Jason J.

I chatted an Airbnb rep to find out why guests could not reserve my listing after I canceled on a guest for that particular weekend. (I now know, of course, that is your punishment for canceling.) My issue was that I put my ad live but forgot to set certain dates (Mardi Gras weekend; I am in New Orleans) at higher rates. Almost instantly, someone booked the Friday and Saturday of Mardi Gras at the regular rate. So basically, I was a brand new user and made a mistake and was hoping Airbnb would at least allow me to list the place for Mardi Gras weekend, to that same user at the correct rate, or to someone else.

The conversation was pretty brief, but she did take the opportunity to lecture me on business ethics:

Kat: Airbnb has a policy of only wanting people who are serious about keeping reservations to agree. We cannot bend the rules just to make money. Are you still with me?

Me: Yes I'm just trying to figure out how they hired such an unfriendly person to be a customer service agent.

Kat: I'm friendly enough sir, you just don't like the answer.

Kat: We cannot waive the penalties in this case because the pricing was not what you wanted. It's not fair to the guests you cancelled on.

Not fair to the guests... what about not fair to me? It's fricken Mardi Gras weekend! If I had accidentally priced my place at $1.00 when I meant to price it at $100.00, would it be "not fair" for the guest not to get the place for $1.00? It's called making a mistake, a**holes!

Thanks for listening.