Significant Price Increase after Booking - Listing Error

[John2208]

I've read other similar posts here about what to do as a guest when a host requests that I cancel due to incorrect pricing, and am already in communication with AirBnB to see if it can be resolved. I'd like to get others' experiences that have been in a similar situation and what to expect.

Short story - looking for places in Jerusalem/Bethlehem for the month of December 2019, prices filtered to show places below $2500. One listing was very nice but suspiciously low at $2000 for the month with lots of 5-star reviews and a host with multiple other listings. I sent an inquiry basically saying "your place looks great but it's showing $2000 for December 2019, is your calendar up to date?" Next day I got a response saying basically "yes indeed, prices are up to date to October 2019, looking forward to hosting you" along with an AirBnB "invitation to book". Mentioning October seemed weird, but since the host had presumably taken a look at the prices after my note and sent me an invitation to book, I just went ahead with the booking from the invitation.

So, a couple hours after getting the booking confirmation email I got a message from the host saying that the price was wrong and asked me to cancel so he could send me an offer with the accurate rates (I looked at other earlier dates for this place and they're $199/night). Since the long-term stay is not refundable I called AirBnB to see if they can deal with the cancellation. AirBnB said that there were a couple of options - they could cancel or I could accept an offer for a higher rate (no idea what that might be). For the cancellation option AirBnB said that this was a very good host, and that cancellation could be a long process. Anyhow, they said they'd get back to me tomorrow with more details.

This is a difficult situation - I don't want to be a problem for the host but I imagine that any updated pricing offer is going to be well above my budget, forcing the host to either cancel (at penalty) or honour the reservation (at 'opportunity cost' penalty). Note that I would harbour no ill will towards the host if they did cancel.

With that, here are a couple of questions for the community:

1. Have there been situations for you where AirBnB has been able to cancel a reservation penalty-free for all parties?
2. If you have been in situations where an incorrect reservation had to be honoured, did it make the host-guest dynamic hostile for the stay?

Thanks!

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@John2208

You are not at fault, the host is However you do say it was suspiciously low pricing - and I know you sent a message to confirm the nightly rate etc.

You will not be penalised if the host insists on the higher price - AIrBnB may penalise the host in some way.

I don;t know what AirBnB mean by - cancellation takes a long time.....it doesn't. They just want  to try and persuade you and the host to come to an agreement so that they keep their comission from the host and from you.

Think about what is best for you - do you really want to stay somewhere that  you feel the host has now been forced to accept a lower price than is reasonable for that period. What type of review will the host give you? 

Personally I would ask AirBnB to cancel the reservation and I would look elsewhere

Good luck

[Sarah1945]

@John2208 did they answer you from Airbnb? I found a place at 46eur/night and when I made the reservation and payment the price suddely was 472eur/night. However, the host got the real price of 46eur/night.
Airbnb has escalated this case some days ago but they dont answer to me anymore and I do not know how to get further help.
good luck with your problem.
sarah

[John2208]

Hi Sarah,

AirBnB support handled the issue very well, calling me directly and facilitating all communication with the host. The reservation ended up being cancelled and a full refund issued to my credit card.

I would continue to reach out to AirBnB if you are not getting a timely response. I can say that my experience at least with support was excellent.

[Karin146]

I feel your pain.   I am a host and find air bnb pricing impossibly complex.    My cottage has v diff rates for different times of year and length of stay and number of people.  Impossible to preload all.  I just want each customer to see my pricing chart on my listing and then email me individually for a personal confirmation.   But air bnb cannot facilitate this.  Crazy.  So I think I must stop using air bnb.   

[Sandra856]

Hi @Karin146 🙂

Do you have "smart pricing" turned on? It sounds like it. You can turn it off under "prices settings" and then go to your calender and choose the excact prices you want on specific dates, weekends, holiday etc. Do it from a computer it is much easier than from the mobile phone/app. Best, Sandra 

[Karin146]

Thanks Sandra. I deffo don’t use  Smart pricing &  I do not want to permanently publish fixed prices because   My pricing varies a good deal according to how many people and ESP how many nights .      I have persevered with various formulae  on Airbnb but nothing works right      I just do not understand why they won’t allow a price tariff to be put on the listing and then each booking to deal direct with the owner      That is the only thing which will suit me.       In addition, because this requires the ‘special offer’  feature,   it is highly frustrating that you can never send a special offer from the phone app !    It is all too much hassle for me.   So sadly I think I will have to leave air bnb.   

[Sandra856]

@Karin146 My guess is that when guests choose certain specific dates and how many people they will be they  need and should be able to see how much it will cost. They will be presented to all available listings on those dates. If every listing show a price that the guests can't count on it would be quite annoying for the guests. I'm not sure I understand what you mean with a "price tariff" I'm afraid?

[Karin146]

Hi Sandra       Price tariff is just a simple 'at a glance' price chart (2 columns, one for full week and one for minibreak)  which shows the whole year's prices in one place.    Beneath it states there are supplements for pets and max occupancy.    For many years is used this on my online bookings site but  now everything had been SUCKED up by airbnb and tripadvisor and it is really upsetting that I cannot advertise my home the way I want.   But no your fault!     Have a nice day. K

[John2208]

@Karin146 - interesting. As a guest when I am searching for places the prices usually do change based on length of stay, number of guests, time of year, etc. Is it that the overhead to enter this data in the system is onerous, or do you have more specific requirements that are not supported at all? I don't have much experience on the host side myself.

If a host has not enabled instant booking I always have to send a booking request which the host can decline - does this booking request include all the info you need to calculate a correct price?

I can say that as a guest I would not be inclined to reach out to hosts whose listings did not include the complete cost in my filtered search results. The best thing about AirBnB for me is the ability to quickly and easily filter and compare places for a trip - if I had to calculate them all one by one (from dozens or hundreds of results) I wouldn't even bother and I'd go back to vrbo (or similar) which is significantly more difficult to search.

[Karin146]

Thanks for yr customer pt of view - I agree it should be clear and simple - wd love to have it so.    My Tariffe chart really is dead easy to see fast what u wd pay.  If only it was possible to use it on this  platform!

[Susan17]

@John2208

I can assure you that there are a number of known glitches in Airbnb's system that are causing massive headaches for hosts - and for which Airbnb typically attempts to pin the blame on the affected hosts, rather than accept responsibility themselves. 

Many of these glitches - some causing the listing prices to be displayed at a much lower rate than the host manually inputted, some at a much higher rate - have been around for a  very long time, evidence of which can immediately be seen if one does a search here in the CC.

However, since Airbnb started tinkering around with the pricing systems a few months ago, in order to comply with orders from the EU Commission and European Consumer Protection Authorities to display pricing in a clearer and more transparent manner, the whole system appears to have gone into meltdown altogether, with hosts and guests often seeing totally different prices on either side. 

The fact that CX advised you that you could either cancel or accept the higher price - when a host is strictly forbidden to raise their prices after a booking has been made -  is a clear indication that CX are fully aware that their system glitch is the real culprit in your case. (They're never going to admit that, of course!) But do take anything Airbnb tells you about pricing errors with a huge pinch of salt. The host is very often not  the one in the wrong.

[Karin146]

Thanks Susan.   U share my pain!   I was appalled last year to see that I was receiving way below my usual hi summer rate on a booking.   The customer was paying WAY above !  And Airbnb were swiping the difference.   As if it’s not already a huge moneyspinner already,  considering they take the FULL whack of money from customers months before the booking .   They must sit on millions of cash with which they can play the markets and make even more profit!  

[Susan17]

@John2208

Here's just one example. One night booking in Jan. Check out the "guest pays" amount when the host sets a €200 per night rate... 

[Michael2476]

I am having a similar situation as a host.  Yesterday, I got a message that my studio is booked automatically for 9 days in April.  I went to check booking details and was surprised by a very low price $395.00 for 9 nights. That's about $44 per night. I am a host of a place in nice convenient location Boston, MA for about 7 years. Most of those years as a Super host. My lowest nightly rate was about $70.00 and that was 7 years ago. My current base price was $119/night. I had Smart Pricing option - ON.  Because of that rates  some time fluctuate,  but they never go lower than my base price. April is very desirable month because of Boston Marathon and hear I am getting such a ridiculously low price for the hottest week in April. I checked everything trying to figure out where  $44.00/night rate is coming from, but with no success. So I called Airbnb support. The lady I talked to had me on hold 5 times trying to solve that puzzle. Finally she announced to me that because of Smart Pricing ON prices can go up or down based on the rental market condition and that rate ($44) was dictated by market in my Area.  She sent me an link to an Airbnb  article to read and funny enough that article stated: "Adjusting your settings to meet local demand" it stated: "If you use Smart Pricing, make sure to set a minimum price so your rate never falls below a number you’re comfortable with."

Anyway she kept repeating her "Market condition and Smart Pricing " line. I turned Smart Pricing off and changed the price to $129 for every day in April. I also  made it clear that she need to cancel that reservation because the booking for $44 is not acceptable. Finally she said that she will cancel that reservation as a One Time Courtesy. So she cancelled it, I asked her to escalate this issue as I need to understand why it happened and how to prevent it from happening in the future. She promised me to do it. That was yesterday. Today I got a message in the morning from that $44/night guest asking me why it was cancelled. Few minutes later she sent me another message saying "never mind, I was able to book again" And what do you think? It was booked again for that low price $44. I called Airbnb Support again and talked to a different person she promised to get to the core of it, called me back 3 time, but still didn't know why it happened. Told me will call back tomorrow.

Did any host had a similar problem?