We were excited to return to MN to celebrate Christmas after missing out in 2020. Unfortunately, omicron had other plans for us. We were to have checked in on Christmas Day, but made the difficult decision on 12/24 to cancel our plans due to:
- Flight cancellation
- Risk of needing to quarantine upon arriving and not being able to see anyone
- Risk of getting my very elderly and frail mother sick.
I sent a note to Alex immediately to let him know. I didn’t hear back from him until 12/27! I guess he doesn’t check email when he is supposed to have guests arrive?
I then sent a request for partial refund given the circumstances for our cancellation. I didn’t think it would be honored since I was past the 12/18 cancellation date, but it was worth a try - again because of the circumstances. No deal….in fact I felt scolded for not insuring the trip.
The next blow was that airbnb declined the refund of the cleaning fee which I was entitled to if I cancelled by 12/25. I was not able to actually cancel the rental because it was past the 12/18 cancellation date. Perhaps Alex could have done the right thing and cancelled the rental so I could have been refunded the cleaning fee..
One last thing - On 12/23, Alex sent me a note asking for my email address so he could forward check-in details. I did even though Alex should not have asked for my personal email. Airbnb specifically states that “For your protection and safety, always communicate through Airbnb.”. For the record, Alex did not send the check-in details.
Buyer beware of this rental.