Hi,
I'd like to share a few experiences of usign airbnb thie weekend
It's mid summer and i'm trying to book ahead some accommodation for the winter ski season to take my youngest child on a ski trip to the Alps
Due to the usual issues around this, limited ski season, school holidays, etc the number of weeks that leaves is really the christmas period and the spring school half term - Mid Febuary so already we are on to a loser.
So this weekend I've booked a number of places I have found adverstised on the site, made my payment and had my booking accepted.
In three cases, after the booking I have had the host contact me and either request more money or cancel my booking saying that the property is not available for the week booked. This is of course gihly unlikely, the host has either failed to update the prices for the summer / winter season or is just using the site as click bait to get more money though false advertising.. I can accept that there might be the odd one where this is true, but it's exceedingly strange that in the same town this has happend with three properties !!
Now I understand that the host gets some penalty for cancelling and in "theory" cannot reant out the "SAME" apartments / property again in that period, but there seems so many loopholes / failures here.
The host even though penalised is likely to remove one listed property and then add a new one. The price differential makes the exercise worth doing.
Now I have foudn a fourth which so far has not yet cancelled me, but there is every possiblity !!
What worries / angers me is that this is leaving me exposed, up until we are actually in the accomodation, with the possibility that this could happen again, even worse the closer to the trip.
I think that as the "broker" of the service that airbnb shoudl have some stronger safeguards here with regard to guest protection.
For example, if the host cancels then bewteen the host and airbnb they should be liable for finding new accommodation as close as possible to the original location or an agreed new location and absorb the cost differential. This difference should be recoved from either a central airbnb pool of money or from the host (from future bookings potentially) or there should be some additonal insurance system that guests can buy into, similar to holiday cancellation inusrance.
My concern is that I arrice in a resort with limited accomodation to start with and the host cancels ( for more money ) and I am left with no option but to check into a local hotel ( or worse not even local ) at the full rack rate.
Be interested in what others think about this ??
B......