friends with non-refundable stays booked for all over Europe: two separate for Spain, one in Italy, several in Austria, France, Switzerland... Every single owner has been understanding and has refunded, despite the non-refundable policy. We are set to lose $6,000, and the condo has been empty all month except our week, per AirBnB. And I am not asking for my money back! Asking for credit to be used for a future stay.

I would appeal again to the owners and also AirBnB. Could you offer losing one night's cost and a refund/credit for the rest. I do understand the owner not wanting to lose money as it's their livelihood, so if they wont budge, not sure there is much you could do.

If the owner cancels the reservation one week before your trip, besides getting your money refunded, what else happens? Does AirBnB find you another place or just say sorry?

I have never book trip insurance because the red tape involved in filing and list of exemptions is so long, often isn't worth it. Going to Colorado doesn't mean you are rich enough to loose thousands of dollars. I assume you had to save up for it like most people but if not Good for you! Its dumb to shame other people's vacations. Since people are home with no other public outlet to be nasty, you are going to get the nasty people here throwing in their 2 cents in.

[Anonymous]

At this point I am rooting for the condo owner/company.

[Anonymous]

OP. You had the option to book a more expensive lodging option that included a refundable cancellation policy. This condo was booked at a discount rate and included a non-refundable cancellation policy. You knew when you bought it that there was a no refund policy. You knew at the time you booked it that Covid-19 was starting to hit the US and might easily expand to Colorado and/or your home state. And you still booked a non-refundable policy. So you live with the policy.

You are voluntarily choosing not to take the risk of traveling. That's your right. But it doesn't give you the right to cancel and get a refund that was not included in the original contract. If you or someone in your family had actually contracted the virus and you were under enforced quarantine or had to stay because a loved one was in the hospital (e.g. involuntary cancellation) then you might have a better argument. Or if you were restricted from traveling out of state by a governor's order. But you don't get to take advantage of a discounted rate with no cancellation and then get a refund because you changed your mind about traveling.

You have no valid reason to request and be granted a refund. You've made your choices. The consequences of your choices are that you lose whatever money you've paid whether a down-payment or full payment.

[Anonymous]

OP - I am sorry people are being so blunt. There is the legal answer - you have no recourse. There is the more moral argument that it would be nice if the owner was being more accommodating. It sucks. No one wants to lose money. You should not travel. A month ago no one would have realistically thought that schools across the country would close for up to 6 weeks, national sports would be canceled, and meetings of over 200 would be banned. So the “you knew this was a thing” is true in theory but the scale of this was not know . Many thought it would be like H1N1 or SARS. This is something unprecedented.

It would be nice to agree to your compromise. But people don’t have to be nice. I am going to end up out 2400 for daycare and aftercare I can’t use. But I have to pay it.

You should reach out one more time and and see if now, since things are still escalating, if they would agree to a compromise. If not, move on.

[Anonymous]

We had a surprisingly successful interaction with an AirBnB we booked in Santa Monica. We canceled due to the situation. We contacted the owner not expecting a full refund, but did ask if we could have a small discount (10% would have thrilled us) on a future stay or a waiver of cleaning fees since we wouldn’t be staying at all. No go with the owner. But when we actually canceled we received a full refund, apparently due to Santa Monica having declared an emergency. Still not sure what the final reason was, but it ended much better than we had anticipated.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried going through AirBnB to cancel? I cancelled two reservations on the platform tonight and received full refunds -- they have a new COVID-19 refund policy, which applies to reservations made before 3/13/20 for stays before 4/1/20. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Pretty helpful NYT article - https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-travel-questions-advice.html - specifically mentions AirBnB’s updated policy.

[Anonymous]

Your one week vacation is the owner’s mortgage for a month or two.

[Anonymous]

Note to self: Always book refundable hotels with 24 hour prior notice to checkin unless loss to cancel is less than $500. If loss to cancel is more than $500 keep looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MayaJ wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MayaJ wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you sound like an entitled brat. You are spending $6K on a condo for a ski vacation (that you booked non-refundable) and you want special treatment because now you don't want to go?

Also, you don't seem to realize that Colorado is not Italy, Austria, etc. Have you seen what's going on in Italy? People are dying of COVID-19 and the family have to keep the dead bodies in the house because there's a lockdown.

Get some perspective, please.

What makes you think we won't be there in one week? Because it is possible we will be. And I'd rather be home than stranded in another state when it happens.

And if we get there, policies will likely change. But until then, it's not reasonable to expect service providers to eat everything. By all means, OP can stay home. That's not a bad idea. What we're talking about is who should bear the loss here. I don't see why the condo owner should be the one to have to bend when OP booked something non-refundable.

Because by the time we get there, it might be too late to come back, and that is not a risk one should be expected to bear, especially with young children. These are unprecedented times, and people should be able to reach compromises.

A compromise by giving you your way? Lol.

You are not “expected to bear” anything. You can choose to stay home. Your booking is non-refundable. Them’s the breaks.

The above poster was not me, but I assume in the same boat as me. I am OP. My way would be to get my money back, the way every hotel and other business has reimbursed people. I am offering them to extend me credit instead to use for future travel. Not exactly much of a loss for a property that is empty in March the way this one was.

We lost several thousand on a trip that was past the cancellation date. My spouse was diagnosed with cancer and needed to start treatment ASAP. I wasn’t happy, but those were the rules.

[Anonymous]

I’m an Airbnb host and have had all my guests cancel for march and April and even though I have a strict cancellation policy I gave them all refunds. I am rooting for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP try fighting with your cc company.

I did that once after our trip was ruined by a hurricane. They said no refunds but my cc company sided with me since the services purchased were not delivered.

Haven’t booked an Airbnb since.

Thank you.

Except in OP’s case the services are still available. OP just doesn’t want them anymore. I bet she posted on the travel thread a week ago she was *definitely* still going.

Exactly. The service is still available.

Yes. It isn't a hurricane situation. They are responsible for whether the facility itself is suitable and prepared for use, not for whether OP feels comfortable in her travel plans getting there.

I am not sure why OP keeps mentioning the fact that they offered incentives and a discounted rate, as if that somehow shifts responsibility. Would they have less responsibility for her choices if they were offering full rate? I don't think that's the way it works. OP is just as responsible for her choices and contractual agreements, regardless of whether it was a particularly tempting deal or not.

It may well have been "tempting" because other people were too savvy to get into this bind at this time, but that just means other people were being smarter about these decisions in context than OP was.

[Anonymous]

It looks like all the ski resorts closed so maybe you can get a refund now!