Host Insists I cancel

[Joseph1235]

Looking for a little advice. I was looking to book a place near a location that hosts a major event on one particular weekend each year. I found a listing(a July 2021 weekend) in which the price was very low, almost too good to be true(about $600 for a 3 night stay). Nonetheless I put in a request to see what would happen. Almost immediately the host accepted my request and I had a confirmed booking.

  Shortly thereafter I get a message form the host telling me they ‘made a mistake’ and meant to click decline. They then insisted that I cancel the reservation. They then emailed me with a story about how their mother died, that she was the one who handled their Airbnb, and was unsure if they would even be open next year. They again insisted I be the one to cancel the reservation.

    I’m new to Airbnb and found this a bit odd so I refused. I suspected they wanted me to cancel so they could relist the property for much more because it’s a very high demand weekend.

A few days later and now I just received a booking ‘alteration offer’ where the host is looking to charge $2600 more on top of what they already accepted.

What happens if I decline the offer? Does my entire booking get cancelled? What should I do? Should I contact Airbnb or just try to hash this out with the host? Just feels shady for a host to ask me to cancel when, as I see it, they made not 1 but 2 mistakes( first failing to set the correct prices for that particular weekend and second by accepting my request).

     Am I wrong for refusing to cancel? It’s not my fault they didn’t properly list their pricing and then accepted my request).

[Sarah977]

@Joseph1235  I wouldn't try to "hash this out with the host". There's really nothing to hash out, unless you are willing to meet them in the middle and they are okay with that.  Hosts have to honor the pricing that was there when a guest books or cancel the reservation themselves. They are asking you to cancel because hosts receive heavy penalties from Airbnb for canceling reservations. One of which is that their calendar will be blocked for the dates they cancel, so they woudn't be able to rent it to anyone else, at least not through Airbnb.

Yes, they likely forgot to update their calendar that far ahead. But that's their issue, not the guest's responsibility. If you decline the new price, they will be forced to either honor the original price, or cancel themselves. But I would ask myself if I really wanted to stay at a place where the host was behaving unprofessionally. Personally, if I were in your position, I would contact Airbnb, explain the situation, and ask to have the reservarion cancelled with full refund to you and look for another listing. For a big event weekend, likely other places will likely be much more expensive,  but it's far enough in the future that hopefully you can find something you can afford. As you said, the price seemed too good to be true, so you were probably planning on having to spend more anyway, untilyou spotted this place.

And you wouldn't want to take a chance on them agreeing to the original price, only to cancel closer to the dates because they got a better offer through other channels, leaving you scrambling for a place when most are already booked or super expensive.

[Mark116]

@Joseph1235  Make the host cancel.  They hadn't adjusted the calendar for the event weekend and so the price was too low, that is on them.  They may be able to get airbnb to do a penalty free cancellation if they make their case, but there is no reason you should have to cancel.  Your only issue is whether the savings is worth staying somewhere you know the host is resentful already.

[Sarah977]

@Joseph1235  Here's a recent thread regarding the same situation: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Price-Increase/td-p/1294231

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Joseph1235 If you cancel you will lose the Airbnb service fee (approx 15%+tax). If anyone cancels it should be the host - It was their mistake(s) after all.