Hello @Bevan4,
You have instant booking turned on for your listing. That means that it's possible for a guest to book without you having to respond by accepting them, if they meet any requirements that you've set for booking. The settable requirements can be 1) must have submitted government ID to Airbnb, 2) must have recommendations from other hosts.
Airbnb charges the guest immediately that the reservation is accepted and they pay you the day after the guest checks in.
With instant book they're charged within a few seconds of them clicking on the "Book" button. You will then receive a message telling you that you have a new confirmed reservation.
If the guest has a problem paying, Airbnb allows 24 hours for them to pay and you'll see the reservation as "pending" or "Awaiting payment". If it's for the same day then you must immediately contact Airbnb support as you cannot allow the person to stay if they've not paid. If you allow them in and the payment fails 24 hours later, then they've stayed that night with you for free. The same can happen if they book the day before they want to check in. In this case also watch out for incomplete payment and contact Airbnb support.
Type "contact airbnb" in the "Search the community" box on these forum pages where you posted your question. Scroll down a little in the list of suggestions that appears and click on the "Contact Airbnb: A Community Help Guide[UPDATED]" one. That lists phone numbers and ways to contact them via Twitter or Facebook.
Steve.
