Host Cancels Instant Booking Reservation

Hello all,  

 

Posting on a throwaway -  

 

I wanted to share my experience with a host on airbnb.com with an instant booking reservation. I was looking for a place to stay for an event that is almost a year out. I had originally submitted a request for another place but needed approval. The host for the first location kindly declined and asked for a higher nightly rate + an additional day was required. I did not need to stay an extra day so my hunt for a new place began.  

 

I found a great deal on a detached room with a private bathroom that was also an instant booking! I made the reservation after reading the entire listing and reviews. Within 20 minutes of booking, I receive a phone call from the hosts daughter. She sounded frantic and told me "there was no way the room was going to be listed for the price paid and that [she] was getting 4x the price this year." I received a message via Airbnb from the host (her daughter) stating new pricing and that I needed to cancel the reservation or accept her new pricing. I replied if she were willing to negotiate or if prices were firm. She then let me know that she had bills to pay and some personal information about her mother. I declined the new fees and asked her to cancel. She let me know that she couldn't otherwise there would be penalties and that Airbnb would not let her cancel. I responded to let her know that since she was the one that could not accommodate me that she was the one that needed to cancel. I'm sure this really pissed her off since she decided to call and text me, then proceed to leave voicemail's with obscenities and complained that she wouldn't become a super host if she canceled my reservation.  

 

I contacted Airbnb customer service after she left me the voicemails with obsenities and they said they would "escalate" the case. This morning, I received a notification that the host canceled my reservation and Airbnb will fully refund me. I had checked the dates I originally booked with the host and they are open again with the new pricing.  

 

While I'm fine with looking for a new place to stay as I have more than enough time, I'm not okay with her treating me the way that she did. Had it been another guest, would it be okay to harass them until they canceled so she didn't receive said penalties? I'm assuming now that she did not receive any penalties or she told Airbnb she was uncomfortable with me? All of my replies were made via the Airbnb platform so I'm not sure how I could have made her feel uncomfortable other than letting her know she should be the one to cancel the reservation.  

 

This situation was unfortunate but I don't believe someone trying to become a super host should treat potential guests the way she did me. This is only the second time I've tried to find a place to stay.  

 

tl;dr Made reservation with awesome nightly fees. Host wanted to charge more due to event dates. I did not want to accept new fees. Host wanted me to cancel. I told host to cancel instead. Host went crazy on me so I had to contact Airbnb. Host now has reservations reopened with new pricing and possible eligibility of super host still available.

 

 

UPDATE - Airbnb reached out to me and gave me a $50 coupon towards my next reservation. They also explained to me that they allow hosts to have 2 penalty-free cancellations to encourage hosts to enable instant book listings.