I am taking Calendar issues to the top!

[Robin4]

I think enough is enough, and time has come for the hosting community to become pro-active.

Contributor Nikki from London reported in a post on January 20th 2016 that her booking calendar was randomly unblocking dates that she had blocked!

Since that post there have been over 300 posts in this past year reporting exactly the same issue….and these are just the tip of the iceberg, these are the ones that have come to the forum! The common thread in almost all of these instances is the use of Instant Book where the rolling calendar window is concerned. The Airbnb program is unblocking dates a host has blocked. And what is totally reprehensible is Airbnb are punishing hosts who cancel bookings as a result of dates they had legitimately blocked and which the system has, behind the hosts back, unblocked. Superhosts, who strive to do so much good for Airbnb, are loosing their status through an Airbnb fault.....not their own!

Here is a typical example.....

Chris

Level 2

in

Lawrence Township, NJ

‎03-10-2016 07:02 AM

I have my listing set so it won't receive reservations more than 90 days out. Every day, it unblocks a day at that borderland. It seems like when they release the day internally because it's no longer more than 90 days out, that unblock overrides the dates I have manually blocked in the calendar.

Because I have limited availability, this pattern has become obvious to me.  If you only blocked dates occassionally, it would be a huge mystery.  I've brought the issue to the attention of AirBNB and they told me to clear my browser data. I've explained in more detail and am providing screenshots, but they haven't even been willing to tell me the status of my ticket."

There are dozens more just like this one!!! This fault….and that is exactly what it is….it’s a fault, has been reported to Airbnb staff on numerous occasions and the complaints just keep growing and growing! More reports come to this forum daily. Obviously nobody is taking the slightest notice.

With all due respect to the Community Centre moderators, I am not convinced that posting on ‘Host Voice’ does any good whatsoever. I have not seen a solitary change as a result of any topic raised through Host Voice.

I am going to send this post to brian.chesky@airbnb.com  and see what happens. I would like as many other hosts as possible to paste this post into an email and do the same thing.

This issue has been with us for more than a year, If we can’t get those responsible for sorting this mess out to take action, then we have to go further up the chain until someone does!!!

Cheers....Rob

[Robin4]

I have my listing set so it won't receive reservations more than 90 days out. Every day, it unblocks a day at that borderland. It seems like when they release the day internally because it's no longer more than 90 days out, that unblock overrides the dates I have manually blocked in the calendar.

Because I have limited availability, this pattern has become obvious to me.  If you only blocked dates occassionally, it would be a huge mystery.  I've brought the issue to the attention of AirBNB and they told me to clear my browser data. I've explained in more detail and am providing screenshots, but they haven't even been willing to tell me the status of my ticket."

There are dozens more just like this one!!! This fault….and that is exactly what it is….it’s a fault, has been reported to Airbnb staff on numerous occasions and the complaints just keep growing and growing! More reports come to this forum daily. Obviously nobody is taking the slightest notice.

[Rosemary48]

Thank you for your answer.  I felt it was a provate note area and your suggestion would have answered my question.

Have a good night.

Rosemary

[Huma0]

Shouldn't we all follow @Robin4's suggestion and email Airbnb about this?

Quote:

"I am going to send this post to brian.chesky@airbnb.com  and see what happens. I would like as many other hosts as possible to paste this post into an email and do the same thing."

Maybe we could post here to confirm we've done so?

[Huma0]

PS, I've done it. Have you?

"Dear Mr. Chesky, I am writing to you to bring your attention to the problem many Airbnb hosts are encountering with automatic unblocking of calendar dates that they have previously blocked. It may seem like a small issue, but it is causing a lot of knock on problems for hosts, e.g. penalties for cancellations and, according to the feedback on the Community forums, this problem has been occurring for more than a year.

Please take a look at this Community post, which is one of many:

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/listing-and-reservations/page/1/...

It would be wonderful if you could instruct the relevant technical department to look into remedying this situation as soon as possible as flagging this on Host Voice, calling the Airbnb call centres etc. do not seem to have had any effect.

Thanks so much,

Huma"

[Helen197]

I have just had the same issue taht you have reported. I was on holiday last week when a booking came through for 3-nights which i knew I had blocked out in april. I had to cancel, and got the brusque response from Air B&B about how this could result in a penalty. I have just logged on a week later to find, that another week - this time in May has just opened up. This fits with the 90 day pattern that you mentioned Robin.

has anyone found a way to prevent this? I am on Air B&B only for my low season weeks as these are the more difficult ones to fill - I will have no option but to leave the site if this continues as it requires m logging on every week and closing weeks off.

Help - this isn't the warm openess I was expecting of this site. It feels like they are simply trying to get cancellation fees from me.

Helen

[Bill88]

we just recently had to deal with a guest that was booked for a 2 week stay, but the calendar did not show her reservation. and the system (Airbnb) allowed 3 other guests to book into those 2 weeks as well.

We spent an hour getting AirBnB to 'resolve', only to find they never contacted ANY of the parties and we had to notify the guests.

So how am I supposed to trust the calendar when I look at it? (and print it for my own reference...!)

The reservation 'List' showed all 4 reservations which were CLEARLY overbooked when you looked at the dates.

[Robin4]

As a follow up, this is the text of what I sent to the CEO.

Unfortunately I don't have enough computer knowledge to include the actual email as a file to this post, because the email is in 'Unicode', which is not an accommodated file for the forum program, but here is the text of that email....

"Hello Brian,

Can I preface my mail by saying how wonderful it has been for me personally to be involved with the Airbnb organisation! The experience has been one of the best of my life, I have met wonderful people and am reaping the rewards that Airbnb hosting can offer!

I do however, because of my experience in using Airbnb spend a considerable amount of time on the associated Community Centre Forum.

My first and foremost objective is to see the advancement of the platform, not just from a guest point of view, but also from your bread and butter...your hosts! If I see something which reflects not just badly on the company but penalises those people who support your company on a daily basis, I feel I need to do something to ‘right this wrong’!

I have made a statement on the Community Centre forum, and this email is to follow through on that statement. I left it for a couple of days to see if I was perhaps following the wrong path! But this statement is one of the most viewed and commented on, on the Forum at the moment so I am enclosing it here in the hope that you can possibly achieve what those under you cannot.

Brian, we all just want to be the best we can! We as hosts will make mistakes, just as the company will do, but we act on ours.....we just want the company to act on theirs! We need to know we can use the Airbnb platform, safe in the knowledge we can rely on the integrity of the system, and when we see an issue that is not being addressed we need to know that ‘the buck stops somewhere’!

To my post........

“I think enough is enough, and time has come for the hosting community to become pro-active.

Contributor Nikki from London reported in a post on January 20th 2016 that her booking calendar was randomly unblocking dates that she had blocked!

Since that post there have been over 300 posts in this past year reporting exactly the same issue….and these are just the tip of the iceberg, these are the ones that have come to the forum! The common thread in almost all of these instances is the use of Instant Book where the rolling calendar window is concerned. The Airbnb program is unblocking dates a host has blocked. And what is totally reprehensible is Airbnb are punishing hosts who cancel bookings as a result of dates they had legitimately blocked and which the system has, behind the hosts back, unblocked. Superhosts, who strive to do so much good for Airbnb, are losing their status through an Airbnb fault.....not their own!

Here is a typical example.....

 Chris

Level 2inLawrence Township, NJ

‎03-10-2016 07:02 AM

I have my listing set so it won't receive reservations more than 90 days out. Every day, it unblocks a day at that borderland. It seems like when they release the day internally because it's no longer more than 90 days out, that unblock overrides the dates I have manually blocked in the calendar.

Because I have limited availability, this pattern has become obvious to me.  If you only blocked dates occasionally, it would be a huge mystery.  I've brought the issue to the attention of AirBNB and they told me to clear my browser data. I've explained in more detail and am providing screenshots, but they haven't even been willing to tell me the status of my ticket."

Here is another example......

Frank Frank Level 1in Quincy, MA

yesterday

This explains what happened to us. We were Super Hosts until someone was instant booked which we never do. When we declined we lost our status. When we tried to resolve this issue we got nowhere.

Where is the ‘Fairness’ in that?

There are dozens more just like this one!!! This fault….and that is exactly what it is….it’s a fault, has been reported to Airbnb staff on numerous occasions and the complaints just keep growing and growing! More reports come to this forum daily. Obviously nobody is taking the slightest notice.

With all due respect to the Community Centre moderators, I am not convinced that posting on ‘Host Voice’ does any good whatsoever. I have not seen a solitary change as a result of any topic raised through Host Voice.

I am going to send this post to brian.chesky@airbnb.com  and see what happens. I would like as many other hosts as possible to paste this post into an email and do the same thing.

This issue has been with us for more than a year, If we can’t get those responsible for sorting this mess out to take action, then we have to go further up the chain until someone does!!!

Cheers. Rob**  ********"

So I hope something can come of this...Many would say 'why are you sticking your oar in, it hasn't affected you' ! But that's not the point, it is affecting a lot of people and if this is the only way to help, then I want to do it.

Cheers.....Rob

[Dunny0]

Hi Rob!!

Oh GOOD!!

I'm so happy you've hit the limit of tolerance.

While you're going to the top - will you add your wisdom to our newsletters??

We are gathering people together for discussion of positive options off the forum -

for everyone's benefit. My feeling is that the investors at the top need the mystery and pressure

of loyal hosts taking matters into their own hands, out of their eyesight on these discussion boards.

If they're actually honestly virtuously doing all they can - well and good.

If they're not doing that for any reason, their own consciences will panic them to positive corrective action.

You've written so much on these boards, Robin. I welcome you to share it further.

Thanks very much!

[Dunny0]

@Robin4

Thanks for the reply, Robin. So hard to work through the sequence of all these posts.

I've seen other forums with far better posting/viewing formats.

I'll keep you posted on our progress.

The sentiments of many hosts make it seem that their actions will come in a flood.

All thebest,

Dunny

[Greg91]

Thank you Robin, I just had the same issue.  Had a long term client reserve 36 days and another client booked in the middle after her reservation and knocked her entire reservation off.  So I had to canx the two day to get her back on the calaender. Like you said I am now beeing shunned for canx and the days are still blocked.  This is my first issue of this nature not sure how to get some resolution.  Any suggestions??

[Robin4]

@Greg91 Hi Greg, hey, in many instances Airbnb staff are there to help, (as long as you don't have a damages claim!!) and they are reasonable. In virtually all cases, when contacted about a booking which has shown up in a blocked period, they will cancel the guest and the problem will go away with no penalty to the host.

But, that's not the point....why has this been going on for more than a year and why is this continuing to happen? They are aware or it, they are putting out 'spot fires' where ever they show up, but they are not fixing the problem.

Contact Airbnb on....+1-855-424-7262 / 1-855-4-AIRBNB (toll-free) and explain what has happened Greg. If possible show screenshots of your blocked calendar before this event, if you have any, and I am sure you will receive an equitable response.

It is now day three since I sent my statement to the CEO and I have not had an aknowledgement or a response to this point!

It seem that the company and the hosting community are playing two entirely different sets of game rules when it comes to 'response time'!!!

Cheers.....Rob

[S11]

@Huma0, you are correct. In addition to Blocked Dates being opened by the AirBNB algorithm, the Smart Pricing feature is enabled without the Host's consent.

@Robin, MAHALO NUI (Much Thanks!) for "taking this to the top" so-to-speak 

[Robin4]

@S11......" In addition to Blocked Dates being opened by the AirBNB algorithm, the Smart Pricing feature is enabled without the Host's consent.".....Now that's a biggy that I haven't heard before!

So what you are saying is, not only can someone book for a date you have blocked, they can book for an amount that could be up to 70% less than your listed amount without you approving it!!! Now really if that's true this is starting to border on fraud!! I would love to see what some legal eagle would do with this!

Cheers....Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 @S, just to clarify, re the experience I described above, I had already opted in for Smart Pricing. However, the next day, when I came back to the site, my prices had been slashed dramatically from what had been indicated the day before. Instant Booking had been turned on, which was defintely something I had opted out of. Also, I had put in a price for addition guests, but this had mysteriously disappeared!

So, as an example, say on day one the pricing was showing as £45 for the room and I had put on £10 for an additional guest, the following day, Airbnb had priced it at £22, removed the additional guest fee and turned on Instant Booking so that two guests were able to book it for £22 instead of £55! Ouch.

[Huma0]

You can't even stay in a dog kennel in London for £11 each! So the Smart Pricing is not so smart...

And this is the room that the guests got for £11 each:

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Thanks @Robin4 for starting this post here and for everyone reporting what you are experiencing with the calendar. I have noticed this is a hot topic here in the Community Center and something that is concerning many of you, which I really don't like to see. I wanted to say on my side, I have been gathering up the main themes you are particularly highlighting and I am reporting this back. I will continue to do this, but I wanted to tell you that your posts aren't going unnoticed.

Please do keep me updated if you can. 🙂

Thanks again,

Lizzie