72 Hour Booking Buffer appears to be False Advertising on my listing

[Jillian115]

I have the 72-hour Booking Buffer on my listing. However, I am receiving reservations in August that are back to back and also guests are THANKING me for taking the extra COVID precautions. I have made calls to Airbnb, after a 45-minute wait, you get a representative that says they will escalate the issue.  

IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS. I have also sent texts. I just found out through the documentation that the booking buffer only goes through July 31, 2020. I now have a reservation in August that I can not host because the booking does not meet the guidelines for the county health department. If the guest cancels she has to state she is "uncomfortable with the host" in order to get a full refund. If I cancel I get a penalty for canceling the booking. Another way around it is to provide documentation to prove this issue was not due to my error. In the meantime, my listing is incorrect due to the 72-hour Booking Buffer that's on my account.  Under Health and Safety it incorrectly states that I have this extra precaution set up to prevent the spread of the virus which is not true for anyone booking August 1st or beyond, since the buffer ends July 31st.  

[Jillie1]

@Jillian115 I fully sympathise with you!  I've just had my first booking since the close down for August and I couldn't understand why 3 days both before and after the booking weren't blocked off as I had signed up for the 72 hour buffer.  Then I saw much to my horror that it finishes 31 July, which I hadn't appreciated.  I have now managed to block off 3 days manually either side of the booking .....but it's not ideal as you can' t always be infront of your calendar to do this and like you've experienced, had your buffer compromised.   AirBnB need to extend that date don't they?!

[Jillian115]

Yeah that would be great! In the meantime I set up the 2 day between bookings setting. I meets the guidelines of my county. I’m still frustrated with the lack of response from Airbnb though. 😏

[Debra300]

@Jillian115,

Wow, you've gone through a lot with CS to not get very far.  I am happy to hear that the two day buffer works for you. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Jillian115 @Jillie1 

Jillian, You need not suffer ANY penalty. This is an Airbnb error and it is they who should apologise to the guests for their booking system not working and compensate them for their inconvenience. This happened with me with the standard 1 day before, 1 day after setting. You simply don't need to accept it, it is entirely Airbnb's responsibility and problem.

Tell the guests that too!

Last in, First out in the cancellation procedure. Airbnb are putting lives at risk by forcing same day turnarounds on you when you have made provisions in your settings. Just tell them to sort it out.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Calendar-not-applying-booking-settings-and-safety-buffer...

[Debra300]

@Jillian115,

Does your county health and safety guidelines require 72 hours buffer?  If not, and you can work with a lesser amount of buffer, you can update your preparation time settings to two days before and after each reservation.

[Jillian115]

Yes I did that. I set up the two day buffer between guests to avoid the issue with the county. 

[Jillian115]

@Debra300 @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @Jillie1 I noticed that Airbnb has removed the booking buffer safety statement from my listing. It no longer states I have set up this extra precaution.  I did get an email at midnight from CS. I posted about it in another post. But basically the agent assigned to the case wanted to know if I wanted to cancel the reservation. Then at 4 am sent another email that she was going on vacation and I would need to wait. lol CRAZY

[Jillie1]

Hi @Jillian115 @Debra300 @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 It's all gone crazy and AirBnB haven't come back to me yet Jillian regarding my query.  Have they all gone on holiday?!  The people who booked with me for August said they were actually looking for the 72 hour empty vacancy reassurance, hence the booking.  It was just as well I just happened to be fixated on my calendar at the time so I could block off the 3 days manually & immediately!  Any bookings after 31 July don't seem to qualify for the blocked off days unless you do it yourself, which is madness.

[Julie3513]

This has happened to me too. I my listing advertises the 72hour booking buffer but it doesn't work after end of August. I had to 

cancel one reservation and ask another to rebook. I complained to Airbnb support and eventually they got back to me and said it only works for July and they are still thinking about wether to put it in place for August! A bit bloody late to be thinking about it really. I've sent feedback too. Hopefully if everyone complains they might sort this! 

[Jillian115]

@Julie3513 it’s frustrating. I think it would be good to let us choose the end date. I’m doing the two day between booking setting which seems to be working.