booking on a day that isn’t available

[Kira307]

hello, I received a booking for a date that was not available, the check out date is sunday but I had it blocked of weeks ago insinuating that the person would have to check out on Saturday  . This has happened to me before with Airbnb where I was a guest and I booked someone stay that wasn’t available but somehow I passed the glitch and was able to book on the day that they didn’t have available. This was about a month in advance though and the host contacted me and let me know it wasn’t available. But upon calling Airbnb they said that if this booking was canceled I would be paying a two day cancellation fee. Which I’m not sure how when it was Airbnb‘s glitch that allowed them to book and it would only be one day for the reason that I’m canceling.  even on my app it has him staying on the check out date but in the background the date was blocked off so I’m not sure what is happening, and why Airbnb is allowing this while other short-term rental programs haven’t had this problem.  i’ve contacted the guest and asked them if them leaving Saturday is OK, waiting for a response but I’m assuming not because it look like it was a weekend trip and who wants to leave Saturday afternoon. has anyone else had this problem and did Airbnb give them a better solution than fining them? 

[Maggie-and-Norm0]

This is the reason I no longer do Instant Book. 

[Helen3]

If you receive a booking on a day that YOU blocked off in your calendar as a host contact Airbnb straight away. This has happened to me about eight times.

They will investigate to confirm you had the dates blocked off and if you have they will cancel the guest's booking @Kira307 

Then the guest can hopefully find an alternative property for their stay.

When this happens I flag with the guest who has  booked straight away, apologise and make it clear that this is a technical issue caused by Airbnb.

[Lenore22]

Hi @Kira307 ,

That's really frustrating. This may not apply, but remember that the dates airbnb uses are NIGHTS. When Sunday is blocked, that means no one can stay SUNDAY NIGHT. If Saturday NIGHT is available, they would stay Saturday NIGHT and check-out on Sunday. If you do not wish to offer Sunday checkout, you should also block Saturday night. If this is an ongoing policy, you can set your listing for no Sunday checkout under booking settings

This isn't immediately obvious to everyone, so maybe this helps,

Lenore