Automatic Booking Confirmation

[Alexandra456]

Hey all,

Even as an instant book host, I usually have the opportunity to decline or approve a request (when it's still in the pre-approve stage). This time, however, the reservation was automatically approved without my consent. I was then forced to cancel my reservation, which means I was penalized for something entirely out of my control. 

The only reason why I decided to be an instant book host was because of this option. What's more, it seems that there have been changes established that prevent the Airbnb community to easily file a complaint. For example, there doesn't seem to be a link to the claim we should file for extenuating circumstances for host cancellations. 

I really would appreciate your help with this!

Alex

[Alexandra316]

@Alexandra456 Nice name 🙂

If you have instant book enabled and the guest meets your instant book criteria, they can complete their booking without your approval: that's how instant book works. If you want to be able to pre-approve each guest, you'll have to turn it off.

Here's a link that might help answer some of your questions about how it works:

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/484/how-can-i-control-which-reservations-i-get-with-instant-book?...

[Alexandra456]

Hey Alex 🙂

Thanks for the quick reply! The problem here, is that I've been an instant book host for about 6 months, and for each request, I've had the option to decline. The link you posted even leads to a statement that says that we have the option the decline 100% penalty-free if we feel uncomfortable with any request. Exceptionally in this case, it was confirmed when normally, I can decline without a penalty. 

[Alexandra316]

@Alexandra456 You mean cancel, not decline. You absolutely can cancel an instant booking if you're not comfortable, but you have to call Airbnb to get them to cancel it: you can't do it yourself.

[Wendy393]

Hi Alexandra,

I met the same case before. if I call airbnb customer service I can cancel this booking without penalty?

Thanks

[Sarah977]

If you have received "Requests" to book or "Inquiries", those require accepting, pre-approving, or declining. Those communications would have been from guests who did not use the Instant Book option, it seems to me.