This is what credit cards are for -- you can dispute the charges. I hope you did. Credit card companies tend to err on the side of supporting consumers.
That might have once been true, but my own recent experience makes me think that the tide has turned. I no longer expect the card companies to advocate for the consumer in these kinds of "ambiguous" situations, particularly when the business is willing to misrepresent the truth.
I disputed it, but after three months of waiting, the bank decided there's nothing they can do because Airbnb's position is protected by the user agreement and CA law. It was a severely disappointing moment.
I would have thought you would have been able to recover associated expenses in small claims court like the cost of your other hotel?
Despite the circumstances, it was technically my own decision to spend that money, so I wouldn't have been able to claim the hotel. I would have been limited to claiming the $4,500 plus partial attorney fees. But not only would it have cost roughly $4,000 to make that happen, the attorney warned me there's a chance I could actually lose due to Airbnb's solidly anti-consumer user agreement.
Unfortunately, Airbnb wasn't satisfied with my story because I couldn't prove that it smelled like mold -- yes, they actually wanted me to prove the presence of mold over email. They also weren't satisfied with the cleaning person's story, or the dozen photos I sent of the place being in shambles. They not only refused to help me find another place, but refused to refund me, as well. They didn't just steal $4,500, they forced me to spend my entire first day finding other lodging at premium last-minute prices during Salesforce Week.
My choices were to cancel the whole trip and head home, or spend another $6,500 at the damn W, of all places. I decided to stay thinking it would end up only being an extra $2,000 after the Airbnb refund, which was a mistake, because they never refunded me and brazenly told me to bring them to small claims court. But after travel expenses and attorney fees, I would have only ended up getting a few hundred dollars back.
So, Airbnb effectively screwed me out of $11,000 and their representatives seemed genuinely happy about doing it. I honestly don't recall a single apology from anyone at any point.