dates blocked but reservation incomplete

[Denice10]

In the past couple of weeks, on two occasions, a new to AirBnb guest has requested to book, but had not uploaded the required verifications. While waiting for them to complete this upload of documents etc. my dates remain blocked. From my end, I do not have the option to preapprove or decline. And I have found that the persons who have blocked my dates are not responding to requests to either upload the documents or cancel the request. I have hosted hundreds of guests and this has only happened in the last couple of weeks, but happened twice.

It seems inappropriate that someone can block my dates before they have uploaded required documents.Seems like they should be blocked until all requirements are met.  I have called customer support both times and while nice and apologetic, they also could not interact with the reservation. They said it was a glitch. Seems like the programmers need to be alerted to this glitch. How do we reach past the customer service folks to reach the programmers or designers? Has anyone else had a similar situation? Thanks. 

[Sarah977]

@Denice10  First of all, you are confusing terms and booking options.

If you are not given the option to accept or decline, that means you have the Instant Book option turned on, so guests don't need your approval to book, it's automatic. So it's an IB, not a Request.

Pre-approve and decline are the options on Inquiries, not booking requests.

Accept and decline are the options on Booking Requests.

And yes, a guest has 24 hours to complete payments, upload required verifications, etc. during which time those dates will be blocked. Not an ideal situation for hosts, indeed, but that's how it works, it's not a glitch.

[Denice10]

Thanks, Sarah. You are right. I do have IB on. And I understand that IB means that if they have met my requirements, then they can book without my approval. And that has happened hundreds of times. Happy that it exists. I also understand inquiries and with an inquiry, I can preapprove or decline and on the next screen, I have the option of blocking the dates or leaving them open. I usually leave them open as the inquiring person has not committed and might not.

If someone is trying to Instant Book, but has not met my requirements, it seems to me that I should have the option of leaving those dates available or holding them for the person. An inquiry and an incomplete profile/account, should fall in the same category as far as whether they get to have the days held for them. And the dates were blocked for more than 24 hours for at least one of the folks I am referred to.

It is less than ideal indeed and especially if someone is requesting a one day stay in the middle of several open days, the impact can be significant on the likelihood of getting booked. And that impacts both my income and AirBnb's. I'd like to know why it has to be that way....thanks!

[Lawrene0]

Same here, @Denice10 . Yes, as @Sarah977 says, it is supposed to be something like 24 hours, but a weekend on my calendar has now been blocked for 12 days (days, not hours) by a guest who is "awaiting verification". It is getting a bit much. 

I think there must be a glitch in the system right now. If this is a new rollout, I am not a fan.

[Sarah977]

@Denice10  Well, of course it doesn't  have  to be that way, but Airbnb loves to pander to the guests. But I thought that if a guest didn't have the required verifications to book, they had to send a Booking Request, so maybe you're correct and it is a glitch. Unless it's not the ID verification that's in a pending state, but their payment method. I don't know if there's a way for hosts to know exactly what is awaiting verification.

Honestly, I don't think new-to-the-platform guests should have the option to IB at all. Too many of them are unclear about what booking n Airbnb means in terms of expectations, many don't thoroughly read the listing description, house rules or cancllation policy, and they should have to message with the host first. At the very least, there should be a "verification period" between the time they join and the time they are allowed to try to book something. Making the hosts wait instead of the guests is ass-backwards.

@Lawrene0  12 days?!?!  That's outrageous.

[Denice10]

So I'm hoping that the tech people read these messages on the community chats to find areas for improvement. In any case, thanks for your input and ideas.

[Lawrene0]

@Sarah977 , I know! The guest and I have been messaging back and forth through the system. She promises to phone Airbnb, doesn't phone Airbnb, apologizes for not phoning, promises to phone...

I have stomped my foot* tonight and she claims to be phoning right now. But I have no leverage. My calendar stays blocked whether she does anything or not. I cannot write with a polite version of "snooze ya lose". 

Argh.

Thanks for listening, Sarah.

@Denice10 , I will update later in case it is helpful. 

*stomped my foot means I wrote, "What did Airbnb say when you called them today?" 

[Sarah977]

@Lawrene0  At this point I'd tell her that if she doesn't get this straightened out immediately or withdraw her booking, you won't accept her booking even when it does go through. (She likely doesn't realize what cancelling on her would result in for you)

[Lawrene0]

My guest finally called Airbnb today, @Denice10 . CS told her that since she had booked before verification, the "awaiting verification" would stay up, blocking the reservation (and my calendar! for 14 days and counting!) no matter what she did. (She HAD uploaded her ID. The delay was not her fault.) They advised her to cancel the previous booking and then rebook. I hope they refunded her service fee, but I didn't ask.

Anyway, now I know that an unverified guest hitting IB on a listing that requires verification will block that host's calendar forever. Literally forever. I will advise future such guests to cancel in the 48-hr grace period, get themselves sorted, then book again. 

Hoping this gets fixed, because that's no fun. 

Thanks for the advice, @Sarah977 . I didn't feel I had enough leverage to do any threatening on this one - I couldn't unaccept, unblock, cancel or anything at all. Telling her I could would backfire if she continued to do nothing and my threats were shown to be empty. 

Anyway, all is well with this guest. She didn't get the greatest introduction to Airbnb, poor thing. She booked, because a button said BOOK! She verified when the system asked her to. Then she had me telling her there was a problem and she needed to call Airbnb. She didn't want to, but finally she did. Then she had to cancel and rebook. 

[Linda108]

Just wondering, @Denice10 , does  your IB requirement include ID and positive review?  If not, that might be a good idea to keep newbies from blocking your calendar.  

[Suzanne718]

I don't have instant booking on and this has happened 2 times.