Advance notice and Instant Booking

[Elaine116]

I know there are previous conversations about this but most are older so I don’t know if anyone reads additions to them and I’m currently tearing my hair out with Airbnb “Support”.

I have Instant Booking turned on. I have Advance Notice set to At least 1 day and the check box allowing IB without notice is not checked.

I got a booking at 3am on the morning of 7th September for arrival at 4pm on 7th Sept. Airbnb support just keep repeating I have Instant Booking so people can arrive the same day. I’ve read the Help and it says quite clearly that “To avoid last-minute surprise bookings, set how much notice you need before a guest arrives, and we’ll automatically block days on your calendar”.  I’ve even copied that section from the Help to the support person but I’m still being told Instant Book means guests can book for the same day. I was even asked to check the box to allow reservations without advance notice!

Am I going mad or should the Advance Notice setting have prevented that booking? If I’m not mad and that booking should have been blocked then any advice on how I get to someone in Airbnb to look at why the booking was allowed since I’m getting nowhere at the moment?

[Sarah977]

@Elaine116  The person you had  the misfortune to talk to is clueless. Just because you have IB turned on doesn't mean a guest can make a same day booking. This was an Airbnb glitch.

[Elaine116]

Thank you @Sarah977 . Any suggestions as to how I get someone from Airbnb who actually knows how their system works to look at this?

[Emilia42]

@Elaine116 Is this what your settings look like?

In most cases, Airbnb CS is useless. Especially when it comes to technical issues/glitches. When is the next open day on your calendar? You should test it by attempting to book the day of and seeing if the calendar shows as avaiable. 

[Elaine116]

Thanks @Emilia42 . Yes that’s what my settings look like. I will test it next open day but I expect I’ll still be struggling to get anybody from Airbnb who knows what they’re talking about to look at it if it doesn’t block the day again!

[Colleen253]

@Elaine116 Glitches like this seem to happen frequently to hosts who have min one day set, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen similar complaints from anyone who has two days (or more) min set. Increase your minimum. Knowing Airbnb, these glitches are engineered somehow, to increase bookings. Many hosts will just scramble and accept the booking. As you say, customer circus is difficult to deal with, and it takes too much time and effort to cancel a booking like that. 

[Elaine116]

Thanks @Colleen253 . I think you may be right because that's exactly what I did, scrambled to get things ready (I thought I had a three day gap) because I thought the guests were probably already on their way since they appeared to be travelling some distance and I didn't want to turn them away when they arrived.

I think I will either increase the minimum or turn instant booking off all together since I don't hold out any hope for any kind of resolution from Airbnb.

[Laurelle3]

@Elaine116 I have had IB turned off now for 3 months, What it means to me is I have more control.

I still have 1 day after the booking blocked off and one day before with 2 nights minimum stays..

Sometimes the gap is too big. So I unblock a day but still have  24 hrs between and I can manage the turnover as I do the cleaning and set up for next guests. 

[Laurelle3]

@Colleen253 you made my day with laughter of your words of 

Customer circus. 

They say laughter is the best medicine. So Colleen Thank you, we need it sometimes in the world of Airbnb Hosting,

Take care

Laurelle from Downunder

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

tnx for this post @Elaine116  Just in case, I switched to 2 days' notice now. Like it isn't bad enough we can get booked until midnight the day before check-in, and now this!

[Claudio-and-Moo--ส-บย-คล0]

I'm in Asia. I also have 1 day advance notice yet I keep getting same day booking. I just received a request at 12:38 for 2pm booking. That is less than 2 hours notice. Im not sure if it's because of my timezone but the 1 day notice is really not working.