Not fair

[Maureen10]

Hi, I noted on my page that I will only accept guest within 3 weeks. I blocked out my calendar for 3 months.  A person booked in July (4 months in advance!) and so I immediately told him this is not possible and cancelled.  I was then charged $68.I think this is unfair and so I have to wonder if I should continue as a host? I have no place to get in touch with any customer service at airbnb?

[Momi0]

@Maureen10

IF you only want a guest to book within 3 weeks of each day, then you have to block the ENTIRE year after the initial 3 weeks to avoid getting bookings from someone in July.  Its something you have to work on as the only settings on your profile allow for someone to book WITHIN 3 months, 6 months or 12 months.  So you are going to have to manually go to your calendar and make sure that only the next 3 weeks are open and avialable. Its worth a try to call Airbnb but its really every hosts responsibility to stay on top of their calendar.

And might I also suggest that instead of just cancelling on someone, maybe you could've help them find another place to book and then have them cancel the booking from their end to prevent you from incurring the cancellation penalty.  I would never cancel on someone without first finding them a place to stay especially if I have to cancel due to my personal schedule.  I had to do this twice, and both times I found an alternate place for my guests to stay at same price too and even contacted the host myself to explain why I needed their help.  It was a win win for all those involved and the Airbnb guests appreciated being well taken care of.  Hope this helped you.

[Maureen10]

Jeet, I want a return on my money. I told the guy immediately and also he isn't travelling for 4 months.

This is unacceptable to me and clearly Not Fair.

[Clare0]

@Maureen10 Can't say if Airbnb will waive your cancellation policies or not, but you need to get on your calendar right away to avoid guests requesting reservations beyond your 3 week maximum availability.  I looked at your calendar and as it stands right now, I could ask for a reservation in December!

Here's what you need to do: 

Go to Manage Listing > Calendar.  To the right of the calendar in the upper right you will see Availability Settings.  You can choose "I want guests to arrive within ..." You have a choice between 3, 6 and 12 months.  Select 3 months and then manually block dates backwards to your 3 week limit.  You'll have to manually open up dates on your calendar as time goes by. 

As an example, I only want guests to arrive within 4 months which isn't one of the options.  So I selected 6 months and then blocked the two previous months.  I have to monitor my calendar to open dates within 4 months. 

Do this right away and if you have Instant Book (I didn't check) turn it off until you get your calendar sorted out. 

Does this help?  If not, get back to me!

[Maureen10]

Hi Clare, thank you this was very helpful and so I have blocked it all off now. Unfortunately though, I see that the guy I cancelled in July and had to pay $68 for is still on my calendar for 1 day in July?

I'm not pleased that airbnb doens't have a cutomer service. I noticed though that if I unlist they call. 

[Clare0]

@Maureen10 Here's a helpful link for contacting Airbnb.  Many hosts have set up twitter accounts so they can communicate with @Airbnbhelp.  That seems to be the fastest way to contact them.  Usually I get an answer within 20 minutes.  Note that DM means Direct Message which is a way to communicate privately and you are not limited in text.  Regular tweets are open for the public to see. (I monitor tweets all the time.)

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165/highligh...