I was planning to stay at Maz's place from February 2020 through May 2020 as a study abroad student at UNSW with two others, but in mid March, one of my roommates forced to go back home due to COVID19. Because my remaining roommate and I could not afford to pay for the entire apartment between just the two of us, we reached out to Maz with the intention to cancel our reservation. She told us that we had already paid for the apartment through April 11th and that if we wanted to stay longer, she would be willing to give us a discounted rate that we could pay week by week, given the volatility of the situation.
However, there was a confirmed case of COVID19 in the apartment building and my other roommate was also forced to return to the US, so we decided to cancel the reservation before April 11th. What we didn't realize was that if we had cancelled when we originally wanted to, Airbnb would have simply charged us for the next 30 days and we would only have had to pay for rent through mid April. However, Maz gave us the impression that payments after April 11th would be determined on a week by week basis, so there was no need to cancel immediately. When we actually cancelled the reservation in April, we were charged for the next 30 days (through early May). I have reached out to Maz to request a refund for these 30 days, she declined it, citing her long term cancellation policy, in spite of the agreement we had in place.
I understand that these have been difficult times for both Airbnb hosts and guests, and while Maz was a responsive and attentive host, I was tricked into paying an extra month of rent. For a college students like me and my roommates, a month of rent is a significant amount of money. I have asked Airbnb to intervene in this situation and I hope that they do the right thing.