Unexpected charges

[Karen2461]

I recently booked a place for $119/ night for up to 8 guests. No where in the listing was an extra charge for guests, even though, there’re were 5 of us for one night out of the 4 nights we stayed. My total charge was $134/night, which the owner claims was due to “smartpricing” and demand. I never was aware of this, and feel like it was deceptive advertising! I’ve been a big fan of Airbnb until now! So so disappointed. Have others experienced this?

[Sarah977]

@Karen2461  When you look at a listing, the price you see is the base price. It may be considerably more than that, depending on the number of guests, and the dates you book. This has nothing to do with the host being deceptive, it is the way the platform is set up. But when you go to book and enter the dtaes and the correct number of guests, the price comes up that you will be charged. You can either decide to go ahead and book it, or not. I don't quite understand why you were surprised by the price you were charged or why you feel it is deceptive, when the price would have been evident to you when you booked.

[Karen2461]

I’ve never had a price be “considerably more than that” EVER!
If Airbnb can’t post an honest and more importantly accurate price, then why would one find it attractive and competitive with other lodging? My recent experience with SmartPricing was new, unexpected, and misleading. I was charged more than the advertised price. N

That is unethical! Period!

[Sarah977]

@Karen2461  I tried to explain that to you. Just because you haven't run across it before, doesn't mean it doesn't happen on other listings that use Smart Pricing. I'm not defending it, I don't use it myself, and my price, as listed, is the price that people book at- I don't even charge a cleaning fee. 

But that's how the Smart Pricing option works- it shows the base price, which the host has to set- that's the lowest price the host will let Smart Pricing use. That's just how the feature works, and hosts can't do anything about it.

If you, as a guest object to that, you should complain to Airbnb, because it's their set-up, the host just opted to use the feature.

[Lisa723]

@Karen2461 it's not clear what you mean. Was your credit card charged more than the total price you were shown before booking? Or did the host ask you for additional payment after you booked? If either of these happened, you have a valid complaint.

But, as @Sarah977 said, nightly rates vary for many listings (just as for hotels).

Nightly rates may vary due to the use of Airbnb's "smart pricing"-- which is notorious for underpricing vs. actual market value, by the way-- or other third-party pricing tools, or due to manual settings by the host. Regardless of the reason for variance if you search without dates or guest count Airbnb will show you only the lowest available nightly rate for each listing. (This is completely outside of hosts' control, and many of us dislike it.)

However, as soon as you enter your desired dates, and correct guest count, the accurate price for those parameters is shown for every listing. And certainly, before you book, the total price is shown.

[Rowena29]

@Karen2461 I do understand your frustration, but it's exactly as @Lisa723 explains.  Lots and lots of places have a low rate and a mid and high rate. If you dont' enter dates and guests, airbnb adverts default to your cheapest rate.

Think about all the times you see an airfare advert saying "fly to London for only $50" but when you enter the dates you actually want to travel the airfare is $500. And you find out the 50 dollar offer is only available for one day at some terrible time that no one in their right mind would ever want to fly.

It's a sly marketing trick. I don't like it as a guest and I definitely do not like it as a host.

However when searching for a place to stay, if you BEGIN by entering the dates you want and the number of guests  coming, you will only be shown the actual prices for listings for those times and those number of guests, so you shouldn't get any nasty surprises.  

Many many hosts charge extra for extra people beyond 2 or beyond 4 for example ( i do myself). Some guests get cross with this and resent paying extra for more than 2 ( or 4 ) people. Some guests LOVE this and are delighted with the idea that the fewer people staying, the less they will be charged.  It depends on your frame of reference.