Issue with Airbnb

Andrew-and-Yvonne0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Issue with Airbnb

I had a request from a guest to accept a booking for tomorrow,  I have Instant booking so was a little confused why they need me to accept. I go ahead and accept the reservation. Then I check my inbox and they are asking to check in early which I cannot do as I already have a guest. So reply to the guest stating the same. No response. 

 

In the reservation it states there is a problem with payment from the guest. So I think fine and I ask Airbnb to release the booking so someone else can book. till the guest decides what they want to do. Airbnb state to me I have to wait 24 hours before for the guest decides to pay or not.

 

Then It will almost be in the next day as it will be after midnite before they can release the booking.  Clearly the guest does not want the apartment as it doesn’t meet the requirements that they asked for.

 

Odd. 

 

I guess it will have to be spring cleaning day so some good will come out of it.

 

Andrew

 

 

9 Replies 9
Andrew-and-Yvonne0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

I guess the moral of the story is never click accept reservation request. Which I have never done previously in nearly 2 years. Lesson learnt.

 

In my inbox It states for the guest “awaiting Payment” This reservation is almost confirmed.

 

Airbnb are telling me that I will have to pay cancellation fees If I cancel the booking even though it is obvious the guest will not pay for the reservation.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0  I'm sorry this reservation request is so problematic. But "I guess the moral of the story is never click accept reservation request." ??? Uh, no. I have never used IB, I get only reservation requests. If I didn't accept them, I'd never have a booking. I communicate with guests before I click on accept if I have any doubts. In three years, I've never had a bad guest or one whose payment didn't go through.

Andrew-and-Yvonne0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Hi Sarah,

 

Thanks for your reply. Strange thing is I have never had this kind of issue with IB. I guess it’s Sod’s law,  I have considered approving people in the past as Airbnb asks you to send a pre approval and you have the option of blocking the date or leaving the dates open for other potential guests.  I never pre approve and block dates, Because it was for the next day I made the error of excepting the reservation. which my understanding was it was a firm reservation. I guess different hosts operate differently.

 

I never block dates for potential guests for obvious reasons as I have 90%+ occupancy, so no need. I guess I have been lucky as I have had no issues. Though we have very good security at our  place so no parties, unauthorised guest issues ect, It is a residential building.

 

The guest had zero reviews so strange Airbnb did not want to cancel the reservation as clearly it did not fit their needs. Also there was obviously an issue with the payment. Logic would say cancel the booking. 

As I said I will get the cleaner to do a spring clean :]

 

 

 

 

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0  You are mixing up inquiries and booking requests, maybe you are unclear on the difference because you normally get IBs. What you have the option of pre-approving or declining or blocking or not blocking dates for are Inquiries. But you also have the option to simply send a return message within the 24 hour window, you aren't required to either pre-approve or decline them. So there is no reason to decline them and drive down your acceptance rate. You will get pesky reminders to pre-approve, but you can safely ignore those and the Inquiry will expire in 24 hours. You can get rid of the reminders on your dashboard.

A booking request is a different kettle of fish- you are required to either accept or decline them within 24 hours, they do block your calendar and if you accept them, Airbnb will give the guest 24 hours to complete payment. So if you don't want to accept them, you need to message the guest in such a way to convince them that it's in their best interest to withdraw the request. If you are unsure, and want more info from the guest in order to make  decision, you can message with them all you want, as long as you either accept or decline before the 24 hours is up, or they withdraw the request.

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0 

We would not know your booking settings, but getting a request when you have IB on will most likely have to do with those settings. 

Maybe you have a setting that requires the guests to be verified ? If so, they will not be able to IB, but they can still send you a request to book.  So, such requests can be a bit of a red flag.  The payment not going through throws up a second red flag. You may not want those guests, but declining may affect your response rate.  

Another setting would be the time you need between guests.  If you have such a setting on, there is a box you can tick that allows guests to send last minute requests, but they may not IB .  This would not be so much of a red flag, but personally I am a bit wary with last minute bookings.

Andrew-and-Yvonne0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Marit,

 

I think you hit the nail on the head! It seems to make sense from what you say.

 

I do take last minute booking however I’m much more conscious to point out our rules which also our security gate are also aware of. We have cancelled a few bookings which were last minute for these reasons. I always authorise monies to be returned to these people as it’s not just about getting a booking.

 

“Another setting would be the time you need between guests.  If you have such a setting on, there is a box you can tick that allows guests to send last minute requests, but they may not IB”

 

Where would I edit such a setting? I had a quick look through and may have missed this setting. People with prior positive reviews would be welcome to book last minute but no reviews and limited ID ect is simply not worth the risk.

 

Thanks again 

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0 

It is under availability/reservation preferences/advance notice

Andrew-and-Yvonne0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Ok thanks everyone.

 

It makes sense, but disappointing.

 

Thanks for the enlightenment and I found this forum so that’s a good thing. 

All the best