Booking not finalised: How do I unblock dates in my calendar?

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

Hi

Back in January I received a reservation request for 3 nights in August, which I pre-approved but the guests were unable to book as the dates seemed to have gotten blocked by them. After exchanging a few messages I didn't hear anymore from them and thought they'd found another place to stay. A couple of weeks later I noticed the dates were still greyed out in my calendar, I couldn't ask for a change via the respective feature and the booking status remained New. Contacting Airbnb, I was reassured that if the guest didn't finalise their booking the dates would automatically become avialable again. Four months on, the dates are still greyed out. August is our busiest month so I'd really like to make those three nights available. Can anyone help me resolve this issue?

Thanks very much.

Rebekka

[Clare0]

@Rebekka-and-Sandie0 First of all we need to clarify whether the communication in January was an inquiry or a reservation request.  The reason I ask is because you cannot send a Pre-Approval as a response to a reservation request.  Pre-Approvals are optional responses to inquiries only. 

Assuming that it was a reservation request, you are supposed to respond within 24 hours by accepting or declining the request.  Sometimes guests ask questions in a reservation request, but just answering does not satisfy the response requirement. If a reservation request is not declined or accepted within 24 hours, Airbnb is now blocking the dates of the request.  Read this help article and scroll down to the bottom where they talk about Expired Reservation Requests

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/28/what-do-i-do-after-i-receive-a-reservation-request: 

Hopefully I've interpreted your situation correctly.  If not, please give me more details!

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

Clare, thanks for your message.  According to the Airbnb app, we received an Enquiry about those dates, I responded to the guest that they may used Instant booking. They then replied they were unable to complete the booking as the dates were blocked. We'd only been hosting for 3 months by then and I wasn't at home so could only use the app on my phone.  Is there still no way to unblock these dates?

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

Despite it only being marked as an Enquiry, there is a confirmation number...

[Clare0]

@Rebekka-and-Sandie0 If the original request was an inquiry and you sent them a Pre-Approval then it sounds as if they accepted within the 24 hours and the reservation is confirmed.  A reservation code is only given to confirmed reservations.  Go to Your Reservations and see if this guest has a confirmed reservation. Under Details you can look at the confirmation by clicking on the red Print Confirmation.  Your calendar may be blocked because it is a confirmed reservation. 

It's hard for me to see what's going on since I don't have access to your account.  😞

Does this help?

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

I understand that you can't actually see what's going on. I asked the exact same question when I tried to tackle this issue a few months ago, i. e. whether this was or was not a booking and as the status was New at the time I was told that the booking had not been completed. Now the status is Enquiry. The dates are actually shown in grey in my calendar rather than blue. The status is not Accepted. In fact, this booking is NOT listed in the upcoming reservations. If I don't find a link for contacting Airbnb directly I may try and contact the guest.

[Clare0]

@Rebekka-and-Sandie0 You should be able to unblock those dates.  Give it a try.  If you are not successful, contact Airbnb for assistance:

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

@Clare0, thanks again! You have no idea how many times I have tried both on the computer and in the app. It just won't work.

I followed the Contact Airbnb link but there is no contact listing. See screen grab below.

[Clare0]

@Rebekka-and-Sandie0 Did you click on the Contact Airbnb! link in my message?  It will show you all the ways to get in touch with Airbnb.  As a shortcut, here's the UK support phone number: 

+44 203 318 1111

I prefer twitter @airbnb help as I get a pretty fast response and don't have to be on hold on a phone. 

Once you get this sorted out by Airbnb, please share what the problem and solution turned out to be.  Thanks!

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

Yes I did after receiving your very first reply. I'm not sure I want to phone them and unfortunately don't do Twitter.

[Rebekka-and-Sandie0]

@Clare0, yesterday I contacted Airbnb UK and spoke to a fantastic agent who solved the issue for me. Strangely enough, the dates were blocked because I supposedly didn't respond within 24 hours (which I know I did) even though my performance record was 100%. Never mind, the dates have been unblocked. Thanks again for your help.

Regards

Rebekka