Rude host canceled my booking and asked me to book somewhere I can afford

[Jack1880]

The host first confirmed my booking, then few moments later tried to cancel it and say it was too low of a price and it is not worth it for her that she is not making any money.

It was fine that she wanted to cancel, but after that she said 'Please find something you can afford in Malta', it was very rude that she is trying to portray that I should book something that I can afford but not her expensive Airbnb.

When I said I will contact Airbnb, the host said “perfect”. I never experienced such a rude host before.

I reported the user but the report system links me back to the chat support which asks me to check the faq

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jack1880 whilst there is no excuse for being rude this host might have had the same problem we have at present whereby the Airbnb system has accepted bookings at 1/3rd of our proper rate. Thankfully both the guests that booked our place have been kind enough to cancel their bookings when we explained the problem to them.

[Jack1880]

Hi Mike, thanks for your message!

I would gladly cancel the reservation if the host would explain the situation to me. 

But instead, she told me to 'book somewhere else that I can afford', and later when I said I would contact Airbnb about her attitude, she said 'perfect'. Her replies were totally unnecessary and rude. 

I just wonder if Airbnb would tolerate hosts being so offensive to the guests? 

Also, she didn't mention anything about the system price error or whatsoever. I would reckon it's probably she decided to change her mind to raise the price and would no longer honor the old prices. 

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[Brian2036]

@Jack1880 

I would suspect that something similar to what @Mike-And-Jane0 have been suffering was at the root of this unfortunate situation.

Undoubtedly the host could have been more polite but there may be a language issue as well and perhaps she didn’t mean to sound so rude.

 I would suggest that you cancel your booking. You can keep trying to complain to customer support but it is likely to be a complete waste of time.

 You would be better served to seek other accommodations in Malta and communicate with the host before booking to be sure that they really want your business.

[Jack1880]

Thanks Brian, in the host's replies she said that Airbnb would cancel the booking upon her request. So that means I don't have to do anything on my side. Or did I understand that wrongly?

[Brian2036]

@Jack1880 

If you intend to book something else it would be best to cancel that booking first, which you can easily do without any kind of penalty.

If it doesn’t get canceled promptly Airbnb might charge you their booking fee.

If they ask you for a reason, that will be your chance to tell them that the host apparently objects to your booking but offers no explanation.

That may well trigger some investigation of the situation.

 I see that there are more than 300 rentals available in Malta and many of them look very nice and have reasonable prices.

Good luck, and I feel certain that you will find a place where the host appreciates your business.

[Jack1880]

Thanks Brian, 

I already found another place to stay on AirBnb.

The host said she has contacted AirBnb to cancel the booking and there is no need for me to do anything else.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jack1880 If you are within the 48 you cancellation period the simplest thing would be for you to cancel and you should get a full refund. If it is Instant Book then the host can also cancel unless she has used up her 3 free cancellations.

Do direct the host to the CC as it would  be interesting to know if Airbnb have a big issue with their pricing.

[Jack1880]

Thanks Mike, 

I have contacted Customer Chat on this matter. The CC would liaise with the host directly and I will stay out of the dispute for now.

In whichever case, I hope this will help improve Airbnb system in the future.

[Anonymous]

@Jack1880   When customer service tries to intervene in a situation, they tend to make it messier. There is an easier procedure you can follow to resolve this, explained here:  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1250/if-your-host-needs-to-cancel

Of course it's preferable for hosts to be courteous and professional, but they are independent agents, not Airbnb employees - there's no rule requiring them to be polite, and nothing to gain by calling an outsourced service agent to complain about their attitude.

If a host is consistently failing to communicate well with guests, that tends to come through in the reviews and ratings. And sure enough, that is very much the case with this host, who appears to have a habit of making duplicate listings to evade the many poor ratings her rental company has received. 

[Sarah977]

@Jack1880  The host just telling you she will cancel the booking isn't something you should rely on. You could end up being charged for both bookings.

If you don't see that it has been cancelled by now, follow the procedure Andrew linked to. I wouldn't trust this host to cancel the booking. 

Yes, she is rude and unprofessional in her messages. Probably will lose her a lot of business and obviously she gets bad reviews.

But I don't quite understand  "In whichever case, I hope this will help improve Airbnb system in the future." 

How would reporting one host's rudeness improve the system?

Sometimes guests are rude to hosts, too. It's not worth spending time on with customer service,  just move on.

[Jack1880]

For all who are following, Airbnb contacted me that the owner decided not to cancel the booking anymore (at the wee hours of almost 48 hours later, the dateline for the owner to respond). Yes, even with a screenshot of the chat history that the host clearly asked for a cancellation! And since I already booked another Airbnb in the meantime, I can't keep this apartment anymore. Airbnb said if I were to cancel now, I will be charged cancellation fees since the cancellation is initiated from me at this point onwards and not the host.

After some back and forth with Airbnb, Airbnb acknowledged the problem and inconvenience on my side and would honor my booking a full refund and compensated me with a voucher. 

So lesson learned, if a host requested to cancel your bookings, ASK FOR AN IMMEDIATE CONFIRMATION and not let the owner having his sweet time to 'think about it' and come back 48 hours later only to change his mind again. You might have very well found another Airbnb in 2 days. 

Given how ridiculous the whole situation is, I want to make people coming to Malta to be aware of all listings from this profile:

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[Brian2036]

@Jack1880 

I’m afraid that you have encountered a very rude, ignorant and unethical host.

Assuming that you are offered the opportunity to write a review you should do so.

Make it short and concise. Host told you to “look for something you can afford” after accepting your request, then refused to cancel.

 I cannot imagine what she hoped to gain from this abusive behavior.

[Jack1880]

I checked with Airbnb, unfortunately, I would not be able to leave a review for that booking since the booking is canceled prematurely and I have not (and will not) stay in the Airbnb. 

[Sarah977]

@Jack1880  Glad to hear that you were refunded for this. Yes, if a host wants to cancel, it is up to them to do so, and if they tell you they will and you don't see the cancellation confirmation fairly quickly, contact Airbnb and show them the message stream, and get it dealt with before booking another place.

I guessed pretty good, huh? That I wouldn't trust this host on her word to cancel?

It works the other way, too. If a guest needs to cancel, they should do it asap, not faff around looking for another place first and booking the second one, because you will be charged for both. And even if a host's cancellation policy is such that you won't be refunded if you cancel, or only refunded 50%, many hosts are willing to refund any cancelled dates they are able to rebook. The longer the guest waits to cancel, the longer those dates remain blocked on the host's calendar, and the less likely they will be able to get a new booking.