Double Booking Error

[Ariana2]

Hi all,

Hopefully you can help me?  I am new and now have a situation of double booking and can't withdraw a pre-approval for a guest.  Yesterday, I pre-approved one person and clicked to block those dates in the system.  Today, another inquiry came through for similar dates and without realising I hit approve and now can't reverse the action!!

What do I do?  The user experience on Air bnb so far for the host has not been intuitive at all...

Appreciate any help the more experienced hosts out there could provide ;))

[Scott80]

There is nothing to do. The first person to accept and pay gets it. I have conflicting preapprovals often. I think many guest send several requests and book the one that approves and works best for them. If both people want the room there is nothing to do, but it will perhaps be a lesson to the second one to act fast, won't last 🙂

When one of the booking accepts your preapproval, the other status will change from preapproved to not possible.

[Ariana2]

Thanks for your kind reply...this is my first time and I didn't realise that it would allow another booking after the dates blocked!  

[Robin4]

@Ariana2....Yes Ariana, a guest booking overides a pre-approval! When you grant a pre-approval the system tells you that your calendar has NOT been blocked and you are free to accept reservations for those dates from other sources. It's a case of 'First in, first served' simply as that.

Cheers....Rob

[Alison84]

I have a similar situation in that I am managing 2 listings - one for the whole house and one for just the room.

The whole house had a solid booking and the room was in 'pre-approval' mode.

The whole house booking extended their reservation and the guest for the room suddenly converted to 'not available' while they were in pre-approval mode.

They are claiming that the email they got from AirBNB says they have guaranteed booking until 12noon. I can't see the email, but that contradicts your note here...

Any further insight?

Managing multiple listings might be the wild card here - but from what I gather here, that extended reservation could have come as an inquiry/pre-approval on the room, too... So that would still enact the 'first come first served' process.

Just wondering how my guest inquiry has a 'pre-approval' message from AirBNB that 'guarantees' her booking until a particular time?

THANKS!

~A

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@Scott80 brings up a good point. You may get several requests for the same dates. If you feel the guest is a good match then approve them to stay. All this does is gives the potential guest permission to book. Unless the guest is someone you particularly want, like a relative, then it is best NOT to block the dates as the person you have approved may not even reserve with you and you will end up losing bookings.

A good rule of thumb is to approve everyone who is a good match and let the first person to put money down win.

[Karyo0]

It is not for you to block the dates!  As you get requests pre approve any that you are happy with, it does not matter if you pre approve more than one for the same dates. When someone confirms their booking the dates will automatically block anyone else from booking . However, If YOU blockthe dates then no one will be able to book!

[Rong2]

Hi I am new to Airbnb hosting. I have blocked out my house for certain dates so its not available for booking but somehow one guest still managed to book it! Not sure why? Now the guest is not able to get her full refund so I would like to her help out if possible. Does anyone have similar experience? or is there a way we can contact Airbnb to clarify this situation? Appreciate if anyone could help!

[Scott80]

@Rong2: If you blocked it and someone still booked, you'd need to call AirBnB, explain the bug and have them investigate and take action. Do not cancel the booking on your own, as you will incur penilties.

[Janine45]

HOW do you call Airbnb? I have had no luck finding a way to reach customer support.  My recent problem is that someone reserved a weekend in May through Airbnb (it shows that it is booked on my calendar, as well as the guest's name) and another booking request came through for the same dates by someone else. I had to tell her no, those dates are already booked. I only have one room to rent. If it is Airbnb's mistake, I want them to correct it. Confused about how this could happen, and haven't found a way to get answers. If you have a way of contacting them I'd sure appreciate knowing. Thanks much!

[Janine45]

Aha--found it via google. Shoulda looked before. NM

[Janine45]

Wrong! It was another dead end. What shall I do? The only time I've had any luck was writing something on the facebook page, about six months ago.

[Robin4]

@Janine45

You are a Superhost with over 120 reviews....I am amazed that you don't have a contact regime in place for these sort of issues.

As a Superhost you would have been given a 'hotline' phone number which will take you to a helpdesk in a few minutes at the most. Also the staff who populate the Superhost help section are better able to give advice than the basic call centre staff.

It appears from you post that you are either not aware of that number or misplaced it.

If that is the case you may have to go through the convoluted ways of getting it again. The general contact numbers for the United States are +1-415-800-5959 (local San Francisco number)

 or +1-855-424-7262 / 1-855-4-AIRBNB (toll-free)

Another way, as you have stated, is via Airbnb's Facebook page but a question there becomes public.

Third option is by Twitter! As a superhost it would be worth you having a twitter account purely for contact with ABB because this appears to be the fastest and most positive way of solving a problem. contact this way....

Step 1: Log into Twitter

Step 2: Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them

Step 3: Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response.  They may ask for information such as your listing but always provide it over DM so it is not public. ...... Thanks to Dave & Deb for that information!

Janine, it pays to put a question of things you may be in doubt about into the 'search the community' box at the head of this page! You can learn many useful tips by doing this.

Cheers.....Rob