Reservation automatically accepted

[Roberta161]

Hello there someone just booked my property and its showing that it has been accepted.i want to decline it will it be subject to a fee? I am new to air bnb. How does it work? For future instances is there a possibility that enables me to accept or decline within 24hrd? I am afraid i have something wrong in settings

[Marit-Anne0]

@Roberta161

You have Instant Book activated - anyone can book without your approval.  Declining is not an option - you would have to cancel and face the penalties of host cancellation - for a new host that is close to commercial suicide before you have even started.

I suggest you snooze your listing while you take a bit of time to learn how airbnb works.  

You could explain the matter to your guest and ask the guest to cancel their reservation.  

[Suzanne141]

1. I am new to this too, but I believe there is a setting where you can accept or REJECT "instant bookings."  I learned this from a recent guest, savy at Airbmb. He told me that I did NOT have the instant booking setting.  I was glad to hear this.  I want to be able to approve or disapprove a potential guest.  Im not sure HOW I did it though....  Good Luck!  I have just had 2 guests so far, but I love the $ being dropped into my paypal account, the day after (or the very day?)  my guest arrives.  Don't give up--find that instant booking setting and uncheck it!

[Roberta161]

Thank you..

i changed it to no one.....

lets hope the guests understand

[Marit-Anne0]

@Roberta161

The guests will not understand - they will want the best possible value for their money and disabling instant book you will be pushed way down in the search results.  

[Roberta161]

How do i snooze listing?

[Marit-Anne0]

@Roberta161

Go to the "discuss" tab above and find the community help guides. 

Or use the help section and type "snooze"  like so https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/476/how-do-i-snooze-or-deactivate-my-listing

[Roberta161]

Thank you 🙂

[Suzanne141]

It probably depends on how much business you want.... or don't want, and your location.  For me, at least for now, I won't use instant booking. I don't really want guests here 24/7.  Although I see your point--

[Suzanne141]

Dang, I DO have instant booking!  I must fix this. 

[Roberta161]

I do too.. i

managed to change it though.

[Emily140]

Hi Ladies,

I have been learning these ropes myself.  I began very apprehensive about AirBnb and just tried 2-3 stays initially.  Because of some big changes in my life and my property, and because I was very fortunate that my first few guests were WONDERFUL, I am now seeking to take more reservations/guests.  In my opinion, the Instant Book feature is extremely popular with guests.  These days, tech-savvy shoppers want it all instantly--don't we all?  

So, I find that turning the SNOOZE on/off to freeze the calendar is very helpful when you are feeling overwhelmed or when you want to try to plan work on your property during a period of time.  You don't have to go in and individually block and unblock dates, you don't have to go through the several screens to turn off instant book.  You leave all your settings intact, and just take it offline, knowing you'll miss those searching during that time. 

The ONLY negative of snoozing, as far as I can tell, is that folks who held onto the link may think your place no longer exists if they click on it during a snooze state.... I learned this the hard way; one existing reservation messaged me saying his girlfriend couldn't show off the cool place to her family and friends because the link wasn't working.  I explained and apologized and all was well. So keep in contact with upcoming guests if you've snoozed the listing so they don't panic.