Can't ask host a question

[Mars3]

I am trying to contact a host to ask some quesitons before I book the place and silly AirBnB makes you enter arrival and departure dates, which I chose however when I put in my question and hit send, it comes back with an error message that the dates are invalid.  I know that the dates are available as I can see in her calendar and I have asked to stay 6 days so why does it say invalid?  I've tried several times with different dates and months and different computers.  Any help!  is AirBnb falling apart?

[Jonathan6]

Yes, this is a problem and the Contact Host in the Host profile button is not working.  I would suggest looking at the calendar and pick an open date, you will not be booking it so there will be no issue.

[Linda108]

@Mars3  I am sorry you are having trouble contacting a host.  Communication is the backbone of this platform.  On this host site we often hear of system glitches that usually get sorted out fairly quickly.  More often the problem is experienced on the  mobile app so using a computer or lap top is a good option.  Let us know how this all comes out.

[Ciara5]

Hey i'm having the same problem and i'm also having a load of others! I wrote a post about an hour ago asking for help because I couldn't book any property even though I was sure my dates were valid, I also couldn't do another search as it just put me in a loop. After changing browsers from chrome to safari though it seemed to work fine - search worked and all the properties were available for my dates with the pricing shown all correct. So I just wrote a really long message to a host asking them a few questions but when I went to send it said my dates were invalid - same as you there is no problem when I enter them, they are shown as available but the message will not send 😞

Please does anyone know how I can alert airbnb to the problems i'm having or how to fix them..?

[Ciara5]

UPDATE: I just opened a new tab, got the same booking up and sent the same message without touching the dates and it sent straight away (to my suprise!)

If you're still having problems I suggest trying a different browser (and computer if possible) writing you message and don't touch the dates at all, hope this helps!

[Lillian32]

It's 2018 and still cannot contact any hosts.

[Linda108]

Hey @Lillian32 if you need to contact a host about the listing, enter dates into the inquiry and then your message will be sent.

[Elizabeth1008]

yer tried thatone...it takes the first date and refuses to take the check out date

[Elizabeth1008]

gotthe first date in BUT WILL not take the second date for checkout

[Nathan49]

These answers don't take into account the profiles where dates are all greyed out -- completely for the next year. There's literally no way to fill in dates because they are all greyed out, thus no way to send a message.

[Sandra126]

@Nathan49, that means they are not taking bookings. If it's greyed out, not available. Some hosts seem to block their calendar indefinitely instead of ''snoozing'' the listing which is frustrating for searches. Find another listing! They may have stopped, or have a long term booking, or whatever. It's inconvenient!

[Jesse183]

I am having a situation where many dates show as "available" on the calendar, but when I actually choose dates it says "these dates are not available."  And it doesn't matter which dates I choose, it gives me the same message.  Can AirBnB PLEASE create the option to contact a host WITHOUT specifying dates on their system?  It would help in many cases!

[Sarah977]

@Jesse183  Contact Airbnb and ask them for assistance with this. Yes, it's ridiculous to have to enter dates just to ask some questions. Hosts hate it as well. I assume Airbnb does this because they want the host to pre-approve the dates on an Inquiry (hosts get messages prodding them to do this)- more bookings, more Airbnb fees collected.

[Jesse183]

Turns out it was a brand new booking.  Apparently things were still getting set up.

[Mark3131]

Same issue with grey'd box for contacting host, OK when booking and when I paid my money. This is crap and I will certainly think about using Airbnb in the future.  Mark