Host wants me to cancel

[K101]

I booked a room for well into the future (several months), but within 30 minutes, the host sent me a message wanting me to cancel the reservation due to her error in posting the price. I understand her situation, but I don't want to be negatively impacted (i.e., counting against my 3 times in a year) on Airbnb. I imagine she doesn't want to be negatively impacted either, but it was her mistake. Is there a way to cancel the reservation without either of us being impacted?

[Alexandra316]

@K101You should never cancel on someone else's behalf, as a host or guest. Tell them that they need to contact Airbnb if there's an issue and they need to cancel, or if you need to make another booking quickly, contact Airbnb and explain the situation and they will contact the host. It's not up to you to help the host out: it was their mistake.  

[Gordon0]

Take @Alexandra316's advice, @K101. Get the host to fix this via Airbnb. Do not cancel yourself.

Sometimes you learn lessons because they cost you. 

[K101]

Thank you for your replies and I'm inclined to follow your advice. Ironically, this was my first Airbnb booking ever, and right off the bat, there was trouble. Having read a little about the cancellation policy for hosts, this plea (she really is begging me to cancel) of hers is odd because, being an instant booking (it must have been), she has the ability to cancel on her end without penalties. Do I understand this correctly? You would think she would know this, being a superhost.

[Susan151]

@K101 No. Unless the host is "uncomfortable" with you or there is an extenuating circumstance such an upcoming surgery, etc., the penalties for a host are quite severe. Not managing your calendar properly is NOT an allowed no-penalty cancelation.

[K101]

Hmmm. So what prevents her from saying she is "uncomfortable" with me and cancelling the reservation?

I don't want to screw someone over just because he or she made a stupid mistake--we all do it from time to time. And this host really hasn't disrupted any travel plan of mine. Basically, I grabbed a deal that seemed too good to be true and that's what it turned out to be.

[Alon1]

@K101 

I don't know what prevents her.

Part of it that you don't seem clear - or at least your wording conveys uncertainty "being an instant booking (it must have been)". -- However, I don't do Instant Booking, so not the person to comment on IB issues.

However, if you might consider to cancel and booked less than 48 hours ago, you can cancel freely.

[Anonymous]

@K101  I agree that the host should accept responsibility for her own mistake, and deal with this herself rather than dumping it on you. There's no action that you need to take on this booking.

However, it is possible that she'll eventually persuade Airbnb to let her out of the booking, so you might as well start researching a Plan B.

[Alon1]

@K101 @Susan151 @Gordon0 @Alexandra316 

Evidently not the issue in this case, but potentially could be is K101's lack of verified ID and profile photo.

[Susan151]

@Alon1  To play devil's advocate, if @K101 was allowed to instant book the space then the host didn't require either of these verifications. Can't imagine why, but there it is.

[Alon1]

@Susan151 

I agree, it's what I extracted from it, so stated 'Evidently not the issue in this case',

I should  have been more clear in the next part of the clause,

'but potentially could be', in other cases... as I should have added. 

[K101]

It's not that. I just checked the new price of an identical unit in the same building and it's significantly more than what I was able to book it for during the same time period.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@K101 

At your place I would cancel, I wouldn't be comfortable to take advantage of her mistake and stay at her home against her will. 

[Sarah977]

@K101  It could have been the host's error in not keeping her pricing up to date, or it could have been some tech glitch on the site- not uncommon. But as others have said , not the guest's problem, but the host's. If you're still within the 48 hour free cancellation period, you could decide to be real nice and cancel yourself (although, as you say, it would use up one of your 3 service-fee-refunded cancellations), especially considering that you say it's a booking in the future and you still have time to find another place, but technically, it's definitely the host's responsibility to cancel.

Was this a new listing? If so, that could have  been why it was so much cheaper than identical units in the same building. New listings get some discounts applied to them, and often the inexperienced host isn't aware of that, then is shocked to find out what the guest was charged.

New hosts, just like new guests, should always be given their first chance, not just rejected because they don't have any review history, but it's also true that you have a better chance of things going smoothly if you look for established listings with good reviews and not just for the least expensive place. If you are wanting to book a place that's a new listing, it would be wise to first send an Inquiry message to the host to make sure all feels okay, rather than Instant Book it.

[K101]

Thanks again for all the input. The  reason for the mistake is that the host forgot to adjust the price of the unit for a special event that will be happening in the area at the time. The price I got the unit for was more than four times less than the special event gouging, er, "adjusted" price. Basically, the host wants to appeal to my good nature and help her earn around 1000 bucks more without any consequences for her for her mistake.  As it is, she's going to make a ton of money for the duration of this event anyway.