Problems with booking and higher price within hours

[Angele15]

Yesterday I tried to book an apartment in Edinburgh which cost 363 euros but the payment process was disrupted. The amount was deducted but then I received note from airbnb that they are refunding.  I have been having problems communicating through the site so I went to the App and booked from there this morning, just a few hours later. However, within the space of these few hours, the price went up from 67 euros a night to 75 euros a night. 

I have been having problems communicating with hosts, reviewing and now also effecting payment through the site but no problems with the App but I don't know how to solve this problem which cost me almost 40 euros this morning. 

[Ana1136]

@Angele15 it might have been the Airbnb service fee that is raised, there is nothing you can do about that. Are you sure that it is the nightly fee that is raised? If it is you can communicate with the host and possibly have them lower it but even if they don't, they have the right to lower or raise their prices however they see fit. 

[Angele15]

Yes it is the nightly fee. It was raised from 67 euro to 75 euro per night. I spoke to the hostess and she will be checking about it because she did not know about the increase in price. She told me that the amount indicated by airbnb for the booking this morning was actually lower than the one I tried to process yesterday. 

[Ana1136]

@Angele15 she might have smart pricing on. She can just send you a special offer if you have agreed on a price. 

[Angele15]

Yes that was actually the problem but the hostess called Airbnb and they refunded the difference. So problem solved. 

[Susan17]

@Angele15  @Ana1136 @Cormac0 

Even if the host did have smart pricing on, that doesn't explain how Angela would be seeing a higher price than the previous day's rates when she went to rebook - yet the host was seeing a lower price on her side, at the very same time. 

Presumably, if Angela hadn't noticed the discrepancy and queried the issue, she would have gone ahead and paid the increased rate shown to her, yet the host would've received the decreased amount that she was seeing on her end. And the difference would have gone to Airbnb, as "service charges". 

[Cormac0]

@Angele15 

It’s called surge pricing, are you going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? (2nd Aug. to  26th Aug.)

Apparently the city is pack to the rafters with festival goers and consequently the demand for STR's is huge, and this is reflected in the upward movement on pricing.