re-enabling blocked calendar dates due to cancelation

[Nanda0]

hello all,

i had a problem that couldnt enabling the blocked calender which on those period booking are cancelled by the guest.

I tried a few times to re enabling but it doesnt work. Does anyone know how to open the blocked period?

Thank you

Nanda

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Hi @Nanda0 If the dates are now blocked following a cancellation, it means that you cancelled the reservation, not your guest. If your guest had cancelled, the dates wouldn't be blocked. Did you get a request from Airbnb stating that your guest would like to cancel, and then did you agree/accept? If so, it counts as a host cancellation - the dates are blocked, you lose consideration for Super Host and there can be penalities ($50, $100). This same thing has caught many a new host off guard & I think it's one of the sneakiest, underhanded things Airbnb has started to date.

You could try to contact Airbnb & plead your case - they may unblock the dates for you. In future, if you get a message stating a guest would like to cancel, the correct response is "no, I'm fine to go ahead with the reservation" (not sure exactly what it says but similar wording) - then the guest has to cancel, not you. Best advice you can recieve here: NEVER CANCEL. Never.

Hope that helps! Karen

[Amanda616]

Oh serious! Just did this too. I agreed to cancel and now I get the penalty. When do I know what fees they may charge?

[Letti0]

@Amanda616  Call AirBnB NOW. Explain the GUESTS not you wanted the cancellation. Be polite and state your new, so ignorance of rules is on your side. Ask for this to be changed to the guest not you. Call them now:

AirBnB number:

United States and Canada

+1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

For future reference:

DO NOT CANCEL a reservation, DO NOT ACCEPT any message about cancelling, changing or refunding DECLINE it a loophole that comes back to bite you and gives guests back their service fees and/or voids your cancellation policy (changing dates) or the cancellation is now on you, not the guests. DO NOT REFUND anything until actual cash has been given to you by AirBNB. If you refund they will take the money from you and a lot of times guests get refunded from both AirBnB and you if you do this, then you have a fight to get your money back. Tell the guest you do not deal with the booking funds that is all on AirBnB's end. 

[Amanda616]

Do you know of any way to change a reservation to another location if it’s the same host?

[Letti0]

@Amanda616   You should be able to change it from one listing to the other:

1. Go to Your Reservations airbnb.com
2. Click Change or Cancel next to the reservation you want to change
3. Choose Change Reservation
4. Click Submit Alteration

[Jamera0]

Yes this scam happened to me. AirBnb customer service was so irresponsible and not caring about it. Even though I warned them by messaging and phone call that I had given her a refund and asked them not to give her a new one. Cost me a lot of time going back and forth and never got my money back. I knew I couldn't be the only host to have that happen.  I also changed my refund policy immediately. All refunds are handled through Airbnb customer service. Not a dime goes straight from me to guest.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Nanda0

You have an automated review to your profile saying you have cancelled a reservation.  In such case the calendar will remain blocked as one of the penalties for host cancellation.

[Robin4]

@Nanda0 I am sorry to have to say Nanda, but it was you who cancelled the reservation for the dates you are trying to unblock.

When a potential guest wants to cancel a reservation for one reason or another they will face a financial penalty! The only time they can get all their money back is if they can have the host cancel the booking......and ABB are actively telling guests this, and further more does the cancelling for the guest on the hosts behalf!

You no doubt received from Airbnb an email which said....

John wishes to cancel his stay at 'Little house surrounded........' To give John time to make other arangements you have 48 hours to respond. If we do not here from you in that time we will cancel Johns reservation!

Now when you get this you think that Airbnb are being the good guys here and are helping everyone out so you don't do anything further! What happens is your silence deems you responsible for the cancellation......Nanda, it's rotten, but that's the way it is.

You must never on any occasion cancel a confirmed booking!!! You must always state that you are prepared to host the guest thereby forcing them to initiate the cancellation on their end.

I would suggest to you that you get onto ABB in Indonesia (sorry I can't provide a phone number) through social media (ABB Facebook page) and plead your case that you did not wish to cancel John's reservation and the cancellation came about by a deceptive email you received from Airbnb, and they may release you from penalty.

I am sorry Nanda, but you did do the cancelling and that's all there is to it!

Cheers.....Rob