Host lied about location of property

[Phoebe116]

Would be grateful for some help;

Me and my boyfriend were due to stay in a property in Cornwall next week for 7 nights. This property’s location was right on the high street of one of the major towns in Cornwall.

Two days ago my boyfriend and I decided to check the listing again, simply to look at the pictures of the property. We then noticed that the location of the property on the listing had completely changed, and that it was over 5 miles from the original location.

We booked the property purely based on it’s central location (within walking distance to all amenities), and we’re shocked that:

A. The location had changed

B. We were not even notified of the change in location - had we not noticed this beforehand, we would have arrived at the wrong place! 

Air BnB have cancelled our stay and given us a refund, and offered us a £128 credit as compensation. I am not happy with this. The average cost per night for a stay in the town centre is now £200. £128 doesn’t even pay for one night! 

Our whole holiday has been ruined, and now we can’t book anywhere else. The Host lied about the location and failed to tell us that the location had changed. Air BnB are refusing to discuss any further. What can I do? Legal action? 

[Emiel1]

@Phoebe116 

There is not much you can do then accept the (unpleasant) experience.

But the real address of the property should be on your itinerary, so did you check this also

(Google maps) ?

The real address can not be changed that simple by the host.

[Gordon0]

@Emiel1 has it, @Phoebe116 - the address will be on your original itinerary and cannot have been changed. Please share more information. 

[Jenny349]

Hi @Phoebe116 

I’m sorry for your unpleasant experience, but I’m not sure I’ve understood correctly. Are you saying you originally booked a property on the high street of a major town in Cornwall for 7 nights, for £128? I must have got that wrong, surely, as it sounds way too good to be true?

[Sarah977]

@Phoebe116  I don't understand- you got a refund of what you originally paid plus 128? And you are complaining about that?

If you bought an item in a store, took it home and found out it was defective, and the store gave you a full refund for it, plus money for the inconvenience, would you feel the store owed you more than that just because you couldn't find a comparable item at the same sale price you bought the original for?

If the host of this listing was purposely trying to get more bookings by misrepresenting the location (which is not necessarily true- there are Airbnb glitches that position a place on the map incorrectly, much to the host's dismay), then you probably dodged a bullet, as the place may be misrepresented in other ways as well.

[Gordon0]

The issue is, @Sarah977, Cornwall is currently one of the UK's hotspots in terms of holiday accommodation, so the prices are rising incredibly fast. What you could have got for £200 a few months ago is double the price now. 

But the fact of the matter remains - the property address cannot be changed, but the location point perhaps can be? An afterthought maybe, but checking the address is where you think it is would have saved this fail. 

[Sarah977]

@Gordon0  I get that, about the prices being higher now than when they booked, and yes, that's a drag, for sure.

But 2 months ago, I booked a flight to Canada, and a week and a half later I got an email from the airline saying they had cancelled my flight. The $ was returned to my credit card, but when I immediately went to rebook, the same route on a different day, the cheapest ticket was now $50 more than what I had paid originally. 

These things happen.

[Brian2036]

I suggest that you take your refund, plus the £128 gift, and go somewhere cheaper than Cornwall.

You might find a last-minute bargain.

[Gordon0]

>>I suggest that you take your refund, plus the £128 gift, and go somewhere cheaper than Cornwall<<

Finding accommodation in anywhere remotely similar to Cornwall right now is akin to falling upon the holy grail, @Brian2036. 

[Kelly1601]

My host lied as well, not on the location but on what we could do. What are our options to not have to pay a ton of cancellation fees or force him to stick to his word? @Gordon0 @Phoebe116 @Brian2036 @Sarah977 @Jenny349 

[Gordon0]

You’ll need to expand on what it was you were expecting to do and how the host has changed this, @Kelly1601 

[Kelly1601]

He said we could have more people come but now he doesn’t want to let us!

[Sarah977]

@Kelly1601  You still haven't given enough information to be able to give you any useful advice. How many people did you book for? How many people are listed as the max number of guests for the property? At what point did you ask to bring more people and at what point did the host say first yes and then no?

[Kelly1601]

Sorry I said more here https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Host-made-a-promise-but-now-is-denying-it/m-p/1566469#M3457... we booked for 3 and the maximum is 8, he said yes after we booked and talked to him on the phone and now he’s saying no. We booked 2 weeks ago.