Reserved a SuperHost/Instant booking listing: the host tried to get me to cancel my reservation.

[Yannick119]

Hi, here's my situation:

I've booked a listing from a superhost with instant book for December 2019, the next day i received a message from the host saying that he forgot to adjust it's price for those dates and wanted me to cancel my reservation. I told him that on my side i'm happy with the reservation, that he should cancel if he's not OK with it. Clearly he didn't want to be affected by cancelling himself, risking to get those dates blocked at loose his superhost status.

On our side, we chose that condo because it'S price was on target for our budget, and right after the reservation confirmation (instant book) we booked our flights, so not an option to cancel.

The host contacted Airbnb help center, he came back saying he will send me another "offer", but i told him that i would not accept any other price because of our budget limit, it's been a few weeks and no news from him and our reservation is still active, he clearly don't want to cancel on his side.

My question: Is it safe to keep that reservation ? Can he try to cancel us at the last minute or something like that ? We followed Airbnb Rules and i don't want to get penalized in any way. The instant book is what i'm after when i find huge deal on flights, but if i cannot trust that feature....

Thank you ! (sorry for my english, not my first language)

[Cormac0]

@Yannick119 

untrue, guest have revised dates for the sole purpose of cancelling without penalty and there is guests who genuinely revise dates at the last minute, this leaves the host unable to host someone else at such short notice, revising a booking on Friday morning for the same weekend so the host has no one booked and thus loses money.

I have seen this more than once on these blogs…

[Yannick119]

@Cormac0 i would have thought that first you as a host would have to accep that date change, and if you refuse and the guest decide to cancel, then the Cancellation policy apply ? 

[Cormac0]

@Yannick119 

a suffer the bad PR that Mikki mentioned in her previous posts

[Ange2]

@Yannick119  

"There's a big difference, because when a guest books the wrong dates, it doesn't affect either the Host ... "

Actually it does affect many hosts negatively, especially hosts who conform with the original business model that Airbnb started with: individudals with a spare room(s) in their home or one property.  And it can definitely result in an out-of-pocket expense for the host in time and labor spent in preparation for what becomes a cancelation with a full refund and no re-booking by another guest.  I always try to work with my guests for the best outcome. In my opinion, some give and take & understanding is needed, both by hosts and by guests.

btw:  Airlines are a multi-billion dollar business, they have a vast ocean of wiggle room to compensate for errors, mistakes etc.,  it's baked into their pricing and profit margins.

[Sarah977]

@Cormac0   I don't read anywhere in the OP that the guest changed, or wanted to change dates. The host asked the guest to cancel and rebook at a higher price because the host forgot to update pricing for holiday times.

[Marit-Anne0 · Accepted solution]

@Yannick119   The host is likely to bite the bullet and accept you at the advertised rates, anything else would be close to commercial suicide and so not really an alternative unless they aim to quit airbnb for good.  It is very clearly advertised that hosts are 100% responsible for keeping their rates up to date, so in this case it is very unlikely that airbnb is going to side with the host (they very rarely do in any case).

[Lianne22]

This evening I find myself in the exact same situation. I booked ten weeks ago in Italy and today the host emailed to say he just realised that the rate was to low and wanted more money. When I refused he cancelled my reservation even after I asked him not to as it was a gift for my parent Christmas. I am now left with flights and car hire etc and nowhere for them to stay with nowhere now in budget. Air B and B explained this is fine for them to do as they accept the penalty...a review saying they cancelled and I got a full refund. I am so upset and air b be b did not a thing to help me, it was like taking to robots.:( 

[Sandra856]

Hi @Lianne22,

Sorry to hear about your situation. Airbnb blocks the dates as a penalty to the host meaning the host won't be able to host those dates. A horrible host! He should have honoured the booking as it is his fault not to have an updated calender. 

If you book with a superhost it is very unlikely that something like that will happen. Superhosts are usually experienced and also they will loose their badge if cancelling on a guest.

Hope everything will work out for you. 

Kind regards  Sandra