Beware Airbnb terms and conditions

[James3080]

I want to want members to know about the disgrace that is Airbnb. I booked an Airbnb in mallorca in August last year. It was accepted in August. I got an email in February saying the host is changing the booking and instead of being 100 euro per night it is 180 per night. I booked a year ahead as its school holidays so made sense to book ahead. Now I have booked flights for a family of 4 and have nowhere to stay as there is no way we can stay there with such immorality. Apparently hosts are allowed to almost double prices 6 months after booking. We are stuck, there is nowhere affordable to book now. Beware this company. I will never book again at a company that allows this. It is disgusting. Oh and Apparently they don't have a UK regulator. Do not book through Airbnb I never will again. If anyone knows legal avenues in the UK I can take this through please let me know!

[Sarah977]

@James3080  Hosts are not allowed to request a higher price after a booking is confirmed. I don't know where you got the idea this is allowed. Have you contacted Airbnb customer service?

[James3080]

Yes. They said that it is permitted. They gave me 75 GBP compensation but I can't afford anywhere now in August in Mallorca as prices have doubled (anywhere

comparable is about 1k more than I had originally paid)...I tried to be organised but have been let down massively. Just to confirm, they said there is nothing more they can do and said there is no regulator here in the UK 

[James3080]

And that is customer services at airbnb. I shoud really share the property too!

[James3080]

Sorry one final reply, the ideal I got that it is allowed is from customer services at airbnb. Thank you 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3080 Customer service are wrong and @Sarah977 is right. I suggest you call customer service during the day as their Irish call centre is generally the most competent. I trust you didn't accept the change proposed by the host and have not cancelled your reservation.

You could also tray a Twitter approach to Airbnb as they hate bad publicity. If you are lucky Airbnb will pay the extra for you to stay elsewhere.

Good luck

[James3080]

Thank you, much appreciated. The host cancelled as I could not afford the 180 per night. I was in contact with Airbnb before saying I would not pay which meant that the reservation was cancelled. I was thinking about the whole linkedin/ Facebook/ twitter approach and I haven't decided yet as seems so small in light of the world happenings, but equally completely wrong as j have spent a lot on flights and best I can get is vouchers and now August holidays will be too expensive. Thank you both!

[Sarah977]

@James3080  Ah, well that is a different story, then. A host is free to cancel any reservation, just as a guest is. They just can't force a guest to pay more.

However, the host receives penalties for cancelling, one of which is that they dates they cancel are permanently blocked by Airbnb so they can't be rebooked. So the host, in this case, has probably screwed themselves by cancelling.

Exceptions to a host not getting screwed by cancelling is that if they list on other platforms, like VRBO, they could book those Airbnb blocked dates, they just can't rebook them on Airbnb. And also, Airbnb lets big players, i.e. property managers with dozens or even hundreds of listings to get away with stuff small-time hosts get punished for. 

For that and many other reasons, it's always safer to book with a small-time host than corporate  managed listings. Of course, I have no idea if this pertained to the listing you booked.

[James3080]

Thanks again. Funny thing was that as I was dealing with airbnb customer services I searched for alternate accommodation and the same property came up at the same price! That has gone now of course but I have had to cancel whole trip (non-refundable flights). Whether it is the fault of airbnb or the host I don't know, but I just can't believe that can happen! I could have made more of a fuss but the whole point is that you have a good relationship with the host but the damage was done here. The even said to me 'haven't you ever made a mistake'! Take care 

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Does the Irish call centre still exist because I NEVER get through to it anymore, which is a shame as I thought the reps were great?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3080 Worst case you could come to Derbyshire - Sadly the only thing I can guarantee is that the weather will be worse than Majorca.

[James3080]

haha, I'm sure there is worse than that but a tough sell to the kids!

[Elaine701]

@James3080 

Can you name the host please? If not publicly, then please send me a private message. 

Many Thanks, 

Elaine

[James3080]

Hi Elaine, thanks for your reply. Sure. I actually tried to reply privately but couldn't see how (I haven't done this before) so going against by normal approach and doing the public reply. It was this one. Apparently Airbnb don't allow prices to go at a certain time I don't know. Trying to be reasonable here, apparently a mistake,  but fact is I booed August 2021 for August 2022, was accepted and now I have had to cancel the whole trip as everyone knows if you book in August late...it gets more expensive! I was very polite in my messaging (I think considering the situation). Thanks 

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[James3080]

And at the time I booked, the price was not different to others an there were a good amount of good properties at a similar price...not now though.