getting back cancellation penalties from instant book hosting

[Gretchen17]

I've had three out of three very successful hosting experiences so far.  My last visitor messaged with me a bit after their visit and we agreed she was going to come two more times.  I put those weekends on the calendar and thought I had it set up that I would have to pre-approve her before the reservation was complete.  I thought in doing this that I could in essence save it for her until she had time to get online and book it. Unfortunately, being new to this, I didn't realize that I hadn't actually turned off the instant book feature, and someone else swooped in and grabbed it. I messaged with the new family within ONE MINUTE of them booking. I explained the situation and asked if they would be able to find another place so that I could honor my offer to take care of the first family.  Within 20 minutes the new family had indeed found another place, and they requested that I cancel the reservation.  I asked them if they would cancel instead, but they sent me a formal automated request to cancel the reservation. Now, I can't honor my intention to help the first family either. The whole reason I went through this whole process was to help out the first family.  I told the second family I would honor their reservation and be glad to welcome them if they couldn't find anything else. But they did, and now the first family is unfairly being penalized because of AirBnB's overly strict policy. This was hardly a case of me leaving the second family in the lurch and making a stressful travel experience for them. They knew within one minute of booking that we had a complication and within 30 minutes it was entirely resolved for them.  Is there no way at all to still help out the other family?  It seems like this is penalizing them and me without actually solving or preventing anything. I'm a very responsible person and I just want to honor my word and I can't. Any suggestions?  I'm tempted to just contact them outside of Airbnb and offer to let them stay here since we've had one successful experience, but that doesn't seem responsible.  

[Tim-and-Holly0]

My best advice would be to call AB&B and talk to them about it. I had a similar experience and AB&B was very helpful and kind.

[Gretchen17]

I have looked everywhere for a phone number and can't find one.  I googled how to contact them and found how to email, but they make you fill out a form that confirms you have cancelation because of serious illness, death, acts of God, etc.  I obviously don't have that documentation.  I wish I could just talk to someone.

[David126]

You cancelled, the system blocks the dates, nothing personal. If you want to plead your case you need to talk to them.

[Gretchen17]

Again, I would love to do exactly that, but I can't find any way to talk to an actual human being.  There is no phone number anywhere.

[Kelly87]

1-415-800-5959

If you google "Airbnb phone number USA" this is the first thing that comes up. 🙂

[Denise115]

Helpful and kind? The company turned on Instant Book without my consent! I just had to cancel a reservation that appeared out of the blue.  I would never agree to this, and now I am told that my listing may be lower in the search results since I have refused it. 

[David126]

Instant Booking is a plus for search results, cancellations a minus.

If there was some issue with the system you need to contact them rather than cancelling yourself. Never cancel, nasty things happen.

[Mariama0]

The same thing happened to me!  I never enabled Instant Book but it got enabled during a session where I added check out and house rules.  My guess is there is a website bug that allows it to be a default.  I am very concerned because if it happens again, I get a financial penalty.  I sent an email to Airbnb about this... Hope to get a response from them on this issue.

[Leah16]

Try to cal this number-855-424-7262-customer service