I have a guest that has been staying since Feb. She was supposed to checkout tomorrow, but decided to extend her stay. When I try to process the change of checkout date through the Airbnb site, it tells me, basically, that whole house reservations and last minute reservations are blocked and ends with the message to use the site to find a hotel room. Well, it’s not a whole house reservation, it’s for a room, it’s extending an existing reservation, not a last minute booking, and I’m the host and DON’T NEED A ROOM! Argh! Soooo frustrating. I called and waited on hold for over 30 minutes, only to be told that a ticket has now been open and someone will call me back.
Why not just let the guest “check out” and re-book it as a direct booking?
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Because last minute bookings are blocked, so she isn’t be able to re-book.
Directly with you, why use the platform at all is my question? You’re not obligated to at this point, since they won’t allow the transaction anyway.
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Ah… now I understand your question. I prefer to keep it on the platform.
why feed the beast who takes away at whim?
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Whole house reservations are blocked? I haven’t heard this.
I agree with @LoneStar, @katnhat.
Let the guest check out and have her book with you directly, but use a LEASE. If she doesn’t know how long she wants to stay, use a month-to-month or three-month lease, or whatever is appropriate.
Protect yourself and your property from a “guest” who already could claim tenant’s rights.
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@georgiahost: I haven’t either and I just got two bookings over the last few days and I’m an entire house listing. Maybe this particular circumstance is what is throwing ABB for a loop, but it doesn’t seem to be the norm?
I just went out to the Airbnb site and tried to rent a property in my neighborhood, starting today for a week. I didn’t go through to payment, but I didn’t get any flags that blocked me. It doesn’t appear that entire house listings are blocked.
I second @RebeccaF: Off platform and institute a written lease, especially since tenancy rights could already be invoked.
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Well this subject went somewhere I didn’t expect it to go. Wish I could close it.
I third this. Air is currently running around like a chicken without a head. Conflicting info, delayed emails, differing cancellation rules… ugh.
Give her a month to month lease and you’ll be protected.
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You posted a frustrating situation you are having. Others offered suggestions on what you could do to move around it. Seems on-topic to me. What sort of responses were you expecting?
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Have the guest send you an inquiry and see if you can send her a special offer or accept the dates of the inquiry. Sometimes a work around bypasses a glitch - worth a try.
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I had to do this once for a guest who was getting an error message when they tried to book the dates they needed - they sent me an inquiry for different dates, I sent them a Special Offer for the dates they wanted. Worked a treat.
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I would book directly, but put a note in your Airbnb message thread with this guest that you have tried unsuccessfully to book extend with her through Airbnb and will speak with her directly since she is a current guest. It is unlikely, but if they ever give you any flack about booking directly you’ll have a record.