Shady practices and trouble booking Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii Aug 6- Aug 10

[Sun-K-0]

Planning a trip to Hawaii.

I've reached out to at least 4 listiings . 2 attempted to book and 2 inquires. Its a mother and daughter team and they are part of a property managment company and have multiple lisitings. Their listings shows available and like Hulk Hogan they keep giving me the "big boot". The first excuse is that there was a new booking but Airbnb did not update their calendar. I've never heard of such nonsense because I know from experience when I book the calendars are updated immediately.  Another answer I receive is that they also list their property on other websites. Correct me if I'm wrong but host can control their calendar. Am I right? Then why aren't they doing it?

I'm always offered alternatives but its inconvient for my family.  Eventually I cave and book a property that is listed under them in the same building as their suggested alternatives. I think, surely this time it will be booked so I ask questions but it was as if I never asked it at all. The response I received was to decline my reservation and provide me with a "special offer" to book a different room in the same building at a higher rate!  The owner had the nerve to send me a custom "special price" but after comparing it to the standard rate THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE.  When I questioned why her special rate is the same as the standard rate she only replied blaming AirBNB for the increase in total due to their service fees and again completely ignoring my question.  

I've never dealt with such nonsense on AirBNB. What happened to AirBNB? I remembered when it was all about community but this is nonsense. I've also compared photos to their other listings and they are recyling some images for their other properties and at various price points.  I thought AirBNB requires host have a clear depiction of their space. How is this allowed? If I've traveled long distance and paid to rent an apartment but end up with a shack I would be livid.

I used AirBNB on my last trip to Waikiki and it was a breeze and I'm now trying to book Waikiki again and its a nightmare.

I've asked the listing agent why I can't book my original listing and she's now gone silent.

This is clearly a bait and switch method. It ruins the AirBNB experience. I used to be able to reach out to an associate but I cant seem to locate a direct contact and have to post on the community board. I dont like to air other peoples dirty laundry but at least I'm not referencing those listings.

Now my budget is going up by another $300-$400.  This savings was supposed to go towards my family vacation and not some dirty dealing agent. I'm hoping AirBNB can take those clowns down and help me out.  AirBNB came through when I had issues booking my trip to the Philippines and they came through again when I had issues at my residence in Japan. I hope they can help with my trip to Waikiki.  I have tickets and plan to fly out Saturday Aug 6. My little ones are excited and I'm glad they dont see the frustration. Its 3:22am Friday Aug 5 and I'm at my whits end.

[Helen3]

Have you tried speaking to BnB?

We are a hosts community so won't be able to help you.

Give them a call on their customer service number or contact them via social media.

[Sun-K-0]

Update: Not less than 20 minutes after I posted this message the host messaged me to make it sound like her price is better than my booking which is false becuase my booking total includes all fees but her special pricing aka standard pricing excludes fees.  To top it off i pulled up the original page and she updated the pricing to go in line with her argument .  She still have not responded directly to my question as to why she declined my request. 

[Donna15]

@Sun-K-0,

You should contact AirBnB immediately and explain the situation and your concerns.

You can reach them via the Help link at bottom of this page.

Or via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/?fref=ts

Or – if you have a Twitter account - try twitter@airbnbhelp. It’s said there’s a quick response.

More essential reading for hosts. Contains a link with several international phone numbers (‘How to contact AirBnB’).

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#U23100

Regarding Contact numbers in the above link, I've twice recently had quick responses via the Netherlands phone number.

(Though oddly enough, the person to whom I spoke was actually in the US.)

Here’s the US number.

+1 (415) 800 5959

[David126]

Why are you still involved with this mother and daughter, look elsewhere?

[Melanie58]

You should google "airbnb phone number" and it pops right up.  I don't know why it isn't visible on the website. Here are my ideas:

There is a flag beside people's profiles.  You can flag people for inappropriate behavior.  That is one thing you could do to send the host the message that their practices are unacceptable.  

Another option would be to look for a less professional operation - i.e. someone who only has one property listed, who has no reviews or few reviews.  I say this because you mentioned the community aspect being important.

There may also be an issue because you are booking at the last minute, sometimes has unique challenges of it's own.  

However, it is really possible this is a great host and they are using multiple booking platforms, and not all may have calendars that sync with airbnb (given the international nature of Hawaii that seems highly possible).  Also, the Airbnb platform only offers a tool called "special offer" to adjust reservations- it isn't that great, because sometimes we have to use special offer to raise the price.  Example:  if I charge for guests over 2 in party, and someone books for two but says "hey I'm coming with my wife and four children" then I will have to send a "special offer" for the price that includes the extra charge for more guests and explain why I am sending the special offer.  So a special offer is not synonymous with "discount", but that is not the hosts fault, it is the design of Airbnb.  From what you describe, this host could actually be getting real last minute reservations from other sites, you could be missing the opportunity because you are one of many last minute reservations, and the host could be trying to accomodate you, as it appears they did in February of 2015, by providing a special offer for a different room.  And if they truly are offering multiple rooms in the same building, I think it would be pretty standard to recycle photos - that is what hotels do all the time - the photo is representative of room size, amenities, but decor could be slightly different.  i.e. if it's a balcony room, they use a balcony photo - they don't use a balcony photo for an interior room.   If you have happily rented from this host in the past, do you truly have reason to believe they would show you a picture of an apartment room and then toss you in a garage out back?  It doesn't seem like a rational fear.

[Fab2]

I've seen their listings in the past and it does look shady. Likewise, I concur the photos being used on supposedly different places. 

There are many real estate agents or individuals in Hawai'i who happen to own or run several properties playing the game of trying to up the anty by confusing visitors and getting more $ out of them. 

Move on from these lunatics and go find some other place. Check out the Diamond Head area if you must be near town but Waikiki is now ran by too many scammers to bother it seems.