Business ProfileforMill Pond Realty, Inc.

I booked a Mill Pond property in ******** through Airbnb in late January. I was contacted by Mill Pond the following day and asked two clarifying question about the dates and the deposit policy. Mill Pond did not respond directly about the deposit policy, and only offered to change my dates if I needed to. I did not follow up with Mill Pond at that time as I thought it would have been obvious if my 50% deposit was non-refundable. This was not clear on the Airbnb listing, and when I directly asked Mill Pond, he did not explain to me my 50% deposit was essentially non-refundable. When I spoke to ******* at Mill Pond to inquire about my refund, she agreed that *** at Mill Pond didnt answer my inquiry when I asked. The host should answer questions when asked. Had he answered my direct question in a direct manner, I would have had the opportunity to go back and cancel as I would not have been comfortable with a 50% deposit with a large family that cant consistently make timely decisions. When I brought this feedback to ***** (AirBnB), she stated that it doesnt really matter whether the hosts answers questions. If that is truly their position, then Im not comfortable booking with AirBnB again as I would prefer for someone to answer questions while I am traveling and staying on what could essentially be an unmanaged property. As I understand it, the host decides whether or not to keep my deposit. I tried to confirm this with Mill Pond, but they didn't answer that question either. Upon my cancellation, they only had two other nights booked in the month of June, so Im not confident that holding three nights made much of a difference for them. If the language was clearer, or the host had answered my question, then I would not be requesting a refund of my deposit. However, neither of these happened. As a consumer, I recommend clear language re a deposit being non-refundable and being upfront re deposit policies when asked.Corresponding AirBnB case no: ********