calendar blocked

[Isabella332]

Hello!

I have been communicating with a host but my inquiry has now expired and all dates in their property calendar are greyed out so I cannot make another inquiry to her to continue our communication. Does anyone know why this might be and what I could do to overcome it?

I hope this question makes sense! Any help is much appreciated!

Bella

[Steven65]

You can send the host an inquiry. There is a "contact" button on the property page. You dont need to send a booking request, which requires calendar input. But if the calendar is now greyed out,  chances are it is no longer available. 

[Lisa723]

@Steven65 if *all* dates are greyed out I don't think even an inquiry is possible. You have to pick some date even to send an inquiry (which is dumb). 

@Isabella332 sorry to say it but best guess is this host does not want to rent to you and is unwilling to say so outright.

[Isabella332]

Thanks, our communication was completely positive, we just got timed out. I did wonder if it was just me, but even searching the property without logging into an account shows that the dates are all greyed out. When I first started communicating, there were only 2 weeks in advance to be able to book. Maybe there is an issue on their end that they haven't noticed yet. Thanks for your answers though!

[Sarah977]

@Isabella332  If the host says the dates are available, and as you say, your communication has seemed positive, there may some calendar glitch. I've read posts here from hosts complaining that dates were showing as unavailable to guests when they were in fact open, and vice-versa. The host may need to contact Airbnb to find out what's going on. And you should be able to communicate via the original message stream, even if the dates are not showing as available.

If the host also uses Instant Book, and an IB booking for those dates came through while you were trying to work things out with the host, the IB would automatically make your dates unavailable.

[Colleen253]

@Isabella332 Are you not able to even continue on the previous conversation thread? It shouldn't matter if those dates are no longer available, as I believe you can still converse. As a host, I have the ability to still send a message to an inquiring guest even if the original dates inquired about are no longer possible. Regardless though, it sounds like the property is no longer available for whatever reason. 

[Helen427]

hello @Isabella332 @Colleen253 @Sarah977 @Lisa723 @Steven65 

It's highly likely someone else may have booked the dates concerned.

I had a similar such incident on the weekend with a Guest & up popped the words 'Checkpoint" next to another Guests name in my reservations with a message next to the other Enquirers name saying some or all of the dates are no longer available message.

I subsequently looked up 'Checkpoint' topics here in CC & there's useful info in here why that sometimes happens, generally someone may be having info Verified by ABB before the booking transaction process is completed and accepted by all parties, or rejected.

@Isabella332send anohter message to the Host and ask if that's what has potentially happened.

I as a gesture of Goodwill sent the Guest who sent the Enquiry a message to explain what had happened and why they couldn't book.

All the best from over the Tasman Sea in Auckland, New Zealand

PS It was an Australian who successfully made the booking

[Isabella332]

Thank you, everyone! I will follow up on some of these great tips! Hopefully, it works itself out, the date we are actually interested in is next year, so we have time haha!

So grateful to you all for pitching in on this though, from all over the world, how cool!

🙂