Potential booking notification not arrived

[Tony1163]

Hi,

We are VERY new hosts, this will be our first booking. We have just been contacted by a potential guest who booked our villa yesterday. They have not received any confirmation (which is why they phoned us) and we have not received the booking to confirm. Is this normal?

The reason we are so concerned was we read, that we have to confirm the booking within 24 hours or we get penalised by AirBnB. But no email or text has appeared. Other emails from AirBnB are arriving so I know it is not the email address or Phone number?

What should we do?

[Elena87 · Accepted solution]

@Tony1163 

First up check your hosting inbox - if it is a message with the status ' request' - here you have 24 hours to confirm or decline a booking request.

If you go to your airbnb hosting profile and click 'reservations' on the top bar, you will see a list of upcoming reservations with the status of the reservation, usually it should be 'confirmed' or 'upcoming'.

Sometimes if a payment hasn't gone through or if further guest verification is required by airbnb, it is notified here, and on your calendar it is also recorded. The guest will get emails regarding further action to take before a booking is confirmed.

You can also check the guide below on general notification troubleshooting

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/225/why-didnt-i-get-my-email-notification

One thing to note, it can be a brassed neck scam attempt, to get access to your property without paying. Don't let anyone in, believe plausible stories, or give details on check-in without first seeing a confirmed notification in your hosting inbox. Especially if the booking is an imminent one.

If you cannot see any trace and the booker is insistent, advise the booker to contact airbnb help.

[Tony1163]

Huge thank you Elena, going through your advice now. Very much appreciated 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tony1163 I wonder how they got your phone number if the booking has not been confirmed. Something doesn't smell quite right here.

Does your calendar show anything for the dates involved?

[Tony1163]

Very new, this would be our first booking, so I cannot say. Our calendar is blank, just open slot. Nothing in reservations or bookings either.

i am starting tho think it is either a mistake, or they never booked

thank you Mike and Jane for your advice, we will wait and see if they get back to us.

[Emilia42]

@Tony1163 This is strange. The guest is only given your phone number after confirmation so how did they get your number?? If you do not have a confirmed booking on your calendar don't just let this guest show up. You will not get paid.

[Tony1163]

Noted, and thank you. I have no idea this was our first ever equity, it might simply have been a spam/prank call. 

I will follow everybody’s advice and not do ANYTHING outside of AirBnB. But I suspect I will not hear any more from them. Nothing has shown up in reservations or the calendar.

thank you again