Blog

This is an answer to Connie’s question “Just wondering if any of you are having any luck trying Air BnB?”  I decided to start a new thread on this, since I think it is a substantive issue.

I have used Airbnb a few times, with positive experiences up until last month, when a host canceled my reservation.  The host, who is listed as a Superhost with all good reviews, canceled my fully-paid-for reservation “because a family member needs to use it”.  I was refunded my payment by Airbnb, but am not happy that my reservation could be canceled on a whim with no repercussions or remedies offered.  I concluded that Airbnb is the reverse of the normal hotel room reservation system:  with a hotel room, the guest can often cancel right up to the date reserved without penalty, while the hotel cannot.  With Airbnb, the guest cannot cancel, but the host can without any penalty.  This does not make it a very valuable service for business people, including artists, who need reliable accommodations.  I for one do not intend to use Airbnb in the future unless there are no other alternatives.

You may be as surprised as I was that a host can cancel your reservation with no repercussions.  On the Airbnb web site https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/i-m-a-host--what-penalties-apply-if-i-need-to-cancel-a-reservation they state that a host who cancels a reservation will lose their Superhost status and that there will be an automated review posted on the host’s listed “that can’t be removed” indicating that a reservation had been canceled by that host.  But almost one month after my reservation was canceled, the host is still listed as a Superhost, and there is no automatic review posted.  Airbnb will not allow me to post a review, because I never had the chance to rent the condo. 

Also, note the language “that can’t be removed”.  That implies that hosts can remove any customer written reviews that they do not like.  Looking around the internet, there is a general consensus that Airbnb hosts remove reviews that are not to their liking.  So you cannot trust the reservation system, cannot trust the penalty system, cannot trust what they say Superhost means (“0 cancelations” – see https://www.airbnb.com/superhost ), and cannot trust the reviews.

After my bad experience I looked around the internet and discovered lots of Airbnb horror stories.  One person even described Airbnb as “a paradise for fraudsters” (which introduces a whole other set of risk factors).  Caveat Emptor!

I know many of you here use Priceline to get hotel rooms.  Have any of you used the Price chop on Priceline?  A few days ago I booked a room in Nashville, TN.  I spent a lot of time checking room reviews and I saw that many of the hotels were completely booked.  After a good hour of trying the name your own price and failing to get a room, I did the Price chop. 

After driving for 9 hours, and through several hard down pours, we finally pulled up to our hotel in Nashville.  It was after midnight and we were so tired.  The receptionist said she hadn't received any reservation in our name and they were booked solid!  I was very unhappy!!!  I produced the paper work that I printed off the computer showing her I did indeed have reservations.  She told me that they had run out of rooms a day before we even placed that reservation.   We were left to try to figure out what to do to get another room during a time when so many events were taking place and the hotels were full to capacity. 

The receptionist started calling around for us (which I appreciated) and we had to take a room at a Best Western (I would call it a "tired" Western).  For many years we were living under a super tight budget and we had to take crappy rooms because they were cheaper and we needed to save money.  I have reached my limit for doing that and try to get a nice room that I don't have to worry how old and filthy the carpet is, or think about how long ago the bedspread was washed. 

Has this happened to any of you?  I thought Priceline guaranteed their rooms.  This has now happened to us 2 times in Nashville.  I might think it was the hotel's fault except I have experienced this with 2 different hotels in the same city.  Have any of you contacted Priceline with a problem before?  I will be calling them tomorrow and through the magic of the internet (Facebook, google+, Twitter, AFI) people will know about it if I am not compensated in some way.  The social media is a great way to spread bad PR for companies if they fail to do what they advertise.   It can also be used to show appreciation for good companies, as well.  

I found this at the bottom of their opening page  -  With our Best Price Guarantee, you can be sure you're getting the lowest rate at top-notch hotels - even at the last minute.

What do you guys think?