A few weeks ago I tried to book an airbnb room for this weekend. The website said that there was a problem and the reservation didn't go through, then it was no longer available on the website. I texted my husband to tell him about this issue and ended up booking another room on VRBO a short time later instead.
We just got back and my husband asked me to look at the credit card charges that had arrived. Unfortunately, it looks like we were actually charged for the first room, and now it's after the time of the stay in question (so that room can't be booked by anyone else). Tried to call airbnb, but its after hours.
I plan to call AirBnB tomorrow, and I'm expecting they'll tell us to dispute it with the owner - who has no reason to believe there was any issue with the booking or want to give any money back - before they'll talk to me, and then given the poor online customer service, anticipate they'll reject it. At that point, we can try to dispute with the credit card company, where my husband is a long-term customer.
So the crap part is we didn't realize this until after the dates of stay and our only proof of the issue is text messages and the other hotel booking. But, on the very meager positive side, at least we do have that time-stamped text message. We've got another upcoming stay with airbnb, but these were our first stays.
Any tips for getting refunded this money?