Unverified Guests, Calendar blocked

[Otavio4]

A guest with verification information still pending requested to book my apartment. I have the instant booking feature on, with the conditions of only accepting guests with verified information, with positive reviews and with no kids. This guest has kids and doesn't have his information verified but, even so, my dates are blocked while Airbnb is verifying his personal details. He shouldn't even be able to block the dates in the first place! I wasn't even asked whether I agreed to have the dates blocked or not. I need these dates unblocked so other guests, under the criteria I set, would be able to book my place. How to do this?

Thanks

[Steve143]

Hello @Otavio4,

As you say, you have instant book turned on. The conditions you mention mean that only people with verified informnation, positive reviews etc. can book instantly. People who do not have these can still request to book and if you accept the request they have 24 hours to complete verification during which time the dates are blocked to allow them to complete the verification. There is no way to unblock the dates during this 24 hour period.

When someone requests to book you may decline the request. The dates will not then be blocked but declining too many may affect your search position etc. When you decline a request you can choose to keep the dates blocked. If you do this you can unblock them again in the usual way.

Can I decline booking enquiries or reservation requests?

Difference between a Reservation Inquiry and a Request

Steve.

[Sally671]

Hello Steve

I sent an invitation to a guest for the following morning. Then a unverified person waiting to be verified blocked my booking. I do not have instant book turned on and I was not able to decline or do anything. I called Airbnb and they said it was not an error and suggested I wait for the listing to be unblocked for my invited guest to be able to complete. This meant the guest would have to stay up in the middle of the night to ensure it was booked after it became available. I sent the unverified guest (who I do not take) a message but never got any reply at all. I have lost 3 bookings because of this and there is nothing I can do. I am so fed up with Airbnb who are never able to resolve any problem and tell me it will be 3 days before a manager can call me back. They are losing money over this mess too!

[Elsa64]

Hi @Otavio4

I just had a similar situation, someone send a Enquiry asking to book but they have a baby, and my flat details are very clear that i dont accept kids, or babies, so I decline the enquiry, not sure if this will affect my bookings 😞

I don't know why people don't read the details before booking.

Cheers

[Matthew285]

@Elsa64, declining guests does have some small effect on your search ranking. Here's what AirBnB has publicly said about declining inquiries:

"A single rejection will not significantly hurt your ranking, but over time, rejecting more guests than other hosts in your market will lower your ranking."

This is from this AirBnB blog entry about search ranking: https://blog.atairbnb.com/search/

[Elsa64]

thanks @Matthew285

[Francisca16]

I recently had a guest who asked for my address so that he could come and check out my place before making payment. I declined and flagged his message so that hopefully airbnb would know why I declined his request. I hope declining him wouldn't impact my search position.

[Matthew285]

@Francisca16 was it a Reservation Request, or was it just an Inquiry?

(For an Inquiry, the button says "Pre-Approve" instead of "Accept".)

In the future, if you receive an Inquiry, all you have to do is send back a message. You do NOT need to either "Pre-Approve" or "Decline" them. Sending back a message fulfills your obligations as a host if it is just an Inquiry.

There will be an annoying notification that you should respond to the Inquiry that will stick around for about a week, but you can ignore it.

[Sally671]

This did not work for me and it blocked my invited guest from completing his booking and two others as well. Airbnb assures me it's not a mistake. I cannot cancel either and I am just losing bookings for those I do not even take. 

[Francisca16]

 @Matthew285, thanks. It was an inquiry! I didn't know that. I thought you must 'Pre-Approve' or "Decline."

So by just responding, you have fulfilled the requirement?

[Matthew285]

@Francisca16, yes 100% definitely true. Just by responding you have fulfilled the requirement.

I myself was so worried that this was not true that I called AirBnB on the phone and asked a poor customer service rep if it were true. I think I phrased it 5 different ways to see if she would change her answer. Always was "yes, just sending back a message fulfills your obligation as a host"

BTW, I *always* just send a mesage, and my response rate is 100%.

I do find those notifications that hang around for week a bit annoying though.

[Francisca16]

@Matthew0, thanks. We learn everyday!

[Rebecca181]

If the booking goes through you have a right to message the guest and inquire about the ages of the children. If they are under 12, or even if they are over 12, and there is a genuine concern that you have about them being there, you can let the guests know and then you may have to bring Airbnb in to resolve it, particularly if they are under 12 and it is in your house rules it is not suitable for children under 12. If it were me, and I had a rental that had legitimate reasons for not wanting children there (safety issues being the main one) I would be calling Airbnb now to ask how to handle it when the booking goes through. I do make exceptions for children under 12 at times but I have the parents sign a waiver. I have separate property insurance in addition to the Airbnb host protection and these are just smart things to do when we are inviting strangers to rent our home.

[Rebecca2]

I have been having this happen frequently recently. I do not have instant book on, do not require any special verifications. I do not get an inquiry or request, in fact I get no information other than looking at my calendar and seeing blocked off dates with a name.  Calling airbnb (which is now on speed dial it happens so often) they just say that they are waiting for the guest to finish verifying their account and my calendar will be blocked for 12 hours. However it is often blocked for longer!  This is beyond frustrating.

[Elizabeth10]

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