Need to cancel a reservation

[Maria924]

I have had an enquiry to stay at my cottage, I informed the guest that the dates were not available. Airbnb confimed the booking and the guest paid without my knowledge. I have now received a payout which I do not want and have asked  the guest to contact Airbnb to call the money back, the guest says I have to cancel with Airbnb. I have never received a booking reference and do not know how to make this right for the guest. Please can someone help as I cannot find a way to contact Airbnb to email them to explain and sort this problem out

Regards

Peter 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Maria924

Hi Maria - you dont say which property, but two of your listing have Instant Book switched on, so certain types of guests will be able to book without waiting for you to confirm. I assume it was one of these.

The guest is correct that you need to either honour the booking  (as the calendar was open and IB switched on) or cancel for them. 

If the guest contacts AirBnB and gives their side of the story you may find you are penalised for this error - you would be better off contacting them and explaining the misunderstanding and hope they will not penalise you, and also of course refund the guest the full amount.

Easiest way to contact AirBnB is via Twitter - search for AirBnB help. Or do a search on this site for Contacting AirBnB - there are lots of guides on how to do so.

Finally you say there is no record of their reservation: go to your Calendar and look at the dates they have booked. Click on the booking and it will open the details. Or go to 'Your Reservations'  and find it.

What I do not understand however is your comment that you have received payment for the reservation - AirBnB do not start to process your payment until about 24 hours after your guest has checked in.