“I find that dishonest.
We thought we would enjoy a little vacation.
We stay alone, isolated, and in addition, we can not even be reimbursed.
Manon and her cousin are bitter.
The two young women had booked a small apartment in Bordeaux (Gironde) on the Airbnb site, from November 15 to 20.
Amount of the reservation: 215.98 euros.
“My cousin is a nursing assistant in Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée), she had a few days off and I am unemployed, I live in a 20 m2 apartment in Paris, it was an opportunity to take the air and see each other again, ”says Manon Sikorzinski.
The confinement and the ban on changing regions put a brutal end to their cousin project.
“We thought Airbnb was going to reimburse but they told me to see my host… who doesn't want to reimburse either!
»Is indignant the 27-year-old Parisian, a regular user of the platform.
The Bordeaux owner returns Manon to his cancellation conditions, stipulated when booking: 50% of the price of the nights is refunded if the traveler cancels at least seven days before.
The rest is due.
"He says the apartment is ready"
This mishap is shared by many users.
Like Marion Mérieux, who joined a collective on Facebook that already brings together 280 angry Airbnb travelers.
In June, this young Nantes clientele manager booked three nights in Prague from November 13 to 16.
Her flight canceled, the Czech Republic confined, Marion asks her host, a professional rental company, to postpone her travel dates to March or June 2021. “The three nights cost 241 euros and he proposed to change the dates for 6,000 euros. more!
»Chokes Marion, who claims since the cancellation and the refund.
“But the host refuses, he says the apartment is ready, that he is waiting for us even though renting to tourists in the Czech Republic at the moment is illegal.
"
When contacted, the platform recalls that “Airbnb is not a travel agency or a real estate agency.
The hosts set their own cancellation conditions.
The majority of them have policies allowing travelers to cancel without penalty.
But since March 14, travelers receive a specific alert at the time of booking (before booking and paying for accommodation) reminding the host's cancellation and refund policy.
"
The rules change from one confinement to another
For Airbnb, only bookings made before March 15, the date on which the pandemic was declared by the WHO, are covered by the force majeure policy and can therefore be canceled free of charge.
But nothing is planned for the new confinement.
"We would have liked them to maintain this policy beyond March 15," notes Raphaël Bartlomé, head of the legal department of UFC-Que Choisir.
But Airbnb is within its rights.
The order for the first confinement, which made assets compulsory, ended on September 15.
"The ministerial decree of October 29 closes hotels, vacation homes, campsites ... but it does not prohibit rental to individuals, notes the lawyer.
The lessor is therefore not prevented from renting.
Legally, the traveler is certainly unable to travel but not in that of paying.
Unfortunately, it is unstoppable, there have already been precedents during the SARS or chikungunya epidemics.
"
