Host accepted a booking but now says it is unavailable

[Clayton-And-Ana0]

Hi,

We made a request, the guest accepted, we have been already charged (even though it is a new year's trip and we are in July!) and now the host tells us that we can't have that place because it had already been booked. 

On the host's profile she mentioned she looks after 200 flats in Cape Verde, so obvisouly she has only a couple of lisitings to use them as a "catalogue" and got lost with whatever system she is using to get organised. 

The reviews are glowing (for the flat we thought we were going to), but if we accept this alternative (in the same building) it will be without looking at any pictures or reading reviews. More importantly, we are extremelly wary of this host now. We worry she might get confused again and we might be on the street in a small village in the middle of nowhere. 

The question here is: how the hell this is happening? Is it OK for Airbnb to have people false-adversting? How can we report that behaviour? 

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? 

Thanks

[Farah1]

@Clayton-And-Ana0 you get charged right away once the reservation is confirmed (yes, even if the reservation is still months away in the future). What is the status of the reservation now? If it is confirmed, then you still have a confirmed reservation even though the host says that the dates are not available anymore.

Of course it is not ok in my opinion/not professional to do false advertising.

Reach out to airbnb right away to make sure that they are aware of this. Also, I would suggest not to do any cancellation from your end as this is not your mistake.

[Clayton-And-Ana0]

The situation is that she said we won't be staying where we have requested to stay. She informed we will be staying at another apartment in the same building. Yes, just like that. 

I really don't think that because she it is confirmed we are actually staying there. That isn't an instant booking listing. I understand she advertised that flat through another platform (or word of mouth or whatever) and that is why the dates were showing as available but it turned out it isn't. 

We can cancel without any charges at this point but will we have another kind of penalty?

[Clayton-And-Ana0]

As I told to @Farah1, I don't think it is a done deal...

Now I suppose the only way is to call Airbnb and wait for a very good while for them to answer? It is really very annoying we can't get a decent  (or any) customer service with them! 

[Farah1]

@Clayton-And-Ana0 as I asked before, what is the reservation status? That is the proof/evidence that you can use to decide what is the next step because if the reservation is closed or cancelled, then there is nothing you need to do other than looking for a new reservation. If the reservation status is confirmed, then reach out to airbnb to make sure that this is correct since the host herself saying that it is not available. That way, airbnb can assist you to ensure that you will have a place to stay.

[Mike781]

Just happened to me. Made a reservation request for supposedly available days. Later host emailed to say the house was now unavailable because another party booked AFTER us for the following days and she wouldn't have time to get the place ready for THEM. How rude, how unprofessional. I've never heard of a reservation being bumped for someone booking later, and for other days. This means that she can never book any dates end-to-end, and will only accept bookings until another (presumably longer and more lucrative) one comes along that gets priority. Completely unacceptable.

[Sarah977]

@Mike781    You made a reservation request, right? Until the host approves the request, you don't have a reservation. Maybe the host has Instant Book activated and someone Instant booked the place before the host had time to respond to your request. 

But if the host needs lead time to prepare for guests, they should have their settings adjusted to allow for that. For instance, I use the one night before and after each booking blocked for preparation time option.

Sounds like this host doesn't know how to run their business properly. Sorry this happened to you.

[Mike781]

I understand that a request is just that; on the other hand, availability should mean, well, availability. How can you run a business this way? To be perfectly straight up about this, I reread her email and saw that our request came in minutes after the other party's, not before. But it was for different dates, as I said. You've educated me about the feature that allows the host to automatically block days before and after--does this work for requests as well as for instant bookings? And when a request is made, do those dates still show as available until actually booked? That would be a serious flaw in the system.

This is all reminding now of Priceline: Too complicated and too much work. I had a couple of good experiences but my luck seems to have run out. If hotels in the area weren't so obscenely overpriced I wouldn't bother.

[Sarah977]

@Mike781  I can't speak to the ins and outs of IB, as I don't use it, but I'm sure some other hosts who do can enlighten you. As far as I know, IB hosts can have the same settings as non-IB's- preparation time, number of days lead time ( mine are set to 3- this is different than prep time, it means that someone who wants to book with me can't just book for the following day, I need 3 days advance notice).

So with requests, if for instance, you sent me a booking request for 3 days, as soon as I approved it, those dates would be automatically blocked pending your payment, then confirmed, and my calendar will automatically block the day before and after your booking per my prep time, so 5 days would then show as unavailable.

If you sent me a request and I wanted more information from you before approving your booking, I'd send a response to you with my questions, or making sure you'd thoroughly read the listing description (you'd be surprised how many guests don't, then expect amenities that were never offered in the first place) and during that time, (and before the 24 hour window elapses for hosts to respond), the calendar would remain open. Then when I'm satisfied with you responses, I'd click Approve, and the dates would block.

A host can also choose to block dates manually-I had a guest send an Inquiry and I really wanted her as a guest- she had great reviews and I felt like we were friends from the first message (and we ended up being that- we still correspond). But she still had to book her airline ticket, so I blocked the dates to give her time to do this. Even though I don't use IB, I didn't want to have other requests coming in for those dates that I'd have to Decline.

[Mike781]

At the very least, a "hold" should be placed on the requested dates so that the host has some incentive to make up her/his mind quickly. Perhaps it does really work this way--I dunno. As for automatically blocking adhjacent dates, this should apply as soon as the hold on requested dates does. Otherwise, requests could theoretically pile up with multiple parties asking for the same "available" dates, all waiting, perhaps hours or more, to know whether the property was actually even available? What it does (assuming it's the way it works) is to put the guest in the position of a job aspirant or suitor, waiting around to be "chosen" from among other hopefuls while the host leisurely combs over the "resumés." That doesn't make a lot of sense, at least not for most guests who simply want a nice, affordable place to stay, not a relationship--beyond a friendly greeting, at most. This whole thing needs to be at least a little businesslike.

[Sarah977]

@Mike781 On a booking request, the host only has 24 hours to either Approve or Decline the request. That's the host's incentive. If we fail to do this, we are "punished" by airbnb, our Response Rate drops and we are held to pretty high percentages by airbnb, we can lose Superhost status or be threatened with delisting. Maybe you think you should get an answer within an hour, but we are all human, have jobs, families, etc, to attend to. And it doesn't help that airbnb's system is glitchy- I've had booking requests that were made at 9PM in my same time zone, but didn't receive a notification of it until 3AM. I'm obviously not going to jump up out of bed and answer at 3AM- the guest is asleep as well. 

Most hosts respond to booking requests quite quickly, Mike, there aren't requests "piling up".

I don't comb over requests, eventually picking the guest I want, leaving the others hanging. Unless a guest was asking for things I don't provide, like AC, to bring their dog, to bring more guests than I can handle, or comes across as creepy or nasty, I would just approve the first person who made a request for the dates. And I think most hosts do operate like this. 

What you're wanting is for our calendars to be blocked as soon as a guest puts in a request, but hosts and guests can get totally screwed like this- why should my calendar be blocked just because some clueless person who didn't bother to read through my listing description sends me a request saying they need to bring their 2 bull mastiffs, their 2 toddlers and 2 other adults when I only rent to solo travelers, have no pets and not suitable for children policies? Or the guest might not have a valid credit card. If it worked that way, you, a desirable guest, would see my place as unavailable while I'm busy messaging the "entitled" guest as to why my place is not suitable for their needs.

[Mike781]

Well, I'd say you do a pretty good job of describing the problem with the reservation request system. Why not just post your rules like any proper lodging establishment--e.g., no dogs? Somehow this has worked pretty well for a few hundred years. You take their reservation and their money, and of they show up with the mastiff they are out of luck--just like everywhere else. 

[Sarah977]

@Mike781  Hosts DO post their rules on their listings. Many guests just don't seem able to read through anything more extensive these days than a 2 line tweet or text. And then those guests make assumptions that have no basis in any reality except what they "want".

My listing HEADING says For Solo Traveler. But I've still gotten Inquiries or Requests asking "So , is it really only for one person?"

[Sarah977]

No Mike, hosts don't get paid out until after the guest checks in. So they show up with the dog, you tell them to go away, that they can't stay, the guest phones airbnb and whines, and Airbnb refunds their money. Meantime the host has prepared the room (thoroughly cleaned, washed bedding and towels, made the bed nicely, put out fresh soap and TP, etc) for hours. And now they've done it for a big fat nothing. And lost the money they would have gotten by vetting their guests properly before approving the booking. 

[Mike781]

Wow, AirBnB needs to think these things through a bit more. This whole "self-policing commmunity" thing, as with Ebay, sounds cheerfully utopian but is in fact a great way for a company to make enormous profits while taking little responsibility. If they can't support their hosts, who are after all small businesspersons, leaving them at the mercy of selfish or unscrupulous guests they are simply exploiters. So this is what lies behind all this nonsense about vetting the guests--a way to hedge one's bets because there is no defense against rulebreakers and vandals? Welcome to the great deregulated society, folks. You can operate a taxi and rent out rooms without any laws to protect you--it's all good feelings and trust. I can tell you it doesn't look so great from this side, either.  The reservation system is pretty "squishy." Remember that guests also have a problem: They can't hedge their bets by sending multiple requests, hoping that one of the properties is actually available, without risking that they'll have to cancel one or more of them and accummulate a bad record as a member. You greatly understate that inconvenience, Sarah. For a businessperson traveling on short notice it's nearly unworkable, but annoying enough for anybody. 

Here's  to hoping you guys will all be so successful you'll be able to afford hired help so you can turn your rooms around in a day and be booked solidly through the week!

Thanks for the education.