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Airbnb Refund Issued After The I-Team's Call For Action Steps In

BOSTON (CBS) -- Instead of the relaxing vacation vibe David Rogers expected on his trip to wine country, he was greeted with the sound of saws and hammers at his Sonoma, California Airbnb rental.

"There was no way we could spend 4 days there with construction happening," Rogers said. The roof at their rented apartment was being repaired. Rogers immediately reached out to Airbnb to ask for a refund. "They said, 'we will reimburse you. We apologize.'"

The host instantly refunded the $460.75. "Then I got an urgent message, please contact us right away," said Rogers. Turns out, Airbnb, not the host, should have initiated the refund. So, Rogers allowed them to charge his credit card again in order to avoid getting a double refund. "I said okay, I don't need two reimbursements, just one."

But two months later, he was still waiting for the actual refund to come through. That's when he emailed the iTeam's Call 4 Action. "Literally, like three hours after WBZ contacted Airbnb, I got a phone call from Airbnb saying there had been a mistake. There had been a mix-up and I was going to get my refund."

Airbnb refund, Call For Action
David Rogers was greeted with the sound of saws and hammers at his vacation rental. (WBZ-TV)

In a statement Airbnb told us, "Mr. Rogers was double-charged due to a system error, and we have apologized and completely refunded him for this mistake. There have been more than 400 million guest arrivals on Airbnb and negative incidents like this are extremely rare. Again, we are sorry for this mistake and hope Mr. Rogers gives us another try."

If you're having trouble with a consumer issue give us a call at 617-787-7070 or email us at wbzcallforaction@cbs.com.

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