Why am I being penalised?

[Danny210]

I'm new. I cancelled my first reservation because I accidentally listed my property (without blocking out dates) before I was ready and then took an automatic booking 76 days in advance. I cancelled the booking within minutes of it being taken and I am now being told that it will stay on my record, I can't re-sell the dates when I'm ready to do so and that I can't become a Superhost for a year...is this really correct and can I do anythng about it? 

At this stage I'm considering cancelling my account all together!

PS. I have just read bout 'Penalty-free Cancellations'. Do I nt have the right to cancel without penalty?

[Susan151]

@Danny210. You need to call AirBNB. Plead newbie, ignorance, throw yourself at their mercy and try to have that cancelation notice removed. If you had IB, there is a very good chance that they will work with you.

Good luck!

[Letti0]

@Danny210  Call AirBnB immediately and ask if they can remove the penalties. Say it was a new host accident and plead ignorance and grovel if you must. A lot of times they will reverse it for a new host tell them you did not realize you were supposed to call them to have the instant booking canceled penalty free by them. 

New Zealand +64 4 4880 888

[Danny210]

Thanks to everyone for your input...but special thanks to you Letti for providing the phone number for NZ!

I called them this morning and they could dsee that it was a genuine mistake.

All resolved now! 🙂

Thanks again all!

[Helen427]

All the best fellow Auckland based host.

You may like to have a scout around at other listings and ensure you include key points that may impact on your booking times etc as well with your very important job - I checked your profile hence I know what you do!

[Victoria567]

Hi@Danny

Good Advice so please follow up ASAP.

[John1574]

@Danny210

-

Sorry about the mistake, Danny.  Good luck undoing it.

To me this stresses the importance of doing one's homework before opening for business, making sure that all is in order before goin live online. 

This mistake Danny made illustrates what happens. You simply can't afford to make mistakes.

I would suggest all newbies read this forum extensievely as well as AirBnB FAQs and guidence to learn the ins and outs of the business and avoid mistakes.

You can research every subject you are likely to encounter running an AirBnB, like Instant Booking, Cancellations, etc. etc.

You have to run an AirBnB like any other business with good business practices & policies.

Reading voraciously now and strategizing your listing based on what you learn will payoff big time down the road.

Avoid mistakes at all costs for they are hard to undue.

[Gillian19]

@Danny210@John1574 The problem with the listing process is that it doesn't actually let you finish off everything (prices, availability) prior to having to put the listing live. Airbnb need to fix the creation of a listing so that it is easy for new hosts to get it right.

I only found this out when I added an additional listing recently and was horrified at the limited information provided on creating a listing and how much I couldn't do during the process. It is not surprising that so many newbies get caught out.

[Sarah977]

@Gillian19  Is this a new problem? When I first listed, a couple years ago, I was able to set everything before I went live.

[Gillian19]

@Sarah977 The process seems to have been streamlined - they walk you through the steps. But there was no way I could find to get to parts I knew I needed to get to until the listing was activated. Maybe there was and I couldn't find them - but not very good for new hosts who don't even know they need to look for the 'traps'!

[Letti0]

@Gillian19  I had this issue when I listed my first property. Cleaning fee, extra guests, instant booking and some other thing none of those could be changed until you went live. I got a booking instantly that had no cleaning fees set or extra guests fee's it came in about 5 minutes after published. One AirBnB listing information it states that it typically takes 6 hours for it to be viewed. It most certainly did not. I have my new listing ready to go live any day now, but I had none of these issues with it. I could adjust, change or doing anything, so they have made some changes.  

[Ned-And-Laura0]

If they won't remove it you can just delist the entire property and then relist.  Since you're new I assume you have no reviews or bookings so it should be pretty simple to do so.