Airbnb accepted booking on blocked dates & I already have a booking from elsewhere. What do I do?

[Emma-and-Mark0]

Hi all,

We have received a booking via Airbnb for dates that were blocked due to a booking via an alternative booking portal.

Our calendars for both Airbnb and the other booking portal are synced and we are sure that both calendars were blocked for the booking dates. 

We are in a catch-22 and we are unable to get a response from Airbnb by either message or phone.

Obviously we can't cancel the non-Airbnb booking, as it was booked first,  but we are wary of cancelling the Airbnb booking ourselves because of the potential cancellation penalty and the risk to our Superhost status. In addition, whilst our Airbnb listing is set to a 'Flexible' cancellation policy that should allow free cancellation up to 24hrs before check-in, the guest has said that they can't cancel because they will be charged the Airbnb service fee.

Has anyone else encountered this issue, and, if you have, how did you resolve this?

Many thanks

Emma & Mark 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Emma-and-Mark0 As you must be using Instant Book you can cancel, penalty free, 3 times in a year.

I would then act like a guest and try to see if your Airbnb listing says it is available on a date you have booked with your other platform. That way you can see if the calendars are synching properly.