Quote:
Originally Posted by Wormius
So, kind of an odd thing happened with Airbnb that is leaving me a bit uncomfortable. I booked a place for a pretty reasonable price and had it confirmed. I went back later to the listing to show my wife some pictures, and the daily rate is now more than double what it was before, and there are now extra fees for guests and such. I checked the dates, and the price has changed for the dates before and after my booking, so it wasn't some kind of seasonal shift. Is this a red flag that I will probably get my reservation cancelled or attempted to be renegotiated at some point before my trip? It just seems very odd that it happened over the course of the day. I messaged the host as diplomatically as possible and hope to hear a reasonable explanation for it, but still we are at their whim if they decide to change our rate at the last minute.
For perspective, the rates went from $156 CDN per night with no extra guest fees, to $284 CDN and a fee of $78 per extra guest so $440 in total per night, which is totally out of the question. Even though it is a very nice apartment.
Thoughts?
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We have never had to cancel on anyone so reading the replies its good to know about the cancellation penalty. Airbnb helps owners out alot (except with the ability to have finite pricing) so its good to hear that there are penalties for cancelling.
Did the location have a per guest fee when you first booked? Airbnb doesnt have the option to set certain dates as certain prices (think long weekends, christmas, etc) which is a pain for us as owners.
Airbnb has a surge pricing model for owners if they so choose (similar to uber I assume) so its possible in the area you are going there is limited supply so the price has gone up. We dont have a per guest fee on our home so I dont know if that pricing would be affected by the surge model.
Assuming the owner has alot of good reviews I wouldnt worry. If they dont then there wont be a re-negotiation but there could be a cancellation. From the owners POV that is risky assuming you want to rent the spot out as you are hoping for a late booker.
My guess is its surge pricing and you have nothing to worry about).
As an owner, prying questions not related to the stay or late add-ons within 30 days are what makes airbnb stressful to use.
In 2017 we have had 19 guests, here is the breakdown what our truthful reviews of the guests would have been (airbnb like ebay works alot on ratings so there is an added benefit to both owners and guests to rate well).
We attempt to run the unit as much like a hotel as possible with the exception that we approve all bookers (based on ratings and their pre booking questions).
Entry is key coded so unless there is a problem guests should never have to contact us. We leave a bottle of red wine and some form of pasty as a welcome "gift". We attempt to airbnb-creep them to figure out what they have liked in the past. If we cant find anything we leave muffins from a local bakery that the cleaner leaves purchases and leaves the day of. The quality of the pasty is dependent on the length of stay, amount of pre checkin correspondence etc.
Quebec (2): Both left place clean with no questions. Neither left reviews which is a pain in the ass. We rated one as a 5 and didnt rate the other. We wont leave a review if we arent reviewed.
UK seniors (2): DO NOT RENT TO. Nothing but a pain in the ass, they both complained about the location (not noise but distance to places). All of our guests get a complimentary bottle of red wine, both complained and said they dont like red wine and like wite - WTF. Both complained there is only one bathroom, they complained about the look (not comfort) of the ikea beds. Reviews from both were 3.5 - we also reviewed them as a 3. We will never again rent to UK retired guests.
UK families (1) OK, no correspondence, unit was left in ok condition. Complained about not enough toilet paper.
Germany (3) perfect guests, no correspondence, no complaints. Unit was spotless
Japan (1) some correspondence likely to do ESL, no other issues, unit was clean. They left a thank you letter on the counter in broken english with japanese translation - really enjoyed the chocolate croissants.
USA (5) no correspondence, all very thankful for pastries and wine as welcome gifts. Unit left in average condition. All guests left food and dry goods.
Belgium/netherlands (3) - no issues
Ontario (1) older couple with 6 ratings booked for 4 days in the middle of 2 other guests. 3 weeks prior to the stay they requested their son and his fiance as well as their daughter join them. We should have said no but they could have just come anyway so we said yes for an additional $50 cleaning fee. 2 days prior to departure they asked to stay for an additional 3 days. We couldnt has we had a German family arriving the day they left. Place was left dirty. All hand towels were dirty with mascara. Place was not left clean so some of the deposit was not returned. There was noticeable damage to our garage as it looks like they attempted to enter (we lock off the basement and garage (3 story home)) so a repair amount was deducted from the damage deposit.
Maintoba (1) guest with only 1 review, very friendly but either not technology smart or just not smart. Booked for 4 days for a wedding. Then we get a second booking from them for a week on October before they have even stayed for the wedding. Strange but maybe they want to vacation in October. 2 weeks later the wedding booking is cancelled with only the October remaining. Then the October one is cancelled and the wedding one then attempted to re-book. We finally had enough of this bs and had her call us before we approved the booking to figure out wtf is wrong with this lady. She obviously is new to the whole "internet" thing and wasnt sure what she was doing. Once they came and left the place was left clean with no issues.