The guest arrived with the price from the listing, and you have a different one

First compare five things

If the guest arrived with a different price from the one in the listing, the difference in amounts alone does not explain the cause. On their phone they may have a confirmation, today's price, or a screenshot of an old price list. Ask which place the price comes from and when they saw it.

1. Dates and length of stay. The price for one night is not the total for the whole stay. Also check whether the listing was not for a different month.
2. Room and number of people. Compare exactly the same room, the number of adults and the children's ages given at booking.
3. Price conditions. See whether both versions include breakfast, the same cancellation rules and any discount.
4. Fees outside the room price. Read what was shown separately and where. It is not enough that the extra charge is visible in your dashboard today.
5. The amount already paid. Separate the total cost of the stay from the amount still to pay. Check the statement before you ask for money a second time.

When to accept the lower amount

If the confirmation of that same booking shows a lower price, and you are looking at today's price list, do not try to make up the difference at check-in. Start from the conditions recorded at the time of booking. The current price does not explain what the guest was given earlier.

If it was your own old listing left unfixed and the guest based their arrival on it, say so plainly: "That price list should have been corrected by now. I am sorry for the confusion." If the difference is manageable, you can propose settling this stay at the price they were shown. Give a specific total and say what it includes, so you do not leave another ambiguity behind.

Do not promise a discount you will want to withdraw in a moment. When the amount is large or the documents contradict each other, say what you have not managed to establish yet, and contact the portal's support. Do not settle a dispute on memory alone.

When to explain the difference instead of lowering the price

If the guest is showing a price for two people and arrived as four, put both versions side by side. Say: "Here the price is for two people. The confirmation has four people and this total." Do the same with a different room, dates or breakfast. This is a calm comparison of conditions, not convincing the guest that they cannot read.

Different prices on Booking and on your website do not have to mean an error. They can concern different conditions of the stay. Those conditions have to be compared first. A lower number on a screen alone does not yet say what the specific booking was supposed to cost.

When you can point to a portal error

Only when you have something more than the difference between your dashboard and the guest's screen. Check the promotions you set, the confirmation and the change history, if it is available. Today's dashboard view does not prove what the portal was showing on the day of the booking.

If the support confirmed an error on the portal's side, show the guest the reply concerning their stay, without other people's data. Say: "The portal confirmed an error in how this price was displayed. Let's agree now how to settle this stay." When there is no confirmation yet, the honest sentence is: "I can see the discrepancy and I am reporting it to be clarified."

After the conversation, write down the agreement and remove the cause

In the message concerning the booking, record the agreed amount, what it includes and how much is left to pay. If the matter is waiting for the portal's reply, also note what is still unresolved and when you will come back to the guest with information. Keep the confirmations you need in that booking's documentation.

1. Write down the address of the listing that caused the problem. Add the date of the check and the price version shown. Without that, after the season only a memory of the conversation remains.
2. Go through your own website. Check the price list, the room descriptions, the booking calendar and older subpages with descriptions.
3. Go through every portal separately. Compare prices for the same dates and people, promotions, surcharges, breakfasts and the season boundaries.
4. Check the remaining listings and messages. An old accommodation directory, a listing on social media and the confirmation template may still give the previous conditions.
5. After the fix, return to the guest's view. An entry in the dashboard is not yet a check of the published listing. If the portal has to approve the change, note it as pending.