Ricky R.

Review of Airbnb

I booked a reservation on the morning of January ...

I booked a reservation on the morning of January 10, 2019, for the dates of February 1-4, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, I received an email from the host stating that she wanted to change my reservation, so she could increase the price, due to it being Super Bowl weekend. I was prompted to accept or decline the price increase in the email to which I declined, because a price hike after booking a reservation is an unfair business practice. The host then decided to cancel my reservation, because I stood firm against her price gouging attempt. The representative at Airbnb assured me that the host would be duly penalized for canceling the reservation which was only right, especially since attempting to price gouge a customer is not a valid reason for canceling a reservation. According to the representative, that host would receive a 100.00 fine and be disallowed from listing her property during the dates of my reservation, which would result in a loss on the host s behalf. This resolution not only made me feel better, it made me feel as though Airbnb was the type of company who valued their customers and would not tolerate a host canceling reservations. As I would soon find out, Airbnb do not stand behind their policy. Despite, the egregious policy infraction, Airbnb not only waved the host s fine, but allowed her to re-list the exact same property for the dates I had booked minutes later at the the exponential price hike that the host wanted. So in essence this host, broke their policy and was rewarded for it and not penalized. This was also the host s third time canceling a reservation, so she was not a first time offender.This was my first time booking with Airbnb and this company left a terrible first impression on me. They should have honored their policy, fined that host and not allowed her to re-list her property especially for an invalid reason! It s only January 10, 2019. So Airbnb has plenty of time to take that listing down from the dates that she is supposed to be unable to list due to canceling my reservation (Feb. 1-4, 2019)