Guest unable to book - 48 hours later still waiting for case manager to contact

Has anyone else had this problem? I have a potential guest with great reviews who wants to book in January, for whom I have now sent three pre-approvals, and he wants to complete the reservation. However, he is unable to complete the reservation for some reason or another, and Airbnb, more than 48 hours later, has still not assigned him a case manager to get this sorted out. January is a slow time for me and I cannot afford to lose a good guest, particularly as he is affiliated with one of my best customers.
I have now rung Abnb three times and got nowhere. It is very frustrating :frowning:

How annoying for the both of you. I’ve had problems when guests booked last minute and were travelling and couldn’t get past the verification process. But it doesn’t sound like this is the case for you. All I can suggest is that you continue positive communication with the guest and assure them that you are willing to host.

I know many will disagree with me (and rightly so!) but, seeing as the guest is recommended by a trusted customer, I would attempt to bypass Airbnb altogether. I’ve done that on a couple of occasions and nobody died. But for sure, it’s not the ideal option. Hope it works out.

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I’m thinking there is something wrong on the guest end, such as a card getting denied. He might not want to admit that to you.

I wouldn’t wait for a rep to get back to you. If you do want to book this guest and attempt to go around them, just be careful not to get caught and make sure you get cash up front in advance. Or sign up for a square account and let them pay through that.

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Thank you for the advice and for letting me vent! I will see if anything happens over the next 24 hours when AB should be back to full staff, and if nothing happens, reevaluate😬

I have had this happen a couple of times, of course you never know the real reason which could well be payment issues.

Is this their forst ABB booking?

No this is not their first booking, they have excellent reviews, and the guest is a professor at a respected university. It is super annoying!!

Lol… professors have been some of my worst guests ever. I am always wary if I know a professor will be coming!

Oh, I love my professors … they have been nothing but good. I hope some of mine visit you some time!

Hi @triciatav

A few weeks ago I had a guest who was having difficulty with the verification process & frustrated that she felt like Airbnb wasn’t helpful.

I read that you are trying to contact Airbnb. Please keep trying. I don’t know if it made the difference but I called the Airbnb service center and asked them to call her because I needed the reservation (meaning the money). The rep I spoke with called her and within 30 minutes the problem was resolved.

In other threads in this forum folks are posting that contacting Airbnb via twitter or email seem to work better than calling.

I had this happen today. I was told by Airbnb customer service that they have now upgraded their entire system and everybody needs to have submitted a government-issued photo ID to be able to book if they are using instant book. I wonder if you could check and see if your prospective guest has been verified with their government-issued photo ID. If not, they will not be able to book and this could explain the problem you’re having. This is what happened with my guest and once he submitted his ID he was able to book. Even if you try to accept the booking or issue a pre-approval, until the ID is submitted the reservation will not go through and it will be impossible for the pre-approval to be accepted by your guest. Hope this helps.

Yep - today exactly as above!

Debthecat https://airhostsforum.com/u/debthecat
January 3

Yep - today exactly as above!

Visit Topic
https://airhostsforum.com/t/guest-unable-to-book-48-hours-later-still-waiting-for-case-manager-to-contact/19568/11 Thank
you, that would explain a lot! I would have thought they would have
brought in more people to handle this. Day 5 and my guy still has not been
assigned a case manager and, according to the text I got yesterday, they
don’t know yet when they will have someone free to reach out to him … so
frustrating :frowning:

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.

Yay! Happy ending - guest has been able to book, and even added an extra day.

I at last got a very odd text message from AB, below - on the one hand saying he had to clear up his account, whatever that means, and on the other hand saying all is taken care of. Sigh!

"I understand this frustration. This case has more to do with than just the verification process. GUEST must clear up his account before being able to travel within our community. This is just a security precaution we need to take.

I have just reviewed his account and it looks like all is taken care of. You can direct GUEST to complete his booking with you.

Thank you for your patience. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns."

Thank you all for your support … tweeting seemed to do the best job of getting something done.

Best wishes to all :slight_smile:

I would wonder if the issue has to do with something that will impact you. What do they mean clear up his account??

I find the messages that come from CSR’s for whom English is a second language tend to seem awkward to those of us who are native speakers.

I also had a woman who couldn’t book due to problems getting that ID uploaded. So it’s not an unusual issue.