Host requesting additional payment after booking

[Cristiano35]

Hi all, 

first time I am trying to book with airbnb and life is made really hard in here.

One week ago I have found and booked a whole apartment in Croatia from 31st August for 9 nights for roughly 90 Euro.
I also immediately booked 110 euros of bus tickets for the travel.

After booking I have messaged the host asking for confirmation that I have booked the whole apartment, as I want to spend a lonely and peaceful stay without sharing spaces with others.

As a reply I received from the host a request of additional payment of around 350 Euros.

I declined and asked for motivation, I was already quite pi**ed as it seemed to me nothing but a trap to bait guests into booking and then request them more money.

The Host replied (in Croatian, she can't communicate in English apparently) that I have booked an apartment of 55 m2 3 minutes from the beach and it costs 40 Euros per night, but she can lower it to 30 euro per night.

I replied that I would not pay an extra Euro and that she should have advised the correct price in first place, adding that if she was not happy with that she will have to request me to cancel the booking, I will not do it on my initiative.

She said "alright", adding that it was the first time for her on Airbnb and she was accostumed to Booking (probably suggesting that she made a pricing/listing mistake, for which I have no intention to pay or to have my holiday ruined).

Until today no cancelation request from the host, everything looks like still confirmed, but I have a bad feeling about this 6 days before departure.

I expect surprises like last minute cancellation, finding double booking on my arrival, making up usual health excuses, abuses of various kind (yeah, I have had a lot of bad experiences in my traveling life).

I have also found her apartments advertised on booking and constantly monitoring them.
I do not know how many apartments she has, at the moment two appear available on Booking.

I do not wannna go through 16 hours bus trip to finally encounter sh***y situation in the middle of Croatian coast.

Anyone who can reassure me on how to act?

What else can Airbnb guarantee apart from the possibility to cancel the booking, get full refund and spend those money in relocation?

9 days in that city would cost 4 times what my budget was, the guarantees from Airbnb look not very promising to me.

Thanx in advance for any help

Cristiano

[Paul-and-Chris0]

You really expected a whole apartment for 10 Euro a night?!

[Cormac0]

@Cristiano35

You really expect a whole 55m2 apartment for Ten Euros a night?

would not do the hororable thing and cancel the booking and find a campsite that is more suited to your budget.

Regards

Cormac

[Cristiano35]

@Cormac0

did I get the honourable and immediate reply "sorry, I wrote the wrong price, my mistake, could you please cancel the booking so that I can give a full refund and get a well deserved penalization for it? I would be ready to pay for any cancellation fee of the tickets you bought thanx alot in advance and again sorry "

No I did not.

I got an unmotivated request of 350 more euros the day after. That's it.

So thanx for your smart reply, now you are free to go back to all the campsites you love and let other people offer a serious answer to my question if they like so.

Greets to lovely Krakow from my behalf anyway.

[Marzena4]

@Cristiano35 I am most often a host and to me your experience looks like a host trying to attract bookers by setting the price suspiciously low and then asking for more, possibly outside airbnb. I encountered a similar thing last year, that time as an aspiring guest, when I was trying to book in Budapest. 

I would report the host to airbnb anyway, it is a perfect example of unfair competition on the market.

And greetings for you from yet another host from the royal city of Cracow. 😉

[Cristiano35]

@Marzena4 

> And greetings for you from yet another host from the royal city of Cracow. 😉

 
A royal Host for a royal city, Marzena 🙂

You made the right point, I have messaged Airbnb in the meantime and this is the quick reply:

"Hi Cristiano, thank you for your message. We're so sorry to hear about this. Hosts are solely responsible for ensuring their listing is up to date and accurate so we're sorry if this wasn't the case here. Please rest assured we will have a case manager follow up with you directly to assist further with your reservation. Thank you for your patience in the meantime."

I will certainly consider booking a room of yours if available on November, when I will be there in Cracow to meet my friends and former colleagues

dziekuje bardzo! 🙂

[Cristiano35]

 
A royal Host for a royal city, Marzena 🙂

You made the right point, I have messaged Airbnb in the meantime and this is the quick reply:

"Hi Cristiano, thank you for your message. We're so sorry to hear about this. Hosts are solely responsible for ensuring their listing is up to date and accurate so we're sorry if this wasn't the case here. Please rest assured we will have a case manager follow up with you directly to assist further with your reservation. Thank you for your patience in the meantime."

I will certainly consider booking a room of yours if available on November, when I will be there in Cracow to meet my friends and former colleagues

dziekuje bardzo! 🙂

[Marzena4]

@Cristiano35 You will be welcomed 🙂 Prosze bardzo. Eh, those Polish people and manners...

Please keep us informed how the issue will be resolved.

As for whether it was a mistake or not with prices, I sense it wasn't. Bait and switch is a common practice on some popular shopping platforms, especially aliexpress, where sellers boost their ratings in this way. 

And hands up those who have never used any bugs in the system, any special codes or have never grabbed a bunch of items when descovering they were being offered at a fraction of their value. And hosting is for real money, it is a transaction binding both parties.

[Cormac0]

@Cristiano

you did not answer my question do you expect to stay in a 55m2 apartment for 9 day which include all the utilities cost and food that the Host supplies for Euros 90? and not check the veracity of the price with the Host.

If you feel the Host was using the tactic of "bait and switch" which @Marzena referred to, you should inform Airbnb and get them to cancel the booking no penalty or cost to you.

But I think you really want to stay for 9 days in Croatia for euros 90 which would be a hell of a coup.

Regarding my comment about the campsite how many 55m2 apartments have you found on Airbnb for 10 Euros a night I be interested to know.

[Cristiano35]

Food???

Would you be so kind to show where on earth you saw food mentioned here???

Again: you are free to go back to your beloved campsites, I have no interest in your trolling.

You have no idea of what you are talking about and the fact that an annoying individual like you is level 10 and let free to rant about things all over the place qualifies AIrbnb in the worst possible way.

[Cormac0]

@Cristiano

I'm not a troll, I'm a person who has a difference of opinion about this situation then you, being a Host who incorrectly price my apartment due to a misunderstanding about how Airbnb pay the fee's.

My first let was for a 55m2 apartment for four people at Zloty 50 rather than Euros 50, effectively my four-guests stayed for 12 Euros a night with all bills paid and even suggested on leaving, that I provide food next time, in addition to this they destroyed a Zloty 100 coffee pot which they conveniently hid at the back of a press and never mentioned it.

I sucked it up as I correctly evaluated they were opportunists and took advantage of the fact I was a novice at AirBnb, I notice your Host has no reviews maybe their novice Hosts as well.

In all honesty did you seriously think that a 55m2 apartment in Croatia 3 minutes form the beach would only cost 10 euros a night and it did not cross your mind that it might be an error or did you think they obviously made a mistake let me take advantage of it?

[Marit-Anne0]

@Cristiano35

Could you post a link to this listing so that we have a little more to go on ?

It could be a genuine mistake, hosts are only human after all, but if this is a "bait and switch" - it is not the done thing and should be reported.  And if this host is not familiar with the airbnb site, there are many pitfalls - one is to activate smart pricing.

[Cristiano35]

Here it is

https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/20527775?location=Biograd%20na%20Moru%2C%20Croatia&s=POyVUh19

of course it totally changed after Airbnb's intervention: in my booking there is no mention of number of rooms, numbers of bathrooms, squared metres, nothing.

The 55m2 were not mentioned before and are not mentioned now either.

The current price (69 Euro) is again different from the normal price she mentioned by message (40 Euros).

And here is the same apartment still available on Booking.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/apartmani-sandra-biograd-na-moru1.it.html?aid=304142;label=gen173nr...

Airbnb is aware of this since I told them, still they did not move a finger to have this thing sorted.
They called me in the afternoon promising that they would have got in touch with the Host, then they sent me a template reply by email reminding the policies.

So now this cleaver lady got me stuck with booked tickets in my hands and she can cancel at the last moment making up whatever excuses.

And even provided that this was human mistake from the Host, why on earth should a Guest pay for the mistake of the Host?

[Cristiano35]

So here is the update:

- Airbnb case manager called me again. He tried to communicate with the host, who is unwilling to pay any refund for the travel tickets and who does not confirm whether she wants to cancel or to keep my booking. She reportedly just keeps on saying "OK. OK. OK."

- I agreed with Airbnb to have the booking cancelled, in exchange my annual cancellation allowance will stay untouched. Case manager also offered to refund the cancellation of the bus tickets, which is admittedly very customer satisfactory. I hope it will be not too much, still trying to figure it out with the bus line.

- on top of this, the best news is that this Host will be likely get kicked out. She was found violating T&C in several points and I was apparently not the only guest who suffered from her behaviour.

Bottom of the story is anyway: no holidays for me this round. I have run out of patience and pleasure in organizing.
Will just spend 2 lovely weeks home here in Prague, visiting surrounding neighbourhoods.

Thanks everyone for reading and replying... campsites lovers included 🙂

[Marit-Anne0]

@Cristiano35

All well that ends well then 🙂 What I have learnt over the years, if you see something that is too good to be true, it usually is a scam.  

The listing is still up btw, but now with correct pricing.