Superhost Just Cancelled A Booking And Relisted At Escalated Price

[Dorothy226]

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. 

[Colleen253]

@Dorothy226 You can still communicate with a host to ask questions etc before booking, via an Inquiry. When it came time to book, it would have been instantly confirmed, rather than going through as a Request, which requires the host to receive the request/booking details first, then manually accept. Hosts do have some leeway to cancel penalty free with Instant bookings. Though, the 'leeway' is very narrow.

[Sarah977]

@Dorothy226  You may have communicated with the host before actually booking, but you still could have gone on to Instant Book. We don't know if that's what you did.

There are 3 ways a guest can book.

With Instant Book, you just click on "Book now". As long as your payment goes through okay, the booking is confirmed- host approval isn't required.

If a guest sends a Request, the host has to either accept it or decline it within 24 hours. As soon as the host clicks accept, Airbnb will proceed to charge you and confirm the booking.

If a guest sends an Inquiry, because they have some questions before committing to a booking, the host has the options to simply message back, pre-approve or decline. The difference between pre-approval on an Inquiry and accept on a Request is that the guest has to take an extra step to book after a pre-approval. You aren't charged or confirmed just because the host pre-approved you.

The reason hosts are allowed penalty-free cancellations on Instant Book is because the host doesn't have the opportunity to read a guest's prior reviews or communicate with them before a booking is confirmed. (There are a few standard requirements a host can set for a guest to IB, like prior reviews, verified ID, a profile photo, but guests don't see that- they simply won't be shown the option to IB if they don't meet the requirements)

With a Request or Inquiry, it's assumed that as the host has 24 hours to look at the guest's reviews and communicate with them before deciding whether to accept or not, they really shouldn't need to cancel.

A guest might Instant Book, then the host finds out that the guest hasn't read all the listing info, or ignored it, and plans to bring more guests than they booked for, or bring  children to a no children listing, or says something sketchy that makes the host wary about them. So they might then have a good reason for cancelling.

Not all hosts allow Instant Bookings. Many of us want the opportunity to decide for ourselves.

[Kelly149]

y'all that listing is sketchy as heck... read the house rules.... @Dorothy226 for sure report the listing... somebody get CS involved. Not cool.

And PS booking a *smoking deal* on ABB is almost always a game of Russian Roulette. If you've snapped up something that is way below market, then that might work out or you might be scrambling at the last minute

[Colleen253]

@Kelly149 Ah, there's the red flags. 

And @Dorothy226  did they collect the $5000 (!?) SD from you?

[Lisa723]

@Kelly149 you're right, Please do not speak with building staff about AIRBNB for privacy reasons - say “you are staying with a friend”

Most likely an illegal/unauthorized use of the unit.

[Sarah977]

@Kelly149 @Lisa723  I skimmed that lengthy list of rules and saw the $5000 security deposit, but I missed the "say you're a friend" part. OMG huge red flag. Not sure how they can display that license number, though, if it's an illegal listing. 

[Dorothy226]

@Kelly149 @Lisa723  OMG, that $5000 security deposit was NOT listed when i booked, and we did not pay that, thank goodness. As for the "don't tell its an Airbnb" on the listing, this is not uncommon in big cities where I have booked (or where I live in Vancouver) and so this was not a red flag for me with the great reviews and Superhost status etc.. 

[Colleen253]

@Dorothy226 Since you didn't pay it, that might have been the out the host needed to cancel. It says booking will be cancelled if not received within 72 hours of booking. A hapless CS rep (most are) would not have thought to check into when the host added that to the rules, or any further, period. The host may have simply claimed you broke his house rules and that would enable a cancellation. He may have also been able to cancel it without speaking to anyone.

The other thing may not be uncommon, but it does increase the risk of things going south for you.

[Dorothy226]

@Colleen253 I don't think so as the statement reads: "This security deposit will be handled through the platform and paid through the resolution center prior to check-in within 72 hours of confirming your booking stay." The window he canceled in was 10 days out. He canceled my booking two days after the final payment was due. Had this been the reason for the cancellation, it would have been told to me, no?

[Sarah977]

@Dorothy226  No, no reason has to be given to the guest for a host cancelllation. 

[Dorothy226]

@Kelly149 @Lisa723 wow, that whole WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY (LAST UPDATED 9/17/21) thing was not on the listing when I booked. Interesting, and that whole section on the security deposit did not happen with me as we were not within the 72 hour check-in. All new and not part of the original listing.  I would NOT have been happy with this!! "This property requires a $5,000 refundable security deposit. This security deposit will be handled through the platform and paid through the resolution center prior to check-in within 72 hours of confirming your booking stay. Failure to pay this security deposit will result in a cancellation of booking. As such, the listed cancellation policy for this booking will apply. As long as no property damage occurs during your stay or additional fees assessed, the platform will initiate a release of the security deposit within 15 days from the date of checkout."

[Colleen253]

@Dorothy226 It says "within 72 hours of confirming your booking (not of check in). Failure to pay this security deposit will result in a cancellation of booking". 

This host is sketchy as all get out. And crafty.

[Dorothy226]

@Colleen253 that line was added in September-- I booked and confirmed my stay in June.

[Sarah977]

@Dorothy226 @Colleen253  That's maybe another indication that my thought about a new manager being in charge could be correct. That could account for all those good reviews about how great "Samuel" was. Someone else has taken over, or there might even be a new home owner of the listing, who drove these changes. 

[Mark116]

@Colleen253  A $5K security deposit is pretty crazy, maybe @Branka-and-Silvia0  is right that for whatever reason, this host doesn't want rent the place but doesn't want to de-activate the listing.  It's nice, very corporate generic, certainly not full of art and antiques as one would expect with a 'security deposit' of that magnitude.  Also, say you're friends is total BS and guests should never be asked to collude with hosts in obscuring that they're at an Airbnb.  Very weird. 

@Dorothy226  Despite the stress and extra expense you have incurred, I have a feeling you may be better off not having stayed at this shady property.