Oasis fans angry after Airbnb booking declined

Oasis superfans who have been to see the band 55 times have spoken of their disappointment after an Airbnb host declined their booking, before it was relisted at "twice the price".

Liz Greenwood and Ian Wood, who live outside Ripon, were hoping to see the Gallagher brothers perform in Edinburgh during their reunion tour next summer.

They hoped to secure an Airbnb property, but their booking was declined - only for the accommodation to reappear the following day at a higher price.

Airbnb said a host could choose to accept or decline a booking, as the guest "never had a confirmed booking" or a paid reservation with them.

Mrs Greenwood told the BBC: "I went onto Airbnb to look for somewhere and found a fantastic little place in the centre of Edinburgh.

"I was on it straight away, booked it and sent the lady a message saying ‘fingers crossed we'll get the tickets for the Oasis gig on Saturday’.

"Obviously, this then alerted her to decline my booking and then the following day, the same accommodation was back online on Airbnb at twice the price."

Mrs Greenwood explained that the Airbnb host had it set so a booking could be declined within 24 hours.

She said: "I've used Airbnb for years, I’ve got full positive feedback and amazing reviews from all the properties I've stayed at.

"I actually messaged the lady directly and said, ‘shame on you for cancelling this and doubling your prices'.

"You were going to have a lovely couple staying at your accommodation and now you might end up with some group of beery blokes, who might not look after it."

Mrs Greenwood blamed the cancellation on there being "a lot of greed".

Prices for budget hotels were reaching nearly £500 a night, according to the fan, with the added cost of tickets and drinks taking total expenditure to about £1,000.

Taking the chance on another Airbnb, Mrs Greenwood said: "If this one doesn't go through then I'm going to give up.

"We will have an Oasis weekend instead, playing the old DVDs and having a few beers at home."

Hotel chain Maldron was this week accused of trying to cash in on Oasis shows by cancelling bookings customers had made before the reunion tour was announced.

A spokesman said there was "an overbooking issue" at two of its locations and it was not an attempt to "resell rooms at inflated prices".

Meanwhile, tickets for the Oasis tour shows started to sell out for some dates after fans scrambled to secure places on Saturday.

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