Buyer Beware ****

[Trinice0]

After receiving confirmation of reservation and payment, I began communicating with the Airbnb host and graciously mentioned that I would be in town for my daughter's graduation. I received a follow up message from the host, [host] indicating that she forgot that it was graduation weekend and planned to charge much more for the condo. She then asked if I would mind if she raised the price? Absolutely not. Well, let the price gouging begin because she refunded my money and now I am without a place to stay for graduation.

This bait and switch approach is not what Airbnb intended and to protect myself, I will never use Airbnb again as an service built on trust need to start with trust within their host infrastructure.

**** and her co-host, **** are price gougers and looking to take advantage of those coming to the upcoming UVA graduation in need of a place to stay.

There is a natural law of karma. Remember what you do now will come back to you in the future. Life has a funny way of making you deal with what you make others go through.

**[Personal information hidden for safety reasons - in line with our Community Center Guidelines]

[Emiel1]

Hi @Trinice0 ,

If a host cancels a reservation, he will be penalized by Airbnb. The dates wll be blocked, so no other guest can book that dates, a cancellation message will appear on the listing and also financial consequenses appear. So instead of hosting you, he is probably hosting nobody (at least not via Airbnb). 

It also possible to report a host (see "report this host" link) on profile, if you feel being not treated OK.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Trinice0]

The listing is back up with the new price. So much for not being able to list with Airbnb 

[Matthew285]

@Trinice0, that should not have been possible.

Did the host make *you* do the cancellation, or did the host do the cancellation?

If the host tricked you into doing the cancellation, then yes, the host will be able to rent it out again.

If you do not cancel (despite the host's insistence that you must), then the host would only have two choices: host you at the price you paid, or to do a host cancel and lose the ability to rent the weekend through AirBnB.

[Trinice0]

Hi there

great question and she insisted on doing the cancellation. She did it while we were in the midst of exchanging measages

[Trinice0]

Sadly the place is up AND she has it listed for the increased price!!!! 

[Matthew285]

@Trinice0, that is very interesting! 

Thank you for sharing the information; that is quite puzzling.

Please know that how this host treated you is not the norm for AirBnB. I completely understand you wanted to avoid it after how poorly you were treated, but please know that your experience with this host is not how it is supposed to go, nor how it usually goes.

I do not know how the host avoided the usual penalties for doing a host cancellation, but he should not have done what he did.

[Michael956]

Yes, as Emiel states above, the host will be punished and unable to rent the room to another guest.  I would also suggest reporting this host to Airbnb with a copy of the messages they sent you.  Sorry this happened to you.  

[Trinice0]

@Emiel1

[Trinice0]

Thank you and Michael as your responses and recommendations are welcomed. You should know that I reached out to Airbnb customer service. Sadly, the representative seemed more concerned about helping me locate another reservation thank understanding the fact that my reservation was cancelled because the host realized it was a money-making weekend AFTER she confirmed my reservation and payment. It was a horrific experience and at this point I would never put myself in a situation where the reservation can be yanked from me after receiving the confirmation. I’m without a reservation for my daughters graduation. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Trinice0 if you sent her an INQUIRY and she pre-approved you but you didn't actually paid / booked after that, then yes, she could withdraw her pre-approval and you are not able to book any more (if she doesn't have instant booking enabled) . 

But if you instant booked and she cancelled your booking then it is strange that her calendar is still open for those days and she wasn't penalized with authomatic review etc... 

[Trinice0]

Hello 

thanks for joining  the conversation but Please know that I booked and paid and received a confirmation. We begin to exchange messages Re: the graduation. We were 2-3 messages in when she indicated that she meant to raise her price but forgot and would I mind if She did that and perhaps we could agree on a new higher rate.... not the way i like to do business. A truly flawed process and a disappointed customer

[Jorge388]

I would like to share with you my bad experience being a guest at Rosario's house in Lisbon, Portugal (CASA COM PEQUENO JARDIM E GATA) last November. As soon as I entered the house she handed me a frontdoor key and told me not to ring the bell  (never). But she, on the other hand, forgot to take her own key off the door lock, and that forced me to ring the bell, since I could not open the door from the outside. seems to me that she did that on purpose because she did that three times. Ever since the begining she was hostile and rude with me. In no moment she  faked a smile. I felt so miserable in her house that I decided to anticipate my return to Brazil. This was my first time being a guest at a stranger's but this episode made me decide not to be a guest at anyone's house again. From now on, I will be using hotels services, as usual.

[Trinice0]

That’s so sad. I’m with you as I will go back to the hotels leveraging Priceline and other discount apps. Good luck to you

[Michael2253]

Trinice Im so sorry to read about your bad experience with a Air BNb host while trying to stay in Charlottesville area for graduation weekend. I personally host a apartment thru the company and i would hope that the host that did this would be not allowed to host on Air BnB after trying to raise the prices just because of a graduation weekend. I personally think that is very much underhanded and i would never use that type of tactic to raise my prices. you hit the nail on the head when you said it was price gouging. im trully not trying to promote my apartment but i hope if you ever decide to stay in the area again im right outside of uva about 20 min to grounds in the afton crozet area. please give Air BnB a chance because i know that there are better hosts than the one that tried to pull a dirty handed trick as that. just wanted to let you know there are better hosts out there that trully care.

sincerely, Mike & Ethel Pugh,  Happy hollow Hideaway