Confirming a booking from 10 months ago.

[Sherri168]

Hello fellow hosts. My name is Sherri and I'm new to the airbnb company.  Advise needed regarding managing a confirmed booking from 10 months ago.  The listing was live at that time.  An indoor flood forced me to block calendar.  So in September the home was ready for guest. I've had 3 reservations in September that went extremely well.

Now, I have 2 confirmed booking for October that were booked 10 months ago. How do I confirm these bookings? The weekend booked are in high demand here. I don't want to miss opportunities to host these weekends. 

I've sent several messages to the first confirmed guest but they are not responding back.

Advise needed on how you seasoned hosts handle these issues.  

Thank you in advance for your time. 

Sherri 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sherri168 Given that the stays were booked pre March 14th Airbnb have put you in the invidious position whereby the guests can cancel free of penalty up to just before their original stay dates. Sadly there is nothing you can do about that situation.

What you SHOULD do is call the guest. In our experience guests don't necessarily download the app or monitor Airbnb to the extent that hosts do. A quick conversation with the guest is the best way to go explaining that ou would love to host them but if they plan to cancel please do it asap so that you have a chance to re-let the space

Good luck

[Sherri168]

Thank you,  

I reached out to my guest with mid October reservations.  I have it all worked out now.  

I've ran my own businesses before with success.  Just working out the basics here. 

The airbnb platform is very generic. A company this big and touches nothing but a computer needs huge improvements.  The website is antiquated. They are completely under staffed too. 

[Helen3]

Have you found Airbnb Help and the tutorials and guides on this forum @Sherri168 ?

Good for familiarising yourself with the way Airbnb works.

I agree the website is unwieldy and not designed from the perspective of those who need to use it.

[Linda108]

I live in a resort/event area and guests often book 10-12 months in advance.  @Mike-And-Jane0 advice about calling is best.  If you do not get through or do not get a response, it is possible for Air BNB to intervene, in theory, but currently they are not much help.  Were these reservations made using IB?  If so and you do not get a response, you should be able to cancel penalty free with the reason of not being comfortable with the guests. Keep us posted how this goes. Linda