Price Increase after I book?

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Kelly170
Level 2
Middle River, MD

Price Increase after I book?

I made my 5th reservation today on the site.

 

However about 2 hours after I get an increase booking price thing from the host. I declined because she was $150+ more for 3 nights and claimed airbnb had the wrong price for her summer rates.

 

When I declined she asked me to cancel my reservation and wished me the best in finding a new place. I  beyond mad right now. What is my recourse? If I cancel I will be charged a fee through no fault of my own and my money is tied up 3-5 days for this nonsense. 

1 Best Answer

@Kelly170  Like @Wendy-and-Frank0 said, do not cancel.  This host is trying to strong-arm you.  You won't receive your Airbnb service fees back if you cancel.  I would again tell the host that you will NOT cancel and since SHE wants to cancel the booking, SHE needs to do it from her end.  OR she can, obviously, keep the booking as-is. 

 

Personally, I would just wait out the host and make her cave first, but if you just want to be done with the situation, you can Contact Airbnb and they will review your messages and mostly likely cancel on the host's behalf and you will get a full refund.  But at the same time, the host likely won't be penalized either and, in this case, I would want the host to feel the burn of her mistake. (But that's just me)

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60 Replies 60
Gordon61
Level 1
Singapore

It is disappointing that these few errant AirBnB hosts are giving the whole AirBnB brand a bad name.  AirBnB should seriously consider doing something about booking alterations to remain competitive, because hotels and motels are honoring their bookings - no date changes, no price increases.

 

I guess we have been very privileged to have GREAT HOSTS in various countries so far, until our recent booking in July 2017 for an apartment in LAKE FOREST PARK, WA.

 

The host claims she has been in the Seattle area for years.  So fine, thought we are with an experienced local host.  Actually we don't care where the host is from (am OK if you claim to be from Mars), we liked the location and so we booked and she CONFIRMED the deal, more than one month in advance.  I also made it clear to her we are traveling with our young children she was OK with that.

 

TWO WEEKS my trip, when we were in packing/moving hell, she sent a change request for the dates of our stay thru the system.  If you are traveling with kids, you will appreciate this is very difficult.  I APPEALED for her understanding and she was OK.  THAT WAS THE LAST WE HEARD FROM HER.

 

ONE WEEK before our trip, she sent a price increase thru the system, which would have increased our rental costs by 25%.  I am a landlord myself so naturally I would like to know the reasons for this.  If the increase is not entirely unreasonable, e.g. surge in summer rates in the area, I would have been <<somewhat willing>> to offer a top up to avoid the inconvenience of finding new lodging.  So can we NEGOTIATE?

 

I made efforts to contact her via long distance calls, emails and messaging (for which I incurred telco fees).  NO REPLY.  NOTHING.  ZLICH.  So we do not know if we would show up to a locked apartment, and you would not want to be in that situation with children tired and cranky after a long flight.

 

Fortunately, AirBnB responded professionally and based on the DOCUMENTED communications, agreed to cancel our booking on our behalf for a full refund, just six hours before our boarding time.

 

We ended up at a serviced apartment chain for our stay, which was just as competitive in its offerings as an AirBnB home.  I am now a somewhat disappointed AirBnB user who will now evaluate my future stays/hosts with more scrutiny, and I would not shell out any extra money for a confirmed booking, just support the hoteling industry, even if it costs more.

 

Thanks all for sharing your experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

@Gordon61. It is against Airbnb's Terms of Service for a host to ask a guest to pay more for a confirmed reservation.  Guests should never accept an alteration request that asks for more money.  

 

If it were me, I would flag the listing for review and investigation by Airbnb's Trust and Safety team.  Asking to increase the price of a confirmed reservation would likely result in the listing and / or host to be removed from Airbnb. 

 

Here is the applicable section of Airbnb's Terms of Service: 

 

 

"Other Members will be able to book your Accommodation via the Site, Application and Services based upon the information provided in your Listing, your Guest requirements, and Guests’ search parameters and preferences. You understand and agree that once a Guest requests a Booking of your Accommodation, you may not request the Guest to pay a higher price than in the Booking request."  

 

Edel4
Level 2
Australian Capital Territory, Australia

I am in this situation right now! Urgh! Host refused to cancel reservation on her end so I have to cancel it...When I as for more refund on resolution centre...host said that they have strict cancellation policy. Duh! How can I contact airbnb??? Please help!

@Edel4 I am very,  very sorry this happened to you.  Since Airbnb places all responsibility for pricing on the host, there is no excuse for this.  Hopefully the host's request for more money was through Airbnb's messaging system so there is a record of it. Whether it is or is not you should contact Airbnb to report the situation.  Airbnb will know if this host has done this before and will take appropriate action.  

 

For the future, never cancel a reservation unless you are the one who wants to cancel.  

NEVER agree to cancel a confirmed booking at the request of the other party. Whoever wants the reservation canceled is responsible for THEIR OWN CANCELLATION. And ALWAYS contact Airbnb if there's any doubt about what's going on. It's a great opportunity for growth: Unless you're an employee, put the ball BACK in the court of the person who threw it.

Hosting since Thanksgiving Day 2012 and over 1,000 stays. May you ever be the benevolent ruler of your own domain--YOUR life. Allow no other to rule over it.
Mark665
Level 1
West Ryde, Australia

Hi all, 

My situation is a bit different. I made an enquiry with the host on the availability on my travel period.  He confirmed it is available and I proceed with the booking with the published price.  After 24 hours,  I followed up with the host and he replied that he can't accept my booking because he felt that the daily rate could be higher. I completely agree that this is profit making business but not after I submitted my booking! 

How can we named and shamed these greedy hosts? 

@Mark665, I am sorry this is happening to you.

(BTW, your post is attached as a comment to a 9-month-old discussion about the same topic.

You should feel free to post this as a new conversation by pushing the "Start a Conversation")

Anyway, I take it from your message that you do not yet have a confirmed booking (I figure the host is not using Instant Book and you sent a Booking Request). If that is so, there is not a whole lot you can do to force this host to honor the published price (a jerk move on the part of the host).

As you cannot leave a review of the host (since you never had a confirmed booking with them), you are limited to posting here or other social sites. You can also complain to AirBnB. I don't know if AirBnB can or will do anything about it, since there are a lot of jerk moves that don't violate the AirBnB rules.

If I am a reading it wrong and you do have a confirmed booking, but the host just wants more money, then the standard advice of never doing a cancellation yourself applies. And you are free to ignore requests for more money.

Name and shame away!

 

Evan87
Level 1
Poca, WV

I have almost the same situation right now. We paid $340/night for a place in cinci and the host is asking for $100 more. I told him the price listed was $340/night and that is what we paid and replied with “my listing has always be $400/night it’s, it’s illegal to falsely accuse someone” “you should check your facts before you falsely accuse someone”. I called customer service and they told me since we fall under 5 days before trip that there’s not a gurantee we will get our money back even if we do cancel. I don’t know what to do at this point because the trip is close and we need room for 5 people and there are not other places. Suggestions? 

@Evan87 I am sorry you are having this experience.

The host sounds a bit... hostile. You have not accused anyone of anything.

(I am assuming that you have not called the host a big fat liar in some other message.)

 

You should not cancel. All you did was make a reservation at the price you were offered by the Airbnb system. If there was some problem with the way the pricing was set up, that is either the fault of the host or Airbnb. Let them argue about it.

You have nothing to do with the pricing, and anyone blaming you is badly mistaken about how Airbnb works.

 

If for some reason the host cancels on you, the host will lose *all* the money they would have received for the booking, and won't be allowed to rent out the space to anyone else. Plus, at that point, you should be able to reach out to Airbnb and get some sort of help. Airbnb takes a very dim view of hosts who yank the rug out from under confirmed guests at the last minute, and ought to try to help you find some alternative booking (and hopefully help make up any financial difference.)

 

Again, you are under no obligation to cancel. You have a confirmed reservation at the price you paid.

Let the host and Airbnb argue about why the price is what it is.

And if the host cancels on you, complain-complain-complain to Airbnb support until they get you alternative accomodations.

 

Craig178
Level 7
Maryland, United States

Hi Evan,

Please do not agree to cancel a reservation on your part as it will be counted against you. On top of that, you will loose money (at least Airbnb's booking fee is not refundable after 24 hours). It is up to the host to either cancel your reservation (believe me a host will never do it as he will suffer a lot of penalties from Airbnb) or to keep the price that you paid. I would call Airbnb and tell them that the host is extorting money from you after you already booked his place. Please say that there is nowhere in the host's listing that the host states that a guest might need to pay a higher price based on the daily rate fluctiation. Tell Airbnb that you want to report this host as he is practicing unethical behavior and unfair treatment of guests.

Remeber do not cancel it on your part. And make sure that you write a corresponding review for this host: extortion of a guest. Horrible!

Michelle1168
Level 1
New Jersey, United States

OK this is happening to me today. I booked, and paid via credit card, for my deposit. Then I was messaged that she had the wrong "holiday weekend" pricing and that the system didnt update it (aka she forgot to). She is telling me it's not $100 more PER NIGHT, for 3 nights. I have contacted AirBnB as I find this an unfair practice. If they have to cancel my booking I am back to square one and it took me weeks to find an affordable Pocono Mountains  place that we could split with another family. I better be refunded including the service fees!

The same thing just happened to me an hour ago (place in CA), including the "holiday weekend" excuse.  I don't think that a full refund is enough because my son and I spent half a day on finding the place and after confirmation shared it with all the others. Reading the stories here make me feel so bad. I have been an Airbnb user for years and love it. However - Airbnb should do something to deter hosts from trying to increase the price after confirmation (I did email a complaint). 

@Hila4  Unless she is willing to cancel with all the penalties involved in that she HAS to honor the booking price. Her error is not yours to compensate, she eats its. You booked it honesty and she screwed up. I would tell her under no conditions do you want to cancel this booking. If she sends you a Request for additional money or an Altered invoice, anything actually decline it. I would also be inclind to call AirBnB immediately and make them aware of the situation and that you do not under any conditions wish to cancel this completed booking, but the host is requesting more money after the fact and you are going to decline her requests. This way she has no out other than to cancel and then her days are blocked, so no one can rent it. It hosts that do this make us all look bad. If I screw up I own it and live with the consequences of my own actions or failure to act as in this case upping her price in advance of a booking.

 

 

AirBnB number:

United States and Canada

+1-415-800-5959
+1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

 

 

@Letti0. Just read your answer and thank you for your advise.

My situation is the same as @Hila4. We booked for the trip for 2 nights for the last middle week of December 2018. I received the confirmation and shared with others. Then after that, the host want to raising the price and send me an excuse as she had to update the prices, they were wrong and want me to modify the price.

I receive an email from Airbnb saying that the host want to raising the price, if I accept it I will be charged more. But if refuse this request, my reservation cannot be modified. This is not my fault and the host should take as it is once confirmed.

I am a reasonable person, I send a message to her in saying that this is not my fault. As I see that this is the high season, I am willing to pay a half of increasing price as I do not cancel the trip with my family. I told her that once I booked with her, I loosed other opportunities to book other places as Holiday is coming so the availability will be short. I also told her that if I refuse to accept the request, she can not modify the price. I think my offer is fair.

Since yesterday, I did not received any reply from her, even I send her a message via her telephone saying that I send her a message via Airbnb and waiting for her answer.

@Letti0, once again, I need your advise: Is this better to refuse her request and call Airbnb after refused or call Airbnb before refusing her request. Thanks in advance. I am from Canada.

Please contact and tell Airbnb that a host is practicing extortion and demonstrating unfair treatment of a guest. Mention that nowhere in her house rules the host mentions that a nightly price can fluctuate, therefore a guest might need to pay more even after the booking is confirmed. If it is not mentioned in the house rules, a host does not have any rights to extort more money from a guest because she wants to make more money.

 

Please, under no circumstance cancel the reservation on your part. Let the host do it (if she dares. If she does cancel your reservation, she will suffer harsh consequences). Good luck!

Please start a new thread and list the host with her listing for all to see.