People who used Airbnb to book vacations in popular winter destinations like Lake Tahoe before the statewide ban on nonessential travel was reinstituted earlier this month are struggling to obtain refunds.
Berkeley resident Valerie McDermott hoped to give her two young kids their first experience of snow this week. But when she heard about the new statewide ban on leisure trips and tried to get a refund on the Lake Tahoe accommodation she made back in October, the host was noncommittal.
McDermott said Airbnb was no help.
"The option is either lose your entire amount of money you paid, up [at] the discretion of the host, or violate the [travel] order blatantly and put people’s lives at risk," she said.
A spokesman for Airbnb said the company is providing refunds for stays booked before March 14, 2020. But reservations made after that date are subject to regular cancellation policies. State and county plans for enforcing the travel restrictions remain unclear.