Ok im a rookie and got burnt… i cancelled a new guest booking, because minutes before the new booking came through… it was agreed that the current guest would stay on…
So had my listing branded to feel like a leper like airbnb want me to feel… i will live!! Im not wanting to wriggle off the hook but i then did some research on automated reviews, and i can make a public response to the automated review.
“Automated reviews: An automated review will be posted to your listing’s profile indicating that you cancelled one of your reservations. These reviews can’t be removed, but you can always write a public response to clarify why you needed to cancel.”
… as it clearly states i can make a public response to an automatic review. But, when i follow the link, it only allows me to comment on reviews left by guests or hosts only, Not on auto reviews. I researched this the day i was branded so it cant have expired.
Hello @vincent49
Calm down a little - it’s not Airbnb’s fault that you didn’t keep your calendar up to date or remove Instant Book while your current guest decided whether they wanted to stay on.
Why not remove Instant Book to avoid this sort of issue happening in the future while you learn the ropes. This also means you can find out more about your guests and their plans before agreeing to a booking.
I don’t know why you can’t comment. Why not give Airbnb a call and ask them. Please make sure you don’t use the sort of emotive language you used here. It makes you sound a little histrionic 
Thanks for the concern but i can take care of the caleder stuff and i like the the auto book.
Im just repeating myself now…
Please make sure you don’t use the sort of emotive language you used here. It makes you sound a little histrionic
You have completely lost me
Well, I totally did not read the things Helsi read in your post.
On another note: I don’t think I would cancel a new guest for an existing one. Guests should plan ahead a little bit and book the amount of nights they need. Of course everyone has the right to decide last moment if they want to stay another nights, but in that case they should also accept that you’re not a hotel with lots of rooms: When your room got booked, it got booked and they have to leave.
Also take into account that you can’t go canceling guests several times without being penalized.
if it’s a completely new listing and you worry about the cancelled review then you can just delete this listing and make a new one and start from scratch
Histronic : ‘So had my listing branded to feel like a leper like airbnb want me to feel… i will live!!’
I’ve occasionally seen responses left by hosts to auto reviews, so I think something is wrong. But maybe they changed the policy and forgot to update the documentation. Can anyone else corroborate? Check with Airbnb. Tell them you want to make a response. Contacting them via Twitter #AirbnbHelp works.
He’s got a point. Airbnb does make a big thing of it. And their double standards are particularly evident in that guests can cancel as much as they like, and no record is kept.
Double standards definitely, but still an over the top response in my opinion.]
If he had read how Airbnb works/not cancelled the new guest/blocked out his calendar he wouldn’t be in this position.
It might be meant facetiously or semi-facetiously. Tone is really hard to gauge via printed text.
He certainly wasn’t being careful enough. But he probably didn’t realise how tricky the renting thing can be. Newbies often don’t. And Airbnb gives a misleading impression with all the warm fuzzies.
If he was on IB he could have used the ‘freebie’ cancels and avoided all this.
Isn’t the amount of times you can freebie cancel limited ?
3 … this has been a hot topic lately!
I dunno. I’m guessing that someone who joins up to a forum and in their second post calls regulars ‘histrionic’ because they tried to help them out is not really airbnb material. I mean, is this the manner in which you usually introduce yourself to strangers? If so, your calendar is the least of your problems.
edit I see you were called histrionic first - my mistake, sorry. But it would be a good idea to act friendly if you want serious advice.
Success… i managed to get airbnb to remove my auto review and all the stigma along with it.
Congratulations - but - did you also learn from your mistake? Will you block your calender, in future, before agreeing to let a guest stay with you a little longer, so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again?
I never ever cancelled a guest’s booking, so far, even this has meant a lot of inconvenience, for me, occasionally.
How did you do this. @debflak had the same problem and I’m sure she would love to know your secret.
Gee Eberhard_Blocher, i find your reply very patronizing (Or is it me? Is it? )Have i learnt from my mistakes…, of course i bloody have? What sort of question is that?
I contacted airbnb via twitter, told them exactly what happen… the guest i cancelled actually thanked me for alerting her so promptly.
Thanks to everyone. I called the Airbnb number 877-424-7262 and got through right away to a rep who told me that Instant Booking does allow penalty free cancellation and that they would remove the negative review and restore super host status and remove the block from the cancelled days. Thank you to everyone! Restored my faith in the new online community marketplace.
Fwiw, I have an “emergency” listing of our air mattress in the living room. It’s unlisted at the moment, but i created it when some lovely guests wanted to stay an extra week but i had someone booked for just one night in the middle of the second week they wanted to stay. So for 24 hours my old guests had the living room and then they moved back to the guest room.
That won’t work for everyone, but it has worked for me.
I only just found out about your posting by chance, two weeks later, since you didn’t tag me. Please excuse my comment if you didn’t think it was appropriate. After all, you are the one who brought up this subject, which nobody forced you to do.
I think what I would have done if I had been in your shoes - I probably would have thrown out the first guest, and honoured the new booking. Or else I would have let both guests stay, by offering my own bed to them, in addition, and staying with a friend, myself.