Awaiting Payment

[Slawomir0]

Hi all

It is happen second time I have accepted booking request and then it shows Awaiting Payment anyone had similar problem?
Thanks

[Julia514]

Awaiting group payment....  does that mean my calendar will be blocked right away 

[Ellen85]

I have just had the same experience with "awaiting payment", except that one of the people instant booked, so I am waiting another 24 hours (total 48) for the 2nd person to pay and, in the meantime, the dates are blocked.

My issue is that this seems to be a slow time here so I lowered my rate during the week and am not particularly pleased that the dates are blocked off, even for 48 hours. I think I should be the one to make that decision, not the guest. The guest who booked should pay the full amount, and then have the other person split the cost with the booker. In other words, no instant booking in a case like this.                       

[Nancy-And-Pertti0]

Today was possibly the third of fourth occasion where an accepted reservation pops back with a notification: "Awaiting payment.  Your guest has 24 hours to make payment, and during this time, your calendar will be blocked." 

I've called Airbnb each time, and spoken with people who have various levels of understanding and empathy.  Today my "helper" hung up on me after I asked her to stay on the line until the reservation showed up as "paid" on her end.  Otherwise, I was prepared to withdraw the preapproval so that I'd get another booking.  However, I'd also reached out to the prospective guest saying that she had one hour to fix the credit card issue, or I'd need to decline. 

There are SO many ways that Airbnb could fix this!  I think a prior commenter is correct in saying that Airbnb probably doesn't want to lose a prospective reservation in favor of an open calendar for hosts.  But in my town, people often book on the day of their stay, so I simply cannot wait 24 hours, especially on a Friday or a Saturday.

Airbnb, if you are listening:  Please leave our space open until an accepted guest's payment has been confirmed. This should be an easy thing to program into the platform. The fact that Airbnb blocks the space away from further guest bookings means that we hosts can get to the end of a day and no one has paid for a stay while other potential guests have not been able to use it.

Please fix this problem on behalf of both hosts and accountable guests who'd like to book. Otherwise, Airbnb encourages hosts like me to withdraw an accepted status in order to keep the calendar open.

In the meantime, I am going to add some verbage to my Airbnb "Description" page, noting that my house rules require payment within an hour of my acceptance of the reservation in order to be confirmed.

[Julie282]

Amending the house rules sounds like a good idea... that way you presumably have grounds to reject the reservation. My experience however is that you cannot take any action for 24 hours. By that time it's too late.

Airbnb could fix this so that reservation is only confirmed once payment is made, and the listing remains open in the meantime. However Airbnb policies place guests needs ahead of hosts, which I would guess is because there are plenty of hosts, whereas more guests are always a priority. So unfortunately Airbnb does not place a high value on hosts needs.

[Alina127]

I think you can take action if it's Same Day instant book, the 24 hour window doesn't apply, (but guests can still leave a review), Airbnb can cancel for you penalty if it's Awaiting Payment status

[Vanessa310]

This is the 3rd time I got the confirmed booking and then awaiting payment status showed up,  no response from guest. Airbnb support said there are nothing they can do to cancel it unless guest do it themselves or wait till after 24 hours. In the mean time my calendar date is blocked and no one else could book.  The way Airbnb  platform work is really suck.  Host lose a day of income and Airbnb lose out on a booking too since no one else could book while waiting for the guest that won't confirm the payment.  It shouldn't block the calendar if guest hasn't verify the payment.

[Micheal14]

Very frustrating that Airbnb are not “reaching out” to this thread......

[Robert973]

There's a problem that comes up frequently, where a potential Guest books a room, but does not have a valid form of payment. When this happens, AIRBNB's current policy allows the potential Guest to block the dates of the Host's calendar without offering a good faith payment that complies with the Cancelation Policy. They can hold dates and block up the calendar, right up to the Check-in date, EVEN LATE IN THE DAY WELL AFTER CHECK-IN TIME, and then, suddenly cancel without any consequences. Normally, they should lose their first day's payment and half of the following days, but it's a loophole that can be used to avoid any loss in accordance with the Cancelation Policy. This frequent scenario causes harm to the Host, whose calendar was blocked by the potential Guest without any responsibility or loss. I believe AIRBNB should never accept any reservation without payment, or at least, never do so within the 5-day period immediately before the Check-in time. This would comply with the Cancelation Policy and protect the Hosts from such abuse and harm. I hope they'll consider adjusting the Policy, as such.

[Deborah175]

The old policy was even worse: The guest could book a same-day reservation, and Airbnb would release the host’s address, etc. The guest could arrive, spend the night, and the payment might never go through. 

I totally agree that for bookings made working 36 hours of the reservation date, “awaiting payment” should not be permitted beyond a two or three hour window, if at all.

[Costa2]

It is probably the worst that AIRBNB has. They should remove this option since they loosing reservations this way. That is how we all loosing money.

[Ruth466]

Hi, I got a reservation request this morning for a booking tonight. I accepted the booking and the calendar was updated to show that the room was booked. However, I have sent three separate messages to the guest and had no response to any of them. The room is prepared and ready, but it is now close to the end of the check in time, should I give up and expect a 'No Show'? 

The booking status is coming up as 'Awaiting Payment' 

[Sarah977]

@Ruth466  You could contact Airbnb, tell them the guest isn't responding to messages and that it appears that payment hasn't been collected. I wouldn't let a guest into my home unless the payment was verified- there have been host reports of not getting paid for same day bookings. Airbnb can try to contact the guest for you as well. Sometimes a guest is in transit and doesn't have Wifi access, or they haven't turned on their notifications, so don't even know they have messages. Or you can try texting or calling the guest's phone number.

[Ruth466]

Hi Sarah, thanks for the support. It seems like the guest, although they had confirmed my acceptance, hadn't actually followed through with payment. It would have been nice to have got a quick response to one of my messages to say that they had made a mistake, but then again, I'll be wiser the next time! 

[Aleksandra101]

Why can a guest even use air bnb without a verified payment method and backup payment method? Why can they block off dates on my calendar without a payment FIRST going through? It doesn’t make any sense

[Aleksandra101]

It’s a Friday and my weekends always get booked. Airbnb needs to change this so that payments must go through to hold a reservation! Especially for last minute bookings

i called customer service and they said b/c I emailed him AGAIN this morning (he’s supposed to check in today) they will give him 2 hours before they call him.