CELEBRITY
Incredible: An Airbnb host attempted to charge h A woman triple the amount of her stay after discovering she was attending a Taylor Swift concert…
Ariel Stewart was overjoyed to be seeing the Bad Blood songstress – who has been traveling the Americas on her Eras Tour amid her new whirlwind relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce – with her stepdaughter.
However, after booking the Airbnb and sharing that she was going to see the popstar, Ariel claims the host informed her that they could only accommodate her if she paid three times the amount she had already forked out.
After refusing to hand over more money, Ariel said she began arguing with the host – who went by both Heather and Nola.
What’s more, Ariel alleges that the host took jabs at her job and personality while demanding she cancel the reservation so she could charge other guests.
Ariel shared numerous screenshots from the host who claimed the pricing had not been ‘properly’ set, adding that she would have to ‘collect additional funds.’
The host then demanded Ariel pay ‘$2,400, plus taxes and fees’ for the two nights she had booked, which was triple the amount she had initially paid for her stay.
When she declined the new cost, the host offered Ariel other properties to stay in, but they were further away from the venue, so the Swiftie – the name given to fans of the popstar – once again declined.
She says the host then asked her to cancel her booking if she didn’t agree to paying the extra amount.
Ariel responded: ‘I am sorry but the request will stay as it is because I know that the other location is definitely further and we did not want to be too far from the Superdome. I decline changing the rate to a more expensive rate and decline to have my reservation moved to another location.
‘After speaking with Airbnb, you can choose to cancel me but it will penalize you and block those dates from being booked in the future.’
And while the conversation between the host and customer had been rather friendly at the start, Ariel says it soon turned into a fiery debate when she refused to change her booking.
‘They won’t penalize us because they didn’t set the prices right. We are going to cancel the booking. Good luck to you, have a blessed day,’ the host said.
Ariel clapped back: ‘Actually, hosts set the prices, Airbnb has no control over that. I worked in hospitality for a long time so I know the ins and outs of everything.’
The host then accused Ariel of ‘stealing from small businesses,’ and noted that Airbnb allowed hosts to ‘cancel guests who make the type of threats you just made.’
Throughout their exchange, Ariel had also been speaking with customer support – who advised her not to cancel the booking.
The host asked Ariel to cancel her reservation so that they could book someone else and made it clear that the Swiftie wouldn’t be receiving any entry codes to the property.
‘The sooner that you cancel, the sooner you will be able to get a new property booked,’ the host added.
I will not be canceling on my end,’ Ariel replied. ‘My reservation is from this Airbnb and no other Airbnb.’
The host became more and more aggravated upon learning they would be missing out on the large sum they could make from others attending the concert.
They added: ‘Were not booking out the biggest weekend of the fall at 50 per cent our normal nightly rate. We gave you an opportunity to stay here for additional funds, you declined.
‘Please, let’s just move on. We do not need to waste each other’s days going back and forth saying the same thing over and over again. I am genuinely sorry for the circumstances.’
After apologizing, the host once again changed her tune when Ariel refused to cancel the booking.