Host negotiating cash payment for date change

[Mai1869]

Hi Everyone,

I made a booking for 28 days and asked my host if i can push my booking back by a week. They responded saying the place is available and they are happy to block out the calender for that week however have asked me to pay $400 AUD on arrival. I have said to them this is beyond my budget they then continued to negotiate $200 and $100.

 I have politley turned down both as i feel like it is not fair but also started questioning their integrity. I can not trust that they will just block out the dates. This situation had left a bad taste and i no longer want to stay at their place but the amount was paid in full upfront. 

Is there anyway for me to not engage with them and cancel? my booking is 20 days from the time i wrote this but the policy says you miss out on the first 30 days. Any suggestions? 

[Helen3]

Can you not send a request to amend the dates for long term bookings? If so do that.

If not just extend the booking length on the platform, but you will lose the first seven days of your booking cost. @Mai1869 

Yes of course you can cancel,  but you will as you pointed out be liable for the entire booking cost.

I would make sure any payment you make is through the Airbnb platform. They can extend the booking and send you a special offer for the cost, but then obviously you would add the Airbnb fees on top of the cost you agreed with them.

It is not fair to ask the host to be out of pocket because you have changed your plans and want to move your dates, whatever your personal financial circumstances.

[Sarah977]

@Mai1869  All payments should go through Airbnb. Hosts can't ask you for cash. And I don't understand what the host is claiming this cash payment is for? If the dates are available for the period you want, you send an alteration request, which the host can then either accept or decline- that is the way you do it, rather than simply asking the host via a message. If they decline and still ask for cash, call Airbnb- they will either read the hosts the riot act or allow you to cancel, hopefully without losing any money. If I were you  would ask Airbnb for a full-refund cancellation, rather than deal with this host anymore.

FYI some hosts may decline a reservation date change which is further on than the original booking, because this is a sneaky way that some guests use to circumvent the cancellation policy, so hopefully this isn't why you are doing this.