My daughter used my credit card to book a five-month stay through Airbnb after interning in Toronto. After the host accepted the booking, she received an email stating that the price for the total stay had increased by £4,000 – a further 39%.
Panicked and unable to pay the extra amount, she canceled. Airbnb has taken a fee of £1,962, plus a further £682 for cleaning and taxes. Since my daughter canceled immediately, that’s it extremely unlikely that a booking has been lost.
Airbnb endlessly quotes the terms and conditionss and says it asked the host to return the money, but he doesn’t. I feel like it helped this guy solidify something seems like a scam.
JS, by email
I’m surprised Airbnb didn’t sort this out in your favor before I got involved. A request for an additional 39% payment after the booking has been made – seriously? Fortunately, the company has now refunded you the full amount.
It stated that you should have rejected the landlord’s request for the additional amount. It would then have been up to the host to decide whether to continue at the original price or cancel.
You have to wonder who at the company came up with the terms and conditions that allowed such a request, but it all ends well. I hope your daughter likes Toronto.
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