Price Gouging

[Thea398]

I just wanted to bring to your attention what has been occurring by some of your hosts over the past several weeks.  There have been many cancellations in order to price gouge in the Miami area due to hosts now realizing Taylor Swift will be at the Hard Rock the weekend of October 18th.  People have made arrangement a year in advance and with only a few months out, hosts are now cancelling without explanation.  It is no coincidence as to why this is happening.  Hotels are now fully booked, and people are finding themselves with no place to stay.  I would hope this is being addressed within your company.  It's one to book at a high price but to cancel on people raise a price is something different.  Now people are at the mercy of hotels, if they can find a room, which are outrageously priced.  People could have booked at a hotel who would have honored the booking price when booked.  I would hope the hosts who care cancelling bookings this weekend are not being allowed to re-book through your site once cancelled. It is a complete injustice to consumers, especially when they rely on your business and partners to follow ethnical practices.  Just want to make sure Air bnb is aware of what is going on. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Thea398 Sad behaviour from greedy hosts. To give you some reassurance the hosts will be fined for cancelling and their dates blocked on Airbnb. Of course other listing platforms exist so they will still be able to let their spaces.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Thea398 

We are a community of hosts. If you also want to contact Airbnb directly, you can share your concerns here:

Feedback - Airbnb Help Center

Airbnb is well aware of some predatory hosts and tries to weed them out. Here in the Community Centre we often see some of them complain when they get banned. They are certainly monitored and there is an effort to try and get rid of them, but it can help if you also report this particular situation!

[John9159]

I recently experienced this same phenomenon (flagrant price gouging) by an Airbnb host named 'Brian' who manages several properties in Colorado Springs, CO, with a co-host named 'Kristen'.  I sent a booking request for a six-day rental of one of his properties that showed to be available on the property calendar, and completed the payment option for 1/2 of the payment.  The total rental cost was approximately $3,800.  Within an hour I received a received a message back from 'Brian' indicating that he was declining my request to reserve because he (and I quote) "had not yet set pricing for 'USAFA' graduation" .... USAFA is the US Air Force Academy. He suggested that I contact him back once he had set his 'pricing' for USAFA.  I then examined his 'pricing' for USAFA by checking the property again, and the price for that week of graduation had been set to $11,800.  Yep, you read that correctly.  'Brian' works at Walt Disney as a 'creative' director for them, and is also a 'superhost' on Airbnb.  Well 'Brian' appears to be engaging in 'super-price gouging' on Airbnb.  We then booked a different, similar property (same size with actually better location and amenities) for that week with another host who is former military for the same price ($3,800)  ... and we reported 'Brian' to Airbnb customer service.  However, I doubt anything will happen to him, due to his 'creativity' and what not.  

[Joan2709]

@John9159 

So sorry this happened. It is wrong for Hosts to do this. They should ensure their pricing is correct on their calendars.

However, just an FYI, a request to book is NOT the same as booking the property and getting a confirmed reservation. With a request, the system will put a hold on funds, but the reservation is not complete until the Host accepts the booking. Sounds like you sent a request to book and the Host declined.

If you had actually had a confirmed reservation and the Host cancelled it, then Airbnb fines the Host and blocks their calendar so they cannot accept another booking on Airbnb over those dates. However, as @Mike-And-Jane0 mention, Hosts can still offer those dates on other platforms or a direct booking site.

Glad you were able to find another, better property for the USAF graduation.