LOS ANGELES – Getting accepted in the world’s largest theater festival is a dream come true for any playwright. But for actor and writer Melissa Center, that dream became a nightmare shortly after booking flights and a home-stay through Airbnb.

“I was over the moon to premiere my one woman show at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, which is the biggest theater festival in the world and then it got canceled and I was devastated,” said Center.

Artists lost a lot more than an opportunity to share their work on the world stage when COVID-19 canceled festivals around the world. As the playwright and executive producer, Center purchased flights for herself, producing partner, and director and booked a house for them to stay at for 30 days. 

She found out the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was canceled five weeks after making her accommodations.

“I immediately reached out to the host and Airbnb to find out how I can get a refund for my stay,” said Center. “Well, they just pointed me to their boilerplate explanation which meant that I could not get a full refund and that was not helpful at all.”

According to their policy, Airbnb only allows travelers 48 hours to cancel reservations without a penalty. Now, Center would only be refunded the cleaning fee, which means she would lose $3000. She has asked both Airbnb and the host for help.

“Now when I speak to them, they say it’s up to the host’s discretion to let me out of the reservation and when I speak to the host, he says it’s up to his existing agreement with Airbnb and he’s not willing or able to cancel that,” said Center. “So essentially, they placed me in the middle.”

When reaching out to Airbnb, they directed Spectrum News 1 to their updated policy:

"For travelers with bookings made on or before March 14, 2020, for a stay after July 31, 2020, we ask for your patience as we continue to monitor the situation -- every two weeks, we will be providing updates about coverage under our Extenuating Circumstances policy."

Since the festival was scheduled for August, Center's only hope for a refund is for the travel restrictions to be extended.

“$3000 isn’t just chump change for me. I’m an artist. It’s my mission to tell stories in a meaningful way and this situation has really put me in a tough spot,” said Center.

She's hopeful she’ll be able to bring her play to Edinburgh next year, but in the meantime, she’s stuck at home, and for the time-being, out three grand.