Help, am I being scammed?!

Because they are very busy and booked up as people want AC now the world is on fire for the summer?

Many people take the whole of July or August off in France for holidays so it's very likely they'd struggle to get the aircon fixed at short notice in this period.

It doesn't really cost them anything for you to take the empty property and it means they don't get a bad review which can be really damaging to them longer term!

Sounds like they are great hosts and you've been very lucky! Enjoy it!

Some odd replies on here. Usual rule of thumb is if something seems to good to be true it probably is. OP is wise to be cautious and double check but sometimes things are as great as they seem and wonderful to get an unexpected boon. Enjoy the holiday!

To be a super host on Airbnb you need to have a high rating, if they cancelled you this would not only impact their rating but they would also have to pay Airbnb a surcharge, if they are super hosts then it makes sense to their rating to keep you happy as the ratings are what keeps them at the top when searching for accommodation.
Some hosts don't open all their properties at the same time or only open then a week or a month before as they can close when they live for their own or family holidays.

A bit of an ironic response there … and rather rude when people are trying to help you and explain things.

August in France is when many people take mandatory holiday. It's really not unusual.

I don’t know loads about France but one thing I do know is that it’s not like the UK when it comes to convenience.

They live a much slower (much healthier) lifestyle, where non urgent repairs can take weeks or months.

I watch home restoration shows and it can be months before being able to get someone in to do any sort of work.

Any other month I would agree. But August, France. Perfectly feasible.

Indeed.

Yes, I didn't read all the posts properly then it was too late to edit.

Ah, sorry - I missed that bit. Even less like a scam, then, and just a good deal.

I used to live in another European country close to France and I can tell you that August is basically the month where everything stands still.

Schools where I lived finished for the summer at the end of July and pretty much all parents would take their annual leave in August and be away for weeks, so it was just a given that things were much slower in August as most people were away.

I really don’t understand the panic here - things are a bit different in different countries and it’s completely plausible that they can’t get an engineer to fix it. Trust me, in 40 degree heat, a fan from IKEA isn’t cutting it.

omg a basement studio with no windows?!! What if there was a fire?!!!!!

A team on standby? How? Hosts have to use whatever is available like every one else.

Maybe a slightly underhanded way to get you to book a more expensive property, but they still gave you a choice in this, so I don’t really see the problem.

OP has stated that she is still paying the SAME price as the original windowless basement.

You're definitely overthinking it!
Their second property was available and unlikely to get a last minute booking so, rather than refund you and lose money they're letting you stay there.
And just about the whole of France go on holiday in August!

You booked a windowless basement dungeon and you're being given a nice spacious airy room for the same price. I don't see how that's a scam? If you'd booked the nice one and ended up in the basement then I understand your concern. But otherwise I'd be happy!

Air conditioning engineers in their area are obviously very busy in the height of summer. Maybe they just use a one man band and he'd away?

I don’t understand what the scam would be? Maybe a slightly underhanded way to get you to book a more expensive property, but they still gave you a choice in this, so I don’t really see the problem.

It sounds like what they said: the aircon broke and they won’t be able to fix it on time for your stay, so they offered alternatives.

I personally would prefer the more expensive property anyway as I would hate to stay somewhere (especially a basement) with no windows.

Perfectly 👍🏻

No I am not American. I just made an error in thinking OP was visiting Paris. Probably got mixed up with another thread. I didn't mention where residents go on holiday. I know that residents of Paris go to other parts of France in August.
I hope that has addressed all your concerns.

I am confident this will be legit.

It's impossible to get anyone out in a hurry (or at all) to do anything in France in August. Trust me, I know.

My hunch is that their air con has been broken for a while, they thought they could get away with letting other guests turn up, they'd apologise, make their excuses, give them a fan and a small discount and all would be well. Ordinarily that might be fine, but with the extreme weather recently I guess they've had complaints and bad reviews and people being forced to leave halfway through their stay, so they have decided not to risk it with you and take the hit on their more expensive property.

Ahh, I've just read your nasty responses on the other thread, a couple have been deleted you were so obnoxious. You've literally posted an AIBU panicking that you might be being scammed. You've only calmed down now that people have reassured you that August is a holiday month in France, so finding an engineer to the fix air-con will be nigh on impossible.

This doesn’t scream to me like you are being scammed, it’s quite normal for hosts (especially if they own a few properties) to do this. We had to be moved in a hotel a few weeks ago and they gave us a room that was hundreds more a night than the one we had booked - it’s curtesy and they don’t want bad reviews!

I would imagine if they put you in a non air conditioned studio without windows in the middle of a heatwave they are concerned you might die and they don’t want a manslaughter case on their hands!

It's not Paris. It's "France".