Host asked for more money then cancelled with no penalties

Host asked for more money then cancelled with no penalties

I booked a property for a 1 night stay over 2 months ago for my family visiting from England over chistmas to go down to Apollo Bay. The booking was promptly accepted and i was told the host would be in contact closer to the time. 

 

Yesterday i recieve a message from the host saying that the rates on air bnb were not updated for the peak season prior to booking and would like to charge me almost $300 more for the booking. I spoke to Air BnB and they said i was under no obligation to accept the revised cost and by rejecting the alteration request my booking would be unaffected. I messaged the host and explained the additional cost would put this outside our price range and we would not have intially booked at this revised price, i then rejected the alteration request in the app. 

 

I got a response from the host reiterating that it was peak season (my view is the advertised rate is down to the host/air bnb) but before i could respond they had cancelled the booking, leaving me in search for somewhere at relatively short notice for 8 people. 

 

my question is do i have any right of reply in this situation or do i just have to take it on the chin? I have used Air BnB throughout the world and this is the first experience which has made me question using it in future. 

 

Furthermore i noticed that the propoerty in question is now re-listed for the same dates which the host had cancelled (now for a significantly higher price) and no automated cancellation review exists on their profile, the host is also still a superhost, all of which i was lead to believe from Air BnB's policies would be penalised if they cancelled?

3 Replies 3
Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Contact Airbnb, this is absolutely not acceptable whatsoever. Not whatsoever. I am amazed that the host has the dates available, your correspondance on the platform would have been visible to the supportstaff who cancelled the booking for the host. Try twitter Airbnbhelp, or Facebook, or call   02 85203333 but there might be a delay answering you on the phones.

Hi Sandra, thanks for you suggestion. I was luckily able to find another property, which is a relief.

 

In regards to the host, I spoke to air bnb via phone and messages and they confirmed to me in writing that the host was being penalised between $50-$100, which im sure wont hurt too much given the original booking was for $690 and is now listed for a total of $1,141!

 

When i queried why the property was allowed to be re-listed and the cancellation request was not on the property profile, they said it had been changed to be allowed on their system but refused to say why. 

 

Glad the trip will still be going ahead, but i must admit i won't be trusting the superhost stamp anymore as clearly it doesnt actually reflect what AirBnB is claiming.

I am glad to hear it. We are many hosts on the platform who work really hard to do what we do and honour our bookings and I get angry when hosts do this as the aftermath is spread out over all of us!

 

There is a discussion at present which may allow superhosts to have one cancellation per year without losing status. I am vocally opposed to this suggestion as being a superhost should not be easy. Otherwise it loses its meaning, as you are witness to. On the forum we see this every now and then, especially with new hosts. Hope your trip is great, enjoy Apollo Bay!