As a busy host, I have missed several important holidays whe...
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As a busy host, I have missed several important holidays when setting pricing and minimum night stays. My market is a weeken...
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I woke up this morning to a text telling me that a property I booked back in June for a 10-day Christmas holiday in Honolulu has been cancelled. The Superhost will not respond to my texts and the property has subsequently been re-listed on AirBnB for the same dates as my trip at an escalated price that is a daily rate FOUR times more than what I paid. In fact, I had just made the final payment on the reservation only last week.
What can I expect in terms of help from AirBnB in terms of helping me book a property at a comparable price? And why is this Superhost allowed to re-list the property on the site with the same dates they cancelled on me with a higher rate?
So far I am not getting much help from AirBnB other than saying they are sorry this is happening to me. They told me hours ago that they will help me out, and now my support ticket has gone completely silent. I am now sitting with non-refundable tickets from Vancouver to Honolulu along with several activity and other bookings, including Covid tests, that I cannot be compensated for. The prices for hotels and other vacation properties are crazy high-- that is why I booked this AirBnB back in June. I am at a loss and don't know what I can expect next.
@Dorothy226 It's highly unusual that after cancelling, the host would be able to have the dates bookable again, except on other platforms. See below for the extensive penalties hosts face for cancelling, including the dates being permanently blocked by Airbnb.
https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/990/host-penalties-for-cancelling-reservations
If I were you I would report the host. Also, know that customer support at Airbnb these days is dismal, so don't expect too much. There isn't much they could do about finding you a new place at comparble rates anyway. No one at Airbnb has magic powers. I wouldn't take any more chances on another vacation rental anyway, and would try to find a hotel instead.
I hope you covered yourself with trip insurance of some sort. Very sorry this happened to you.
Not that I can tell. They have 10 listings and I chose them since their reviews seemed solid and they say in their bio they are a local etc.. etc.. Am I allowed to post the property here?
@Lisa723 here it is: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/49348610?source_impression_id=p3_1639419681_XenRN7UYenxfAx%2BU&guests=1&...
My dates were for Dec 21-31 and those are the only ones now showing.
here it is: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/49348610?source_impression_id=p3_1639419681_XenRN7UYenxfAx%2BU&guests=1&...
My dates were for Dec 21-31 and those are the only ones now showing.
@Lisa723 Not that I can tell. They have 10 listings and I chose them since their reviews seemed solid and they say in their bio they are a local etc.. etc.. Am I allowed to post the property here?
@Dorothy226 hm, they have 13 listings and they call themselves "Superhost"... but as you say their reviews are generally great. This is just really odd.
As @Colleen253 suggested you could report the listing. See the flag under the availability check box. The results of doing this are unpredictable, could range from nothing at all to shutting the listing and/or host down.
@Lisa723 odd too that they changed their name to this generic "Superhost" just recently. It used to be "Superhost Samuel." I did report the property checking that flag and it started the whole support call etc.. so that is in the works, yes.
@Dorothy226 @Colleen253 @Lisa723 It occurs to me, given the past great reviews, and the change of name on the profile, that Samuel may not be the one who cancelled this booking- perhaps the listing is being dealt with by someone else now. Obviously one person can't effectively look after 13 listings- it has to be a team if some sort.
While the majority of the reviews seem quite genuine, the very first one on this listing gave me pause. The first sentence, about it being absolutely the best Airbnb in Waikiki, is rather suspect. Has the guest stayed at every listing there to make such a statement?
@Dorothy226 While it might not have made any difference, what you said about there not having been any communication between you and the host from the time you booked 6 months ago until this week, is a factor in a lot of these last minute cancellation scenarios I've read about.
If it's a long time between booking and booked dates, it's a good idea to check in with the host a time or two in the interim. You can ask some question, or just ask for assurance that all is on for your booking. This can sometimes alert you to sketchy hosts, if they don't answer you, or take days or a week to.
I think one of the riskiest things is just Instant Booking a place, and then months later, a week or less before check-in, either assuming the host will send you check-in details, or having to ask for them if they haven't been sent.
There is always some risk of late cancellation, from either a host or a guest, for quite legitimate reasons. The plumbing bursts and the house is flooded and uninhabitable, the host has a serious accident or illness and no one to take over hosting for them, etc. But if you stick to booking places where the host just has one-few listings and great reviews, rather than these property managed places, and make sure to keep some line of communication open, the chances of being cancelled on are slim.
@Dorothy226 They actually have 13 listings, although some might be new since you last looked.
@Dorothy226 You might also post a warning about booking with this property management company on Trip Advisor. It won't help with getting you another place for the holidays, but at least they'll have some negative feedback on social media and it might lose them some business and save another guest from the same fate.
It is true that the host could cancel an IB booking penalty-free, but that option is supposed to be used if the host feels uncomfortable with the booking for some reason, i.e. the guest has given some red flags that they intend to throw a party. It isn't meant to be used simply to up the price.
The host would have had to lie about the reason for cancelling, as to do a penalty-free IB cancellation, they have to check one of a few options for why they are cancelling. "I want more money" isn't one of the options.
@Sarah977 yes and it's ludicrous that this could be allowed for any reason months after the booking was made.
@Lisa723 I could see it being legitimate if the guest suddenly said something in messaging that threw up red flags close to the check-in date that hadn't come up before, or the guest got a review or two between booking and the booked dates that indicated they had been horrid guests, but of course neither is the case here- it's evident what happened by the hiked price.
@Lisa723 the irony here is that literally no information had really been exchanged beyond my confirmation about a week ago of my arrival time and use of the parking etc.. I also had two excellent reviews since the booking was made on my account. So far, Airbnb is not saying why they cancelled. I imagine they are trying to find this out from the host.
@Dorothy226 At quick glance I see ‘Samuel’ is the host and has good reviews. Most reviews mention him by name. I don’t immediately see any red flags. Perhaps other hosts here will
catch something.
@Nick This really needs looking into as the whole thing is very sketchy, as evidenced in the details of this post. Can you help @Dorothy226 in any way? CS has so far given her a bogus answer.
What’s happened here gives all of us and Airbnb a bad name.