Guest changing their mind and leaving

[Patricia4972]

Hello, I'm Patty and I live in Florida.  Today I got a booking for 1 guest for 3 nights but when they arrived, it was 2 people and the room w/private bath has only a twin size bed in it. They didn't stay.  They got here at 9:30 pm which was later than was scheduled.  While waiting for the arrival, I got another booking for 1 guest for 2 nights but I had to decline as I already had the 1 booking for 3 nights.  Now I'm left with no one.  I don't think that was fair that I lost both bookings. Had I known it was 2 people, I would not have taken that one.  My listing states only 1 person.  And I looked at the 1st booking before and  after they left, it said that it was 1 person not 2 people.  I am very upset that AirBnB booked 2 clients for me for almost the same dates and ihe booking should have said it was 2 people..  

[Joelle43]

Hello @Patricia4972 

I went onto your listing as a guest and I can't book your room if I put 2 people in the reservation.  So at least it's working as it should be so if 2 people arrived for that 3 day reservation although your listing clearly states only for 1, then the onus is on them and you should have been paid.  Did the guest cancel and Airbnb reimbursed this guest?  

The fact that 2 people arrived is against your house rules surely?  I would dispute this with Airbnb.

Good luck and let us know how you get on,

Joëlle

[Patricia4972]

Well for 1, she booked for only 1 person. And 2nd, she never paid for the booking so they said because it was never paid for, I cannot get paid. 

I finally got in touch with a person by phone today and they needed proof of everything I said in the message from that person so I had to take pictures of the whole message thing and send it to them. So now I am waiting to see what happens next.  

Those 2 people didn't pay for the booking and they never called AIR BNB to cancel so if they had stayed, I wouldn't have gotten paid anyway because they didn't pay. Thats what I was told so they would have gotten a 3 day vacation for free on me.. What a scam!!!!

Next time I get a guest, I will not hit the pre-approval button before I make sure that its a legitimate booking and it is paid for. I didn't know I was suppose to do that.

Thank you for your comment.

[Joelle43]

Hello @Patricia4972 

You poor thing but as you say, it could have been worse.  So from your latest post, I now understand that you received an enquiry from this guest and you sent them a pre-approval which means that you were happy for them to book with you.  Guests have 24 hours to accept or refuse pre-approvals and payment is only taken if guests accept the host's pre-approval!

It sounds like they didn't do this and just turned up and you thought that you had a confirmed booking?    This was a last minute booking I see and personally I require guest to give me 24 hours notice before check-in to allow for payments to go through.

So that you have all the facts at hand and understand the difference between receiving an enquiry from a guest and a booking request, there is a guide on the subject that I hope will help you to feel more confident in the future when accepting or refusing bookings:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Guides/GUIDE-Handling-Enquiries-and-Bookings/td-p/1895...

I would suggest flagging this guest via the message system by using the flag in the thread or by clicking on the three dots.  This will alert Airbnb that this a scammer in the making and will stop this person from ever booking with you again.

Also, communication is key with guests and I would advise sending your guests your house rules when they request to book so that everyone is on the same page and no surprises.  This is especially important as you are a live-in host.  If you are on Instant Book, I would suggest removing this until you have a bit more experience as this will allow 24 hours for you to correspond with a guest.

Having gone onto your listing, there is only one sentence to describe your place.  If you go back onto your listing you'll see that there are new sub-headings for you to talk about your place and what guests can expect.

As a newbie on Airbnb, I'm afraid that we are sometimes targeted by bad guests who play on our naivety so read up as much as you can on hosting and what to avoid so that you can outsmart these scammers.  

I don't know if you know, but as a live-in host you are allowed to only have same sex guests if this would make you more comfortable?  

Any questions, just ask.

All the best
Joëlle

[Helen3]

You don't need to refund the guests @Patricia4972  you provided the accommodation for one as advertised.

[Patricia4972]

I am unable to get in touch with Airbnb to find out if I’m still getting paid

[Frances3408]

@Patricia4972. Go to your Reservations under Menu tab. There will be a list, separated by whether its Upcoming, Completed, Cancelled or ALL. If you dont have a reservation code then you technically never got a confirmed booking (ie no money received by AIrbnb)

Do not do last minute bookings (within 24 hours of arrival) until you have more experience as they are open to fraud as mentioned by @Joelle43 . I personally dont allow them even after 3 years but I am risk adverse and dont like last minute arrivals. 

[Patricia4972]

I have contacted Airbnb support however I’m unable to reach them by phone or text message so I don’t know what to do next. 
when I contacted support, I asked that someone call me. I gave my name and phone number and no one called me yet. I’d like to find out if I’m still gonna get paid. How can I found out?

[Marisa182]

I sympathize with you @Patricia4972 .

I spend so much time on this particular issue, it's getting to be quite a bother. The title of my place is:

Basement Apartment for One Guest. I had to decline a booking this morning because it was for two people. It's not the first time! Can this problem be taken care of when a guest is booking?

You lost income through no fault of your own. Do your best to get paid for the nights that were booked!

[Marie8425]

@Patricia4972 

A thought if you use the Airbnb Room Folders for your photos.  The Airbnb computer puts a picture of where you sleep.  Highlights a twin bed as most Hosts will tell you Guests don't always read.