I tried when I went to NY a couple months ago. I contacted like 6 people and they all bailed on me ("bailed" in the sense that they had their apt listed as available on the day I wanted to go, but then couldn't offer it to me). It was a week before I wanted to go. I ended up paying for a hotel that was substantially more expensive, but it was definitely available.
I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How do you reliably manage the flakiness of both travelers and sellers? How far in advance do you have to start scheduling your trip if you want to use AirBnb? Am I absolutely guaranteed a place to stay even if I pay?
A coworker and I have had this same problem while trying to book a place for a trip in May. Places show up as available, but the owners then reply with "well, that's too far to tell, I might not even have this apartment then."
It you're not sure if it's available, why are you listing it as such? I guess the disconnect is that every person who does this is acting in their own interest and doesn't care about the interests of AirBnB or their customer experience.
It's really soured me on trying to use this, because I don't need to mail 10 hotels that say they're available on my dates, and go back and forth only to be told no. I hit a button and book it.
It's also bad that people like to write in the house rules section things like "I have a $75 cleaning fee" or "I require a $400 security deposit via paypal prior to checking in." I shouldn't have to pay a surcharge for the unit to be clean and in the advertised condition. A security deposit I can understand, but AirBnB should be brokering that via credit card holds rather than allowing cash exchanges between renter and owner.
If you're trying to compete with the hotel experience, simply having a lower price isn't the only factor involved.
I'd still like to give AirBnB my money and try this service, but after a week or two of trying to book something, they're making it really hard to do.
This is why somebody I know hasn't pulled the trigger on putting his place up: People aren't flaking so much as being extremely selective about who they rent to.
Basically my friend totally wants to go on AirBnb, but knows he will only offer to people he can semi-cyberstalk to his satisfaction/hope to be 3 degrees of separation from via industry/community circles (to make him feel comfortable).
Right now you don't have to rent to anybody you don't want to, even when you put your availability up for a certain time-frame, which is great. But it does confuse potential guests who get false positives for available places.
I think AirBnb needs something beyond ebay-style reviews to resolve this. The groups thing could be a good start (there are are interest/ community groups, like HN group, on AirBnb).
I had the same experience when looking for a place in NYC-- I think it's due to the fact that published availability dates are not consistent with what the property manager has, as they most likely have other sources of reservations.
I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How do you reliably manage the flakiness of both travelers and sellers? How far in advance do you have to start scheduling your trip if you want to use AirBnb? Am I absolutely guaranteed a place to stay even if I pay?