Instant Book 'Uncomformable with Reservation' Option No Longer Available - WHY?

Sarah327
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

Instant Book 'Uncomformable with Reservation' Option No Longer Available - WHY?

Hello Fellow Airbnbers',


I would really appreciate some advice on this situation as it appears I am currently unable to cancel any reservations without penalty! 

 

Screenshot 2020-08-08 at 09.59.07.pngScreenshot 2020-08-08 at 09.59.17.png

 

I've just had a guest book and write simply, "Birthday getaway/treat", in their communication. Turns out they are also a host, so I find this quite rude, a bit lazy and somewhat annoying. Airbnb is based on trust, transparency and communication so surely they understand the importance of writing at least a sentence and addressing me by my name?! 

 

Also, they are travelling from an area in the UK that is currently under local lockdown. While the Government says it is okay for people to still go on holiday - this makes no sense to me at all - I am very worried about this and will now be turning the Request to Book option on.

 

I do not feel uncomfortable with this guest for these reasons and would like to request they amend their travel dates, until lockdown restrictions are lifted, or alternatively cancel.

 

What should I do as Airbnb are hardly easy to get hold of these days!

13 Replies 13
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Sarah327 If this is enough to make you uncomfortable I suggest you snooze your listing until Covid 19 restrictions are over.

If they are a host you should be able to see very easily where they are coming from.

Thanks for reply! In light of the ongoing Covid-19 situation, a message consisting of only three words is enough to make me feel uncomfortable. If the guest, or fellow host in this instance, cannot take the time to write one sentence to me, how can I ensure they will follow any additional cleaning and Government guidelines and does not put me or my family at risk by travelling to my property?

 

Like many, unfortunately, I cannot afford to snooze my listing having not earned any income over the last four months or so. I had instead been relying on Airbnb's usually superb support and the ability to cancel any bookings I do not feel comfortable with (although haven't had to for some time).

 

By turning on Request to Book I am guaranteed to lose bookings on this basis alone.

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Sarah327 

 

IB criteria state that you are allowed to cancel if you are uncomfortable with the booking. The guests wanting to travel from any city on local lockdown is a viable reason to make you uncomfortable.

 

I’m away from my desktop at the moment, but there are severe discrepancies between cancellations on a mobile device and a desktop browser.

 

If you haven’t already checked, do see if the “uncomfortable” option appears on a different device browser.

 

If you cannot find the option, I would inform the guests you are going to cancel due to them arriving from their location and you need to get CS involved due to a system problem and they may not be notified for a week or two... they will probably cancel.

 

Contact CS and get them to cancel penalty free as per. the terms for IB.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Sarah327 Have you canceled because you were uncomfortable more than 3 times this year? You only get three. I would definitely turn off instant book if I were you. 

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

P.s. 

You have no pre-booking message so while I agree that all correspondence should include a hello, thank you and goodbye, the booker has little knowledge of what you would like included here.

Screen Shot 2020-08-08 at 9.24.45 AM.png

Sarah327
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

Thanks @Emilia42! I have thought about adding a message before but I'm really not sure what to say or ask? What would you suggest?

 

My initial thoughts are:

 

Hello, 

 

Please tell us a little about yourselves and the reason for your stay? Who will you be travelling with and have you visited the area before?

 

Thank you!

 


Sarah

@Sarah327 

That sounds good. I have something very similar. I was going to suggest:

 

"We look forward to hosting you! Clear communication is very important to us. Please include a quick but detailed message to let us know why you are coming to Devon and who you will be traveling with. This will help us better prepare for your stay!"

 

Also, if you turn off instant booking, I am not sure you will get the option to include this pre-booking message.

Sarah327
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

Thank you @Emilia42! I've added the following message and will see how it works from here on out:

 

"Clear communication is very important to us. Please don't forget to tell us why you are coming to Devon and who you will be travelling with, so we can better prepare for your stay!

Thank you, and we look forward to hosting you!"

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sarah327 

 

I ask them to let me know who they are travelling with, their check in time and to confirm they have read the full listing and house rules. Not everyone seems to read this though or just ignores it. In fact, I would ay most ignore it because they don't normally answer those three simple questions when booking.

Sarah327
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

Completely agree and I have now added an intro message as suggested by @Emilia42.

 

All it takes is a sentence to say why you're coming and who with! The lack of communication simply creates an issue where there needn't be one. It is so frustrating that guests, and some hosts, do not understand this.

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Sarah327 I'd first give it a try to work out with the guest...

 

"Hi! Thanks for your booking and I see you are a host yourself so I'm sure you're familiar with how careful we're being about our guest space right now. Given current UK travel restrictions could you please tell me where you're coming from and who with so that we can try to determine if we are able to host you. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you."

 

then if you get good info back, you carry on. if you get bad info back, you involve CS. if you get no response, you involve CS.

 

good luck!

Sarah327
Level 7
England, United Kingdom

Great, thank you @Kelly149! That's perfect. Under time pressure, as always with Airbnb, my initial message asked who the guest was travelling with and who's birthday it was. They have since confirmed it is their birthday and they will be travelling a partner.

 

Due to UK travel restrictions, you must live in the same household to travel together, so I asked them to confirm this - which again they have. Fingers crossed all will be okay with their stay!

 

If only guests would just communicate a little better. All the guest needed to say is, "It's my birthday and my partner, NAME, are looking forward to a few days away to celebrate."  How hard is this... and it tells me exactly what I need to know in a sentence!

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

FWIW I don’t see anything rude about that message.