Two bookings for the same day

[Simon23]

Hello All..

I am having a confusing evening..  which has now been sorted out.. but I thought I would share.  We don't have instant booking turned on for our listing at the moment.

I had a booking that I pre-approved tonight.

Before the person who I pre-approved had completed the booking a second person requested the same night.

I then had a message from the first person saying that they could not complete the booking on AirBnB and offered cash as the AirBnB site would not take payment.

I looked at the AirBnB app on my phone and it showed the first booking as Cancled on the web site it showed Not Possiable.

I messaged the first person back and asked for them to confirm that they wanted the room and said that payment needed to go through AirBnB.  They messaged me back and confirmed that they still wanted the room and they would pay through AirBnB

So.. i thought.. I could just click on Pre-Approve again and it would work.. but alas.. it told me the dates were already taken.

I had to decline the second booking request that came in after I had Pre-Approved the first booking to allow the person who I had Pre-Approved to complete their booking.

All is well with the world now.. the first booking has gone through AirBnB including the payment.

It seems like there is something not quite right with the logic of the booking system works for this set of circumstances.

Both of the bookings are for people catching the same flight out of our local airport, I wonder if they have been allocated the same seats on the flight (-;

Simon

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

It's working just as it's supposed to. You can pre-approve as many inquiries as you want, even if they overlap. The first guest to actually book the place "wins" for those dates. First come-first served...which is fair. If a guest really wants the dates, they will book, instead of making inquiries or otherwise stringing the process out. This is why I don't really pre-approve much any more. If a guest is serious, they will just make the booking. If they're not serious, then pre-approval doesn't really do much other than to confuse the process.

[Linda0]

@Ed and Hugh -
Since you don't pre-approve, do you send a special offer or just reply and archive the inquiry?

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Linda0 We respond right away to all inquiries. If we don't hear back after about 2 days, we just archive the message. If they were detailed in their inquiry, and it looks like a serious inquiry, I might do a pre-approval. If it looks like a generic request that they sent out to 10 hosts, we wait to see if they stay in touch.

[Linda0]

@Ed and Hugh -
Ah, that's what I do also, but I find when I usually get inquiries from people, it seems they really just fishing. Then a day later I get a solid request from someone else but will have the very same agenda. Strange.

[Clare0]

@Simon23 I'm a little dizzy with all the in's and out's of your story, but I kinda sorta understand what happened.  I had the same situation when I was new and got myself all tangled up. 

Here's the deal.  Guest inquiries are not a commitment to book.  Airbnb counsels guests to make inquiries of multiple hosts for the same dates and then chose the listing or offer they like the best.  Pre-approvals are just another way a host can say "Hey, I would like to have your reservation and if you want it, its yours".  The guest has 24 hours to take you up on it (although I've heard that Pre-Approvals are good for longer than that).  Until the guest takes you up on the Pre-Approval, there is no commitment on either side.  Hosts can pre-approve as many guests for the same dates they want.  First one to accept gets the booking. 

Now, Reservation Requests are a whole different animal.  That's the guest that is ready, willing and able to make a reservation right now.  Assuming both guests were acceptable to you (guest profile, length of stay, etc) , I would have taken the reservation request over the inquiry.  No waiting, no wondering just a done deal. 

The guest who made the inquiry and who was trying to figure out how to pay would lose the reservation.  Just because you sent a Pre-Approval doesn't mean that you've made a commitment to them. Someone could come in and actually make a reservation while the inquirer figures out what he wants to do. 

Hope this makes sense to you!  It's a good thing you have people interested in your listing!!

[Donna15]

@clare This is useful information.  A few weeks ago, a person in Australia sent an enquiry, which I pre-approved. She and her husband were keen to have the room. (I learned later that she hadn't received my pre-approval & welcome message via AirBnB, as they had stopped SMS notification. She had simply assumed I hadn't responded to her enquiry.) The following day, 17 hours later, someone instant booked the same dates, so of course I had to go ahead with that booking. 

My understanding, though - and I'm sure I read it somewhere on the site - was that AirBnB kept dates blocked for a 24-hour period to give enquirers time to to determine travel plans and book the room. It didn't happen in this case.

Or did I misunderstand things regarding the 24-hour period?

[Clare0]

@Donna15 Well, as with all things Airbnb, there are snafus and software glitches, eg. the SMS hiccups, but the way Pre-Approvals are supposed to work is that the guest who receives one has 24 hours to accept or let it expire (which many do if they are shopping around). Your calendar is not blocked when you issue a Pre-Approval so that other guests can reserve.  Here's Airbnb's policy on Pre-Approvals: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/838/what-is-a-pre-approval

Hopefully I've been able to clear things up.  Many hosts don't really understand the difference between an inquiry and a reservation request and that can cause enormous confusion for hosts and guests.  

Good Luck!

[Geoff1]

:"Hopefully I've been able to clear things up.  Many hosts don't really understand the difference between an inquiry and a reservation request and that can cause enormous confusion for hosts and guests."

No Clare, that is a generalisaton which initially may be apparent with a new host. You are being far to generous to AirBnB which is a very efficent operation but is begining to falter in its service. The continuous development and updating of the web site is imperative. If this is not done the site will become unwieldy and insensitive to the personal ease of use for hosts. Which is the key to success. I made the move to AirBnB soon after it became available after the original hosting site platform used nationally here became a labour intensive waste of time and continuously raising the charges for deteriorating service.  Through AirBnB my business has double each year, into my 3rd year with them now. 

[Geoff1]

"Canceled on the web site it showed Not Possible." Had exactly the same problem with guests myself this week. They wanted to stay but because another person made an enquiry after they did it showed as unavailable. The fact is that we are the customer, the AirBnB system has to suit our situation and not move into using us as the transient point to the consumer who wants the accomodation. Without us AirBnB makes no money and it has knocked some established "Accomodation Site" here out ofthe marketplace because it was based upon the hosts service and not just using hosts to make the mmoney. I will not use instant book because I have three rooms which I have to have individual listings for all of them as some want accomodation for two people, four people or six people. The AirBnB site requires this specifically as only if an entire house is available can the one listing be suitable.

AirBnB is based upon a personalised hosting service and is now being utilised by other accomodation venues who simply see it as another booking avenue. It is the core of the original business that is becoming overlooked at present and that is the bgining ofthe end for what established Airbnb as the excellent accomodation option that became a market presence. 

[Jan169]

Hi guys, 

I am in the opposite situation. I need to book two rooms in two different states during the same time period. We have two business trips, one in London, one in Amsterdam. I have booked my stay in London but I am not able to book the one in Amsterdam. The help center system here is terrible. So you, guys, are my only chance for an advice! Do you know how to solve this situation? Many thanks.

[Mary636]

Using instant booking we are encountering guests booked to arrive within an hour of those leaving and vice versa. Hate to turn off instant book, but is increasingly not manageable.