My Airbnb story is I booked a place for $900 and the host contacted me saying that I needed to PayPal or Venmo them more money to be able to get access to the room. It sounded like a pay-first scam so I contacted Airbnb and they said to stop talking to that host. I did so, and booked another room with Airbnb (this one for more money, even). I told airbnb I required a full refund on the first reservation. At the end of the two weeks, Airbnb kept the $900 and told me they would not be refunding.