Double booking despite calendar sync- no cancellation penalties?

[Richard188]

A guest has booked using Instant Book despite me getting a booking an hour earlier from another bookings site covering some of the same dates.  The calendars were set up to automatically synchronise.  The AirBnB booking was later so that is the one I need to cancel.  I have already advised the guest, who does not seem worried about me cancelling, but AirBnB will black list me and block all the dates, even if I choose the Extenuating Circumstances option.  I can apply to have the penalties cancelled, but in the meantime all the dates will be unavailable despite only a two day overlap of the bookings, I would lose my Super Host status etc.  I need to talk to AirBnB directly but of course there is no way to email or phone AirBnB that I know of, they force me to ask the community what to do!  If anyone does have any specific advice rather than referring me to general Help pages, I would appreciate the help.

[David126]

You can certainly call them, but not keeping your calendar up to date is not an extenuating circumstance:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1320/what-is-airbnb-s-extenuating-circumstances-policy

What is Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances Policy?

Airbnb empowers hosts to set and manage their cancellation policies. If a host or guest needs to cancel a reservation, it’s their responsibility to cancel as soon as possible. At times, certain circumstances outside of a host or guest’s control can impact their ability to meet the terms of a reservation.

In rare instances, if Airbnb determines that a Guest’s reason for cancellation falls within Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy, Airbnb may override the Host's cancellation policy (ex: flexible, moderate, strict) and make refund decisions. If Airbnb determines that a Host’s reason for cancellation falls within Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy, Airbnb may waive the host cancellation penalties outlined in Airbnb’s Terms of Service and Airbnb’s Payments Terms of Service.

What might be covered?

Valid extenuating circumstances include:

• Unexpected death or serious illness of a host, guest or immediate family member
• Serious injury that directly restricts a guest’s ability to travel or a host’s ability to host
• Significant natural disasters or severe weather incidents impacting the location of destination or location of departure
• Urgent travel restrictions or severe security advisories issued after the time of booking, by an appropriate national or international authority (such as a government office or department)
• Endemic disease declared by a credible national or international authority (such as the US Center for Disease Control or the World Health Organization)
• Severe property damage or unforeseen maintenance issues that directly impact the ability to host safely
• Government-mandated obligations issued after the time of booking (ex: jury duty)

If you need to make a claim

Claims can only be considered after a reservation has been canceled. Once you have informed your host or guest and canceled a reservation, if you feel that your reason for cancellation is covered by Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy, contact Airbnb for consideration. We generally require claims to be submitted no later than 14 days from the original check-in date and we may require valid supporting documentation.

[Richard188]

If the automatic synchronisation of calendars does not work, I am not sure how I am meant to keep four calendars on four different booking sites up to date manually.  In any case these bookings happened at 01:00 and 02:00 English time, when I was asleep, so even if I had time to manually check four calendars whilst working and living my life, the problem would still have happened.  AirBnB are desperate for everyone to be on Instant Book but the only way to prevent this from happening would be to switch it off (or stop using AirBnB altogether).  I already read the Extenuating Circumstances Policy before my original post, but if something is beyond my control and due to a feature of AirBnB not working, that is an extenuating circumstance.

[David126]

I think you misunderstand what syncing does and does not do, I sync my calendar as a back up but it would not stop overlapping booking on multiple sites. Seems to happen daily with me. None of them work instantaneously and in this case it was not AirBnB but the other system that did not update.

You can certainly use IB on AirBnB but if you have the equivalent elsehwere you will get double bookings. So only one of your systems can use IB.

If you get an IB on AirBnB take those dates out of the other systems, if you get a request elsewhere before accepting block those dates on AirBnB. I know it happens with Hotels, but does not matter so much to them as they have multiple rooms, most AirBnB hosts do not have that luxury.

[Richard188]

Across multiple sites with a lot of enquiries that don't become bookings, that is a large amount of administration.  If synchronisation does not even happen hourly, it is almost useless.  As AirBnB were the only site of the four that I could not contact in any way to talk about this, my instinct is that not using AirBnB any more would be a neat solution.

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

Unfortunately it is the task of the host to ensure their calendar is always updated.  I'm not sure how to synchronizing works, but I would always err on the side of caution and constantly double check everything is as it should be.  Not having your calendar updated does not fall under the  Extenuating Circumstances policy.  Depending on the penalties on the other site, it may be more beneficial to cancel there instead of Airbnb.

[Graciete1]

I had a booking that was done on the 30th of April, on the 25th of May Airbnb accepted an instant booking for the same dates. It is an issue with their calendar and us as hosts should complain. It is easy for them to say it isn't their issue but they have a responsability to ensure their platform works well, that is why we pay them fees. 

[Anke-And-James0]

Totally agree that airbnb should make their facilities suit the host. We are an important part of their business as without us they don't have a business! Synchronisation should be instant, just as online bank or credit card payment is. Should not be beyond clever IT guys to make this work. Other booking sites do this - we are on booking.com and HomeAway and there synchronisation happens every time there is a change.

Does anyone from airbnb monitor this traffic?