> I don't know how Airbnb works, but my hunch is that an "instant booking" just means you get instant confirmation that you have, in fact, successfully reserved a room for a given set of nights
It also means that I am instantaneously liable for the cancellation charges. If the host doesn't respond after the instant booking (as happened in this case) I forfeit all the money. There is something wrong in this business case and AirBnB should look in to it.
I have already talked about the other issues in my post.
I am the author of that post and just wanted to clarify a few things.
First, the intention of the post was twofold: Blow off a little steam at the anger I was feeling and second, to highlight the risk someone is likely to face in a similar situation.
I have already admitted that this was risky, and therefore, not a great idea to do. In a similar situation, a better deal would have been to book a hotel rather than go through AirBnB. And that is the crux of my article. AirBnB is risky in a similar situation (travelling with family, travelling overseas etc.)
Next, the major issue and the failures were AirBnB's on multiple fronts:
1. Sending me the address wrong. I am not sure how this happened, but either the host deliberately provided the wrong address to AirBnB or something went wrong in the AirBnB's system.
2. Their support insisted that I wait for 5 hours or more for the host to be at the address. Otherwise they would charge me for the cancellation. Again, note that the address that they wanted me to go to was the wrong address (and no one knew at that point that that was the wrong address).
3. Asking me to follow up on the email rather than try and sort the situation over the phone.
Regards,
Vikram
I will individually reply to the comments if there is something specific that needs addressing.
It also means that I am instantaneously liable for the cancellation charges. If the host doesn't respond after the instant booking (as happened in this case) I forfeit all the money. There is something wrong in this business case and AirBnB should look in to it.
I have already talked about the other issues in my post.