LEAVENWORTH, Wash. — Brides and grooms across the state have put weddings on pause due to the coronavirus.
Bride-to-be Adrianna Valdez-Hite of Redmond said she's out thousands of dollars after having to cancel her big day and is fighting to get that money back.
Valdez-Hite and her fiance Jonathan Farris were set to get married this summer in Leavenworth. He was a military man from Houston she's a northwest girl who works in finance.
"We decided 'let's book this beautiful 16-plus person cabin in Leavenworth and have our entire wedding party stay with us," Valdez-Hite said.
They booked a five-bedroom cabin for the wedding party, paying $1,600— half of the full amount to lock down the reservation.
But then the state and then the country shut down.
"Turns out it was probably the best decision for us to cancel," Valdez-Hite said.
They used the popular site Airbnb.com. She paid half the booking and expected to get all of that back as per the company's policy. But when the refund was processed, she only received $100.
Since then, she says the company refunded $600.
"Where is the rest of that money going? I mean, I'd like at least some sort of documentation of how much they're keeping, she's keeping we're keeping," Valdez-Hite said.
Valdez-Hite doesn't believe the host is to blame, rather the company itself.
Through email, a spokesperson for Airbnb said they're asking for "patience" as they continue to monitor the situation.
On its website, the company says it's set $250 million aside to help hosts during this time. On May 1, the company launched what it calls a “more flexible reservations” policy.
"We were definitely about three grand in the hole out of our $5,000 budget for the wedding. The venue being the majority of that cost," Valdez-Hite said.
Until something changes, the couple is left to hope that they won't have to pay for a portion of a wedding that won't happen as planned.