A guest booked for 5 nights then amended his booking to 6 nights and has not yet paid difference.

[Kylie39]

I recently added a Townhouse property to Air bnb, my 1st booking came through for 5 nights, the guy paid for his trip then half hour later I get email that he wants to amend booking and add 1 extra night, I agree to this change. Then I get email shortly after saying they attempted to charge the guest and it was unsuccsessful and they have alerted the guest. The trip is coming up at end of May.

This is the email - 

The attempt to charge your guest, Tony, for the amount due for reservation xxxxxx from May 29, 2018 - June 04, 2018 was unsuccessful. The reservation is still active at this time, and we've sent Tony an email alert with a direct way to pay the balance.

If your guest successfully submits payment, we'll send you a confirmation email right away. If you have questions about the payment problem, you can reach out to your guest.

If your guest doesn't successfully submit payment or if they cancel the reservation before making the payment, Airbnb isn't liable for issuing your host payout. If you prefer to cancel the reservation, you can cancel this booking at any time before the trip begins. If the reservation has started and you'd like to cancel, please send us a note.

I have sent him a message asking to follow up on the payment with no response. I then started a conversation with Air bnb and they said they will get back to me by Wednesday with an answer.

I am worried, he is new to Air bnb only opening his account and there is no reviews and no picture. I am feeling like this guy may know there is some sort of flaw and if he doesnt pay the difference, can he get away with checking in and not paying the difference?

Do I have to cancel the booking altogether? 

Does anyone know is this is a flaw with Air bnb??

I had the same thing happen with a room I rent out on Air bnb but in this case the lady extended by 3 days then there was insufficent funds on her card, I got the same email. She quickly added funds to her card then shortly I got an email saying payment has been received for the extra days, I have not received an email for this Tony guy yet saying payment has been received. 

Any help or info you know would be great

[Mike340]

@Kylie39

This kind of problem does happen, I am afraid. The guest deletes their credit card  details from their account, once the main reservation is paid,so that the extra funds cannot be charged.

If he has not paid for the extra night, then I am afraid the ball is in your court to decide what you want to do.

It sounds like he is trying to get a discount, 6 nights for 5, and it may well be for you to decide whether you accept that or you do not. Iy you do, then you can add that to your review, after the stay.

You can ask AirBnb to cancel the reservation (dont do it yourself) but then you may get nothing .. or..you can seek to tell the guy to leave after 5 days that he has paid  or..you let him have his discount ... cheeky ..but..it happens....depends how long you want to give him to pay. Send him a date/time deadline.

You could advise him that the property is now booked on the 6th day as he has not paid, and he will now have to leave...that is up to you

The next move is very much up to you.  He might be new but has his ID been verified? That also depends on how you have set up your account settings. 

[Kylie39]

Thanks for your reply Mike.

He has 4 verificataions and one of my requests is the gov I.D which he has given.

When making the booking he said his kids live in the area as he lives interstate and he expects to travel to visit them monthly. Perhaps I am being too paranoid? I finally got a message back from him today saying "Hi Kylie, sorry for the delay, I have send another credit card"

So I will wait a few more days to see what Air bnb's response is. I certainly do not want to cancel it from my end, if I do not want to proceed, I will let Air bnb do it.

[Robin4]

@Kylie39

Hello Kylie  I understand from your post a guest has requested to extend his stay for a trip at the end of May! Payment for the 5 night reservation has been processed by Airbnb and you have approved the extra night but ABB cannot get access to the funds for the additional night!

At this stage I would not panic Kylie because Airbnb will keep on his back for the additional night payment.

It would seem totally odd to me that a guest would pay for a 5 night stay and then seek to compromise that stay by trying to dodge payment for an extra night....that just does not make sense on any level.

The guests, as you say, is new to Airbnb, he is no doubt travelling and has not had the opportunity to return your messages. He may be in the process of setting up another payment method to streemline his future transactions. Kylie I would not be looking for the worst here, the guy has paid for a 5 night stay so he is serious!

At this stage I would message the guest through the Airbnb message stream you have with this guest and simply say...."your confirmed stay with me is for 5 nights from 29th May and although you wish to extend this stay which I have accepted I cannot honour an extension until payment has been accepted by Airbnb. Until the additional payment is received please do not make any plans that may involve this hosting beyond 2nd June (5 nights) My booking calendar at this time remains open for bookings for and from the 3rd June. Can you please attend to this as soon as possible because without authorised payment I cannot guarantee I can accept your reservation extension"! 

If you do not get a response to that through your ABB messages send that same message as an sms with the guests's phone contact number you will have with him which you will find on the lower left side of the messsage confirmation.

If you do not get a response in the next few days to that you can then contact Airbnb and request that they cancel this guest as a neutral cancellation. If you cancel the reservation yourself you will be penalised so make sure you involve CS to perform the cancellation.

I hope this helps you Kylie.

Cheers.....Rob

[Kylie39]

Thanks for your reply and info Rob. I like your way with words, it sounds very professional and I will probabaly copy and paste it if he still does not pay. I did heard from him today but is was basic saying " Hi Kylie, sorry for the delay. I have send another credit card".

So I will wait a few more days to see if he pays the balance, if still nothing, then I will contact him again.