Another one for my book....

[Laura2592]

So just now I got a request to book for TODAY. For 2 days. I have "at least 2 days advance notice" set in my listing. The individual says they are a member of the clergy staying for a silent retreat, that they are solo, that they live in a nearby city which is about an hour away (so really, if you lived there and went for a retreat near my cottage you wouldn't really need to book overnight. And silent retreats don't just pop up on a whim.) The profile has multiple reviews discussing a group of young men by various names, none of whom are the person booking, and it sounds like there were some boys or bachelor weekends, though the scores are good. The profile also lists a totally different city than where the inquirer says they live, but that isn't so unusual. Its...odd. But whatever. I would have this guest normally and send a polite message about how I am so sorry but we would love to host him another time. 

We don't take last minute bookings. Period. We can't get the cleaners there and can't get behind them to do our disinfecting and set up welcome treats. So even if this all looked super kosher (and it doesn't) we couldn't do it and have everything ready in an hour and a half for noon check in. But my choices are to have my calendar blocked, which essentially it should already be as I am not taking same day reservations, or to say I am uncomfortable and explain why. 

My settings are still "2 days advance notice" so I don't even know why I am getting this. Frustrating. What is the point of having settings if they don't screen out requests you can't honor?

[Laura2592]

 

@Sarah977  and @Amanda1775 

I think calendar settings must have changed. It DOES look open however this is my setting.  I have not seen the Advance Notice banner on the calendar in some time. 

I just toggled the "SEND A REQUEST" to ON  just to see if I could.  It had been off. I'm toggling it back. 

[Amanda1775]

Ah, you are on the app. Do you have access to a computer? I cannot see the "Advance Notice" banner on the app, but I can see it when I'm logged in as a host on the Airbnb website.

While the Airbnb app is supposed to have the same controls as the website, it doesn't. Try viewing your calendar on the Airbnb website and also try updating the settings too. Maybe that will fix it?!

[Laura2592]

@Amanda1775 it's not appearing on my computer either. I'm on the phone with CSR who suggested toggling all my settings on and off to refresh.  I'm doing that now. Apparently there is a "glitch" with some calendars. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

blank

[Laura2592]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I just changed that to see if I could. I refreshed all settings.  

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 @With same day (request or inquiries) nothing needs to be done other than a response for the response time clock.  Bc by the time the magical 24 hour required response window hits it will be tomorrow instead of today and the request will become “not possible” all on its own. 
I do not chase CS or guests for problems not of my own making. 

[Susan990]

You need to study the calendar settings and click both the 2 day reservation in advance box and the 2 day covid cleaning box--both. 

[Sarah977]

@Susan990  If settings are working properly, no, that should not be necessary at all. The advance notice and prep time settings should be independent of each other, they do not have to match, and they accomplish two different things.

I have always had 2 day advance notice set, and 1 day prep time. I do not need 2 days between bookings to clean, but I do need 2 days advance notice for bookings. It has always worked as intended.

[Laura2592]

All--

So  I went through EVERY setting and "touched" it toggling it back on and off and saving. This was the advice of ABB who said hosts should do this "every week to 2 weeks" to avoid calendar issues. Great.

So apparently you can have your settings checked appropriately but every so often ABB will ignore them because they want some $$$. So the lesson is here to make sure you hover and touch these settings to ensure they refresh. 

[Huma0]

@Laura2592 

Well, that's a pain in the backside. Airbnb need to stop messing with our settings. Doing what they suggest is an enormous waste of hosts' time.

[Hal3292]

That is an amazing piece of information. I had been wondering if inquiries were coming from super computer-savvy people (aka hackers) who somehow knew how to circumvent the system and get a request in despite the calendar being blocked for advance notice/cleaning prep. Airbnb preprogrammed "failures" seems like the more plausible explanation.