Post by High Priestess on May 31, 2016 7:41:24 GMT
Julia shared on Hands on Hosts
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-113431
Blocked Calendar
A short rant, if you don't mind! Just went to update said calendar and there is a week blocked off "Pending verification". No messages, no reservation request, nothing. I know this is their policy, but it really makes me angry that dates have been blocked for a guest who might not be a "good fit" and who I may decline anyway! Have spoken to Tara in Dublin (who needs an attitude adjustment) and she said she will "reach out" but the guest has another 20 hours to sort themselves out. Meanwhile if anyone else is looking in this area, my room will not show up in searches. This is not the right way to go about things. Now, even if this person does get their act together and books, I have a chip on my shoulder already. I think Airbnb should at least message the host and ask if we mind them blocking our listing while the guest gets verified. Not good for a host! Rant now over. For the time being.
15 comments•1 like
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Ernie
Julia
Juliaa year ago
You would not credit it - finally received reservation request and message after CX spoke to the guest to help her through verification - and it is for a third party!
This poor woman has gone through all this and will now have to do it all again for her husband! Don't think I'll be getting this booking somehow...
Reply Like 1 like
Salvia
Salviaa year ago
Would it unblock the calendar if you deactivated your requirement for verified ID when guest is still in process to do it? Not that I am encouraging you to skip your requirement, just curious if it technically would solve the problem and gib you access to the message/enquiry.
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Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Terrible policy.
Reply Like
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
I've been really frustrated recently with this problem. Since they buried the 'Contact Host' option way down on the listing, I've had several booking requests that were clearly not a good fit or were from people with no profile info or verifications (zero, not even an email address) and sometimes not even a message attached. I always give people a chance when they're new and trying to find their way round the system but it's so annoying when they don't reply and you're watching that clock, knowing that the dates are blocked meanwhile. So I've had a lot of declines recently.
One guest had obviously not understood that 'request booking' would commit her to the host that accepted her first. I did accept her and ten minutes later she messaged saying thanks, but she'd decided on somewhere else. She was pretty annoyed that Airbnb had charged her twice and that she'd lose the fees. All in the space of a few minutes. This could all have been avoided if the 'Contact Host' option was displayed under the booking options like it used to be.
Reply Like 4 replies•1 like
Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Or if Airbnb invested more in educating new users.
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
True. But the burial of the 'Contact Host' option is a serious issue and very telling. There are many ways to educate new users - you can't register or make an enquiry until you've at least verified an email address and phone number ffs. And you can't make a booking request without including a message or having at least something in your profile. It's not exactly rocket science. Having said that, I think their efforts should be going into educating new hosts frankly. There are some shockers out there. I've had desperate guests trying to book because they were cancelled on at the last minute and, according to the host, it was 'sorry I'm new and don't know what I'm doing'. Ridiculous!
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
But as we know, Ernest, there's talking and there's walking. Lots of talk, not so much walk, it seems.
Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Airbnb is invested in capturing new hosts and new guests and, quite frankly, has never expressed any outward manifestation that they are too interested in having a community of educated users.
Julia
Juliaa year ago
Rebecca, I hadn't noticed that the contact host button had been moved - this goes a long way to explain why this is happening more now. In fact the very next day my calendar was blocked again. It's almost a bullying tactic to make us accept the booking that's blocking the calendar as no other enquiries can come through.
Ernest, I agree.
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
See David on 911. Rebecca, where's our revolutionary crew? Time for an email blitz on the powers that be, I think. This will crop up for all of us, and especially as hosts in home, blocking of calendars will hit us hard.
Reply Like
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
Good that you raised this issue on that Group, Julia. I still can't post there - tried to re-join several times, even emailed the moderator directly but got no reply so.... I'm still not welcome there, apparently. Anyway, I agree that this needs some action. It goes completely against the whole 'one less stranger' huggy kumbaya marketing ploy and they need to be called up on it.
As for the revolutionary crew....! No got a scoobie, as we say up here
Reply Like 1 like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
Rebecca, I can't post on new hosts! So between us we should have a voice on each!
Reply Like 1 reply
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
OK! Will do
Julia
Juliaa year ago
An Update (sort of) about Blocked Calendar - I emailed Chip and he replied, saying he had passed my comments etc to Brie Le Dain who is one of the CX leaders. Brie got back to me and said she would phone today, 10 - 11am. There was a call which didn't connect, so I emailed Brie several times to ask her to call me. Now 2pm and I have to go out. Great. brie dot
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
l@
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
airbedandbreakfast
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
dot
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
com
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
If anyone wants to email her to make your concerns about calendar blocking known. This is from Louise on 911 (one of many making their thoughts known)
Louise2 days ago
This happened to me this week. I complained immediately via phone and followed up with two emails. I also posted my experience in the thread below about Instant Book. What astounds (and semi-enrages) me is that an unverified newbie with whom a host has had not one word of contact has the power to block a calendar for up to 12 hours whilst pre-approving a multi-reviewed guest won't achieve this, however much you want to. That's crazy!
Note that she is not, in this instance, talking about instant book, but this nonsense of completely unknown, un-messaged potentially unsuitable, guests making enquiries to book, because they cannot see the contact host option (I believe Rebecca is right in this).
Reply Like 1 like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
(Have also posted this to Hosting 911) for a wider audience, but I think this is important especially for us at-home hosts...
Have been in contact with CX and finally had a conversation with someone who seems to be acting upon this. And by this, I mean nothing at all to do with instant book. I do not, and have never used IB. This is about a potential guest going straight to Request to Book (because Contact Host has been removed to a tiny note after the pictures). If they are not verified, your calendar is then BLOCKED for 12/24 hours while they go through the process. This removes your listing for that period, so other potential guests cannot find you or contact you. Meanwhile guest 1 might not be a suitable fit for you, and you will then have to decline their request anyway. I require potential guests to be verified and that is my choice, but my calendar should not be blocked at all! Surely a message to the guest saying they need to be verified should be enough. I was hopeful about CX until I received this today from another CX person.
Olivia J, Mar 4, 04:44:
Hello Julia,
My name is Olivia and I am a Supervisor in the Trust and Safety team here at Airbnb.
I'm terribly sorry to hear about the inconvenience you are facing with the verification of your guest profiles and the related calendar issues. Please, know we are constantly working on reducing the friction connected to those processes, and we'd really appreciate to receive your feedback to this mail address (email hidden)
Moving forward, I have checked your profile and noticed that you had the verification requirement marked as active for all your future reservation requests. I have just deselected it for you by going toDashboard > Your Listings > Reservation requirements. More information on this option can also be found here: www.airbnb.com/support/article/272
Please, don't hesitate to let me know if you have any further questions about it.
Olivia J
www.airbnb.com/help
Are they kidding me? As I said, I have chosen to have people who might be staying in my home verified. Fixing the problem by de-selecting my choice is just not right. I now await contact from the sensible CX guy. Beyond words.
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-113431
Blocked Calendar
A short rant, if you don't mind! Just went to update said calendar and there is a week blocked off "Pending verification". No messages, no reservation request, nothing. I know this is their policy, but it really makes me angry that dates have been blocked for a guest who might not be a "good fit" and who I may decline anyway! Have spoken to Tara in Dublin (who needs an attitude adjustment) and she said she will "reach out" but the guest has another 20 hours to sort themselves out. Meanwhile if anyone else is looking in this area, my room will not show up in searches. This is not the right way to go about things. Now, even if this person does get their act together and books, I have a chip on my shoulder already. I think Airbnb should at least message the host and ask if we mind them blocking our listing while the guest gets verified. Not good for a host! Rant now over. For the time being.
15 comments•1 like
Follow
Like
Ernie
Julia
Juliaa year ago
You would not credit it - finally received reservation request and message after CX spoke to the guest to help her through verification - and it is for a third party!
This poor woman has gone through all this and will now have to do it all again for her husband! Don't think I'll be getting this booking somehow...
Reply Like 1 like
Salvia
Salviaa year ago
Would it unblock the calendar if you deactivated your requirement for verified ID when guest is still in process to do it? Not that I am encouraging you to skip your requirement, just curious if it technically would solve the problem and gib you access to the message/enquiry.
Reply Like
Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Terrible policy.
Reply Like
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
I've been really frustrated recently with this problem. Since they buried the 'Contact Host' option way down on the listing, I've had several booking requests that were clearly not a good fit or were from people with no profile info or verifications (zero, not even an email address) and sometimes not even a message attached. I always give people a chance when they're new and trying to find their way round the system but it's so annoying when they don't reply and you're watching that clock, knowing that the dates are blocked meanwhile. So I've had a lot of declines recently.
One guest had obviously not understood that 'request booking' would commit her to the host that accepted her first. I did accept her and ten minutes later she messaged saying thanks, but she'd decided on somewhere else. She was pretty annoyed that Airbnb had charged her twice and that she'd lose the fees. All in the space of a few minutes. This could all have been avoided if the 'Contact Host' option was displayed under the booking options like it used to be.
Reply Like 4 replies•1 like
Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Or if Airbnb invested more in educating new users.
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
True. But the burial of the 'Contact Host' option is a serious issue and very telling. There are many ways to educate new users - you can't register or make an enquiry until you've at least verified an email address and phone number ffs. And you can't make a booking request without including a message or having at least something in your profile. It's not exactly rocket science. Having said that, I think their efforts should be going into educating new hosts frankly. There are some shockers out there. I've had desperate guests trying to book because they were cancelled on at the last minute and, according to the host, it was 'sorry I'm new and don't know what I'm doing'. Ridiculous!
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
But as we know, Ernest, there's talking and there's walking. Lots of talk, not so much walk, it seems.
Ernie
Ernie a year ago
Airbnb is invested in capturing new hosts and new guests and, quite frankly, has never expressed any outward manifestation that they are too interested in having a community of educated users.
Julia
Juliaa year ago
Rebecca, I hadn't noticed that the contact host button had been moved - this goes a long way to explain why this is happening more now. In fact the very next day my calendar was blocked again. It's almost a bullying tactic to make us accept the booking that's blocking the calendar as no other enquiries can come through.
Ernest, I agree.
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
See David on 911. Rebecca, where's our revolutionary crew? Time for an email blitz on the powers that be, I think. This will crop up for all of us, and especially as hosts in home, blocking of calendars will hit us hard.
Reply Like
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
Good that you raised this issue on that Group, Julia. I still can't post there - tried to re-join several times, even emailed the moderator directly but got no reply so.... I'm still not welcome there, apparently. Anyway, I agree that this needs some action. It goes completely against the whole 'one less stranger' huggy kumbaya marketing ploy and they need to be called up on it.
As for the revolutionary crew....! No got a scoobie, as we say up here
Reply Like 1 like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
Rebecca, I can't post on new hosts! So between us we should have a voice on each!
Reply Like 1 reply
Rebecca
Rebeccaa year ago
OK! Will do
Julia
Juliaa year ago
An Update (sort of) about Blocked Calendar - I emailed Chip and he replied, saying he had passed my comments etc to Brie Le Dain who is one of the CX leaders. Brie got back to me and said she would phone today, 10 - 11am. There was a call which didn't connect, so I emailed Brie several times to ask her to call me. Now 2pm and I have to go out. Great. brie dot
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
l@
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
airbedandbreakfast
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
dot
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
com
Reply Like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
If anyone wants to email her to make your concerns about calendar blocking known. This is from Louise on 911 (one of many making their thoughts known)
Louise2 days ago
This happened to me this week. I complained immediately via phone and followed up with two emails. I also posted my experience in the thread below about Instant Book. What astounds (and semi-enrages) me is that an unverified newbie with whom a host has had not one word of contact has the power to block a calendar for up to 12 hours whilst pre-approving a multi-reviewed guest won't achieve this, however much you want to. That's crazy!
Note that she is not, in this instance, talking about instant book, but this nonsense of completely unknown, un-messaged potentially unsuitable, guests making enquiries to book, because they cannot see the contact host option (I believe Rebecca is right in this).
Reply Like 1 like
Julia
Juliaa year ago
(Have also posted this to Hosting 911) for a wider audience, but I think this is important especially for us at-home hosts...
Have been in contact with CX and finally had a conversation with someone who seems to be acting upon this. And by this, I mean nothing at all to do with instant book. I do not, and have never used IB. This is about a potential guest going straight to Request to Book (because Contact Host has been removed to a tiny note after the pictures). If they are not verified, your calendar is then BLOCKED for 12/24 hours while they go through the process. This removes your listing for that period, so other potential guests cannot find you or contact you. Meanwhile guest 1 might not be a suitable fit for you, and you will then have to decline their request anyway. I require potential guests to be verified and that is my choice, but my calendar should not be blocked at all! Surely a message to the guest saying they need to be verified should be enough. I was hopeful about CX until I received this today from another CX person.
Olivia J, Mar 4, 04:44:
Hello Julia,
My name is Olivia and I am a Supervisor in the Trust and Safety team here at Airbnb.
I'm terribly sorry to hear about the inconvenience you are facing with the verification of your guest profiles and the related calendar issues. Please, know we are constantly working on reducing the friction connected to those processes, and we'd really appreciate to receive your feedback to this mail address (email hidden)
Moving forward, I have checked your profile and noticed that you had the verification requirement marked as active for all your future reservation requests. I have just deselected it for you by going toDashboard > Your Listings > Reservation requirements. More information on this option can also be found here: www.airbnb.com/support/article/272
Please, don't hesitate to let me know if you have any further questions about it.
Olivia J
www.airbnb.com/help
Are they kidding me? As I said, I have chosen to have people who might be staying in my home verified. Fixing the problem by de-selecting my choice is just not right. I now await contact from the sensible CX guy. Beyond words.