Reserved a SuperHost/Instant booking listing: the host tried to get me to cancel my reservation.

[Yannick119]

Hi, here's my situation:

I've booked a listing from a superhost with instant book for December 2019, the next day i received a message from the host saying that he forgot to adjust it's price for those dates and wanted me to cancel my reservation. I told him that on my side i'm happy with the reservation, that he should cancel if he's not OK with it. Clearly he didn't want to be affected by cancelling himself, risking to get those dates blocked at loose his superhost status.

On our side, we chose that condo because it'S price was on target for our budget, and right after the reservation confirmation (instant book) we booked our flights, so not an option to cancel.

The host contacted Airbnb help center, he came back saying he will send me another "offer", but i told him that i would not accept any other price because of our budget limit, it's been a few weeks and no news from him and our reservation is still active, he clearly don't want to cancel on his side.

My question: Is it safe to keep that reservation ? Can he try to cancel us at the last minute or something like that ? We followed Airbnb Rules and i don't want to get penalized in any way. The instant book is what i'm after when i find huge deal on flights, but if i cannot trust that feature....

Thank you ! (sorry for my english, not my first language)

[Mikki0]

@Yannick119 I would say it's safe. The host probably realized that his lack of attention in keeping his list pricing up to date wasn't worth cancelling and suffering the ramifications to his superhost status.

Several of my superhost friends have tried this, when they realized that the automatic pricing feature doesn't always offer the best pricing for a particular listing. 

[Yannick119]

@Mikki0 thank you for your answer. I think he might have assumed his error too. I think i'm gonna inform airbnb of the situation so there's a track on it. Since he already contacted them, and because he didn't have valid reason to get it cancelled, they will have all the information in hand in case i get screwed.

[Cormac0]

@Yannick119 

You’re of the opinion that because the Host made a mistake, that it’s not a valid reason to cancel, or in other words you don't mind the Host getting screwed on price so long as you benefit.

You’re going to be a lovely guest.

Airbnb will be fully aware if this Host is a bait and switch merchant, if he/she has a track record of this type of behaviour.

For your information if a price is too good to be true, its often a scam so be careful of this in the future.

[Mikki0]

@Cormac0 Wow, what a hostile comment! The host is not getting "screwed". He is just not getting what he believes is the full value of his listing for the time period. He should pay closer attention to his calendar availability and pricing. 

Asking a guest to cancel so they can rebook at a higher rate is just a bad way of doing business. 

I have never been asked by any other business to give back something I purchased so I could buy it back at a higher price.

[Cormac0]

@Mikki0 

there are plenty of scalpers out there looking for obvious mistakes, like the guest who seriously thought they could stay in a 10 million sterling apartment in the most upmarket area of London for 90 sterling a night.

it was a scam and they were suckered

or my first set of four Guests who got to stay for one-quarter of the price because I set a Euro price that Airbnb interpreted as a polish zloty price per night they were extremely high maintenance and took all the supplies that I had left. Despite the fact they told me they did not like coca cola they took all eight can that were left in the fridge.

Additionally, they completely destroyed a double skin coffee pot which he hid in the back of a press so it would not be immediately obvious.

There has to be room for Host that make genuine pricing errors to have them amended.

[Lianne22]

I am a host and would never not honour a booked price, any errors are my own doing and extorting money under threat of cancellation is wrong. Unless it’s a long term let that threatens to bankrupt you, do the right thing and honour your booking 

[Yannick119]

Thank you @Cormac0 for your answer. 

As always, we are always top rated guest. We follow the rules. I think the person who run airbnb is not on premise, so hopefull i will not have to deal with a frustrated host.

The price wasn't that much cheaper compared to what we paid in high season on the cancun strip, i will say it was pretty much the same, but the host says that i paid like the 1/4 of the normal price, wich i find exagerated. And with Super Host with tons of reviews, it'S rarely a scam.

[Sarah977]

@Cormac0  I usually agree with you on most everything, but I don't see this as being anything on the guest. It's up to the host to keep their pricing and calendar up to date. If the host "forgot" to change pricing for holiday season, that's the host's loss.

[Cormac0]

@Sarah977 

On many things Sarah we are indeed kindred spirits, but when a guest books the wrong dates there is a facility for them to change those incorrect dates, in my opinion, there’s not much difference between the two in a genuine case.

[Yannick119]

@Cormac0 There's a big difference, because when a guest books the wrong dates, it doesn't affect either the Host or the Guest himself, they simply release the dates, and book for other dates, and this is normally done pretty quick.

When a Host is advertising a price on airbnb (either by error, or volontary),  like any other business, they have to honor it, that's how the system gets it's credibility. And yes he might not get as much profit as he wanted for a single reservation, but that's not a real lost, compared to (by exemple us) who chose to travel on budget and would have to get after another condo that might be much more expensive and not what we wanted, if we get cancelled.

Airliners often make mistakes on their listing, when this happen it is always honored, i could compared both situation i think.

[Heather133]

@Yannick119 @Cormac0 Yes, airlines honor prices if they make mistakes, which shows that even big corporations make these kinds of mistakes. However, unlike airlines, many Airbnb hosts are individuals, and as such it is much more costly to absorb this kind of mistake.

It's an unfortunate situation for everyone involved. I've had it happen to me. In my case it was because I hadn't realized I could set the pricing for dates that hadn't opened up yet and someone booked a year in advance for Christmas week on the date the week became available on my calendar. I was very busy with Christmas week guests that week and it got by me. The guest instant booked at the default rate, our very lowest, for what should have been our very highest. We are human. We make mistakes. I wrote to the guest and explained the situation. He looked for another place that was in line with the price he wanted to pay and he found one. He acknowledged that he thought my place was quite a bargain when he booked it. He cancelled the reservation. It was very kind of him and I hope karma smiles on him in the future.

I think Cormac's knee jerk reaction was because Yannick implied she might be getting screwed when she might have worded it differently ("I want to make sure I'm still going to get this wonderful bargain"). I was a little bummed about Yannick's languaging on that one myself. 

One of the reasons why I like Airbnb is because of the kind and thoughtful interactions and gestures between guests and hosts. It isn't always that way, but it is enough to still make up for the times when it isn't.

[Yannick119]

There's nothing to absorb other than some of the host profit lost. If a host consider this as a loss, which is understandable, then he is in business and need to deal with some risks if he doesn't manage it well. Airbnb listing aren't for the community sake, this is a pure commercial activity, specially if you play the price vs demand. I am a HE btw 😉

[Sandra856]

@Yannick119 Despite your name I also thought you were a woman. I guess because the person in the spotlight of your profile picture is a woman 🙂

[Yannick119]

No offense 😉