A glitch with the AirBnB system, ongoing for about a week

[Rp1]

Hello fellow hosts - wondering who else this is affecting.

This morning my co-host notified me about an inquiry she thought we should accept.  I was surprised because usally I get a message on my AIrBnB messaging and in my email when we get a new inquiry, but none in this case.  I checked with AirBnB and they said this is a symptom of a known bug that they first noticed a week ago.  Another symptom I noticed (that AirBnB confirmed is related to this week-old bug) is that I can no longer see new bookings on my calendar.  Luckily, so far, my co-host's account seems to be seeing things properly.

Anyone else been affected by this?

And, do you find it curious that AirBnB has not been able to fix this after a week since it was first reported? 

This last question may be a stretch, but has AirBnB been hacked or something?

[Sandra856]

Hi @Rp1 🙂

I have seen several threads/posts in here from hosts with the same problem you describe in the last couple of weeks. You could try and search for it. It seems that there also is a bug with instant booking at the moment. Really annoying!

[Rp1]

Thank you! I definintely need to improve my search abilities on this forum.

[Rp1]

@Sandra856 Any chance you could link me to some of those threads? I'd like to read up on this some more if I can.

[Sandra856]

Yes, of course 🙂 What I did was to search in the community. I used the word "co-host" and then listed the result after dates as it is only the last couple of weeks I have noticed the problem with this specific issue. I don't know if those threads can help you but why not contact airbnb about it if you haven't already. I also think as this is airbnbs own community that they are very well aware of the problem. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?filter=location&q=co-host&location...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/H-E-L-P-co-host-technical-glitch-and-airbnb-still-haven-t-f...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Co-Hosts-getting-paid-from-AirBNB-instead-of-the-Host/m-p/8...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Strange-bug-not-able-to-see-your-guest-details-Includes-Fix...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/New-reservations-are-only-going-to-my-co-host/m-p/895827

There is many more. Just search the community 🙂

[Rp1]

@Sandra856 Thanks so much! Your suggestion to contact AirBnB directly is also spot on.  In fact, as it turns out, I was in lengthy discussions with them long before I ever posted this in the forum.  My conversations with AirBnB allowed me to take away these details:

Bug has been known for about a week.

No resolution has been found but efforts are being made.

They are sorry for the inconvenience.

I have asked them if there is a place where they and we can keep track of the progress in solving this issue, and they have not yet responded to that question.

In the mean time, as I said in another post, I've created a second account for myself, made that second acount a co-host and also made it the primary host, and set it up with a payout method.  That second account seems to have a functional AirBnB calendar and messaging, so I am hoping it will get the payouts too, as I don't want to end up like the other hosts who have not been getting their payouts.

[Emilia42]

This is crazy! So there are some hosts out there who aren't getting notifications and new bookings aren't visible on their calendars?! So a guest could book short notice and show up without the host having any knowledge of their reservation!? And this is OKAY with Airbnb and they will take their sweet time to fix it?! Boy, oh, boy.

[Patty131]

So it seems! My co host still gets the notifications, and her calendar view has changed to be what mine used to be. The reservation shows on my calendar now, but I can not see any details. And I have not been paid by Airbnb since the glitch started. They also are not responding to messages to CS regarding payments. Initially they said my co host would recieve the payouts, but that hasn't happened.

Time to move to another hosting service? I'm not loving Airbnb at the moment! Especially if they wont pay me. 

[Patty131]

I'm having the same issue. Was assured that payments would go to my co host instead of me, but co host has not received payment. Don't know what to do next.

[Rp1]

@San20, @Patty131, and @Emilia42 what I have done in the interim (since we don't know how long this bug will be in play) is create a second account for myself and invited the other account to co-host.  In the second account, the calendar and messaging and reservations all look correct.  For now.  *fingers crossed*

[Patty131]

@Rp1 Have you been paid for the stays since this glitch? I have not.

[Rp1]

@Patty131 There haven't been any check-ins since the glitch first affected my account, but on the same day the glitch affected my account, my co-host got a notice that she needed to set up a payout method (until now, I've always paid her directly), so I suspect the AirBnB system is aiming to try to pay her instead of me.  I've reached out to them on this particular aspect of the glitch, and no response.  I have a feeling their lawyers are very busy right now.

[Rp1]

@Patty131 Sure enough, my co-host is getting the notification that there is money waiting for her, and that she needs to set up a payout method.  If I can't get my AirBnB money, 2019 is going to be a difficult year.

[Sharona1]

My issue is different as I don't have a co-host but my pictures have been copied to make a fake listing and my recent guests were confused when they tried to leave a review.  I dont know what this listing could have acheived on their end but it said $283/night, pool, hot tub and owners from China - all wrong info. I don't know how long it was up, but I directly reported it then 4 hours later two friends reported it from the hacked ad and it is now removed.  Nothing heard from AirBnB tho. 

[Whitney68]

This is absolutely affecting me as a host, so I took it to social networks and was surprised more people are not talking about this. Glad I finally found this thread.

For the past week or so, guests have made new reservations and they are not showing up AT ALL. My cleaning staff noticed scheduled checkouts on their calendar (via a shared iCal link) but I had no knowledge the guest even checked in!

This has happened with three reservations now. This is an outrageous bug that needs to be resolved asap. Guests are booking and I have no idea that it's happening or how to interact with them (messages and reservation requests are not showing up, even though I'm the listing admin).

The news about how this is affecting payouts worries me. I'll have to double check everything now to make sure I have been paid appropriately. This is ridiculous.