How did a guest just book at way below advertised price?!

Jonathan-And-Kate1
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

How did a guest just book at way below advertised price?!

We just had to cancel a guest who managed to book our three-bedroom beach house at about 30% of the listed price even though that price was not listed! We charge £200 to £250 per night at the time of year she was trying to book. She booked it for £67 a night for three nights and was absolutely delighted until we broke the news to her that there had been a mistake - one that we couldn't understand.

We do use Instant Booking, but not Smart Pricing or any discounts so simply do not understand what happened. Customer Service couldn't help and said someone will get back to us - but they haven't.

We have switched off our listing for now as the site is showing different prices for our property as you go through the various booking stages. Clearly, this is both misleading and confusing - and totally unacceptable.

Is anyone else suffering from this?

5 Replies 5
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Jonathan-And-Kate1 

 

Difficult to comment as you have switched your listing off so can’t check on your set up.

 

Might be because Airbnb has  high discounts set up for new hosts of 30% for first early bookings which you need to turn off . 

Go into your listing and if this is set just go in and turn it off. 

Hi Helen - I have switched the listing back on if that will help. We have been on airbnb without issue for more than two years, so were surprised by this issue.

 

Thanks

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

This is what I see when I try and make a booking @Jonathan-And-Kate1 
 
£200/ night
 
CHECK-IN
17/11/2020
CHECKOUT
20/11/2020
 
 
GUESTS
1 guest
 
 
 
Reserve
  • You won't be charged yet
  • £200 x 3 nightsView price breakdown
    £600
  • Cleaning feeView price breakdown
    £50
  • Service feeView price breakdown
    £110
  • Total£760

 

So I am not sure how she was able to book at such a low price. It does sound like a technical error. 

 

I thought you were new to Airbnb as it only showed five reviews so I thought you had just started hosting.

 

Best Helen 

Thanks Helen,

 

most of our bookings come direct through our website, but Airbnb and other OTAs have provided a steady flow of additional bookings. We are flummoxed about what has happened so appreciate you looking into it!

 

kind regards

 

Jonathan

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Jonathan-And-Kate1  There was a global Airbnb outage a few days ago that resulted in many hosts' settings changing. Go through all your settings to make sure nothing got switched around.