I got overbooked for the first time. My room got rented through Booking.com and then before I could block a day on Airbnb someone instant booked at 9:30 pm for 1 night.
I panicked and wanted to call and cancel, but then remembered that my friend that rents her house as me just mentioned she has no one there for the weekend, and I asked her if I can stay there for a night. She said, sure.
So, I prepared our bedroom for guest s, noticing In a process how much cleaner guest’s rooms than my own bedroom:). Well, anyway, I cleaned it perfectly and put my personal things like toothbrushes away In a bag and took off. I never saw the couple from China, but in a morning when they left I was wondering if I did the right thing. My personal things were all over the place. My closet was full of our clothes, bathroom full of my lotions, cosmetics, I had pictures of my daughter all over walls and on night stands. It felt like owners just left for the night, which was in fact.
The only good thing is that our bedroom has a TV, and much bigger than the regular room.
Now, I am a bit worried about review and wondering if it will be reflected there that our personal things were everywhere.,
Well since they were only there for one night and came in late, hopefully they didn’t notice all the personal things and just went to bed and took a shower. I am curious how different your room looks versus the bedroom pictures you have on Air. Hopefully they won’t leave you a review.
Beware, beware of double booking situations…esp. with booking.com. If you need to relocate a guest and they don’t like it, then they can call booking.com to complain and Booking.com will try to charge you for the difference in upgrade. I recently read where Booking.com was trying to charge the owner $5,500 to find a comparable property.
I am listed on both Expedia and Booking.com. Both only offer instant booking. But I cannot list the same dates available on both sites - due to the very situation you just experienced. Bookings can come in within minutes of each other. You can only use one instant booking site at a time in order to avoid double booking situations.
It looks different. The guests were from Airbnb, but the room was rented from booking.com, that’s why was the mix up.
I’d be concerned for future possible double bookings with using Air’s instant book. My Expedia account manager tried to convince me that she has owners who can successfully navigate having all dates opened on both Booking.com and Expedia. I explained to her that it is impossible to be on more than one instant booking site and not run the possibility of a double booking.
Both Expedia and Booking expect the guest to be relocated at a place of equal or nicer place. So if nothing is available except for a place three times the amount, they expect the owner to pick up the difference in cost. They don’t just allow the owner to cancel. This is why I cannot use Air’s instant book even if I wanted to. It’s too risky.
Wow I did not know this about booking. Airbnb also?
With instant book you can cancel three times without penalty but it has to be because you thought the guest behavior was sketchy. It doesn’t apply to a double booking. Here is Air’s policies:
How do the cancellation penalties work?
Because cancellations can have serious implications on a guest’s trip, there are penalties that will be applied for host cancellations.
A cancellation fee. If you cancel any reservation within 7 days of check-in, you’ll be charged a $100 fee. Additionally, if you cancel more than one reservation within a six-month period, you’ll be charged $50 per cancellation.
We’ll automatically deduct any applicable cancellation fees from your next payout.
Automated review. An automated review will be posted to your listing’s profile indicating that you canceled one of your reservations. We encourage you to publicly respond to clarify why you needed to cancel.
Unavailable/Blocked calendar. Your calendar will stay blocked and you won’t be able to accept another reservation for the same dates of the canceled reservation.
Loss of eligibility for Superhost status. You won’t be eligible to earn Superhost status for one year after your most recent cancellation.
For Instant Book Hosts only
Hosts who use Instant Book can cancel up to 3 times, penalty-free, if they have concerns with a guest’s behavior before or during their trip.
If you need to cancel within 24 hours of check in, contact us. Otherwise, follow the steps below:
Go to Your Reservations and find the reservation you need to cancel
Click Change or Cancel
Select “I’m uncomfortable with the guest’s behavior”
Provide a reason for the cancellation
Once you have completed these steps, your host penalties will automatically be waived and we’ll help your guest find another place to stay for their trip.
You can only use an Instant Book cancellation 3 times in one year and only for reservations that were booked through instant book.
What’s not included
Calendar inaccuracy, confusion about pricing or availability, and extenuating circumstances are not covered by this policy.
I’ve never had to cancel yet, but I had no idea there were financial penalties for cancellation on AirBnb?
Wow!
And regarding original post, no idea how you guys can run instant book on more than one platform in respect of similar nights. I would find that extremely stressful!
Agree, it’s stressful at times. I need to rethink it
the places i rent are my personal houses, so it has personal stuff in it, if they want something different, there are hotels.
Wow Yana… This is VERY nerve wracking! I’d do whatever it takes to avoid this happening again. The thought of strangers in your personal bed with all your personal items… OMG!!!
Gaaads, these are super punitive! If you have to be on Booking, I would turn off Air’s IB!
If you are on more than one site, I wouldn’t have instant booking on - on any of them. What if you’re emailing back and forth with somebody on your non-instant-book site and finally accept, and then before you can go to the other one to block out those dates on the calendar, someone instant books you on it. You’re in trouble that very instant!
I saw a website a few months ago that said they can manage your calendars between various services. So if you get a reservation on one, it’ll block out those days on the others. I forgot what it was, but I’m thinking of possibly getting on another site, but I don’t want to do it unless I can find a service like that. I would totally lose track of the calendars without it.
I know that i saw it also. I think with TA though, dont remeber seeing it with Airbnb.
i didnt think of me at that moment, i thought of them seeing all my stuff everywhere. Its not cluttered by any means, but still…The girl hardly said few words in English, hardly understandable. She was apologizing for late hour, said something about being locked out of hostel and hoped all is ok with their booking. well, i am glad all turned out ok, but just in case i wont promt them to leave me review by leaving review for them:) Anyway i didnt have a chance to meet them.
I always let people use my bedroom with my personal belongings, in case of overbooking. If this is not what you feel comfortable with, perhaps Airbnb isn’t the right thing for you to use.
Lol, there are so many hosting versions, let’s let the hosts decide whether Airbnb is for them or not.
Eberhard, you sound a lot like an old friend of ours, Sandy
Yana, if your room and sheets are clean, I don’t see how they can complain. I would not. I once stayed in a bnb in London and they obviously stuck us in their son’s room, but it was filthy, otherwise I would not have cared.