A few days ago I relisted my two properties on Airbnb. I was not able to link my channel manager to Airbnb and had issues logging in to the Airbnb system. I kept requesting a password reset and never got any reset link. I contacted my channel manager and they were not helpful, saying I had to log in to Airbnb to sort the problem.
I finally logged in. To my horror, I had 14 booking received within a few days, all confirmed with dates and availability that were not correct. I had the nightmare of contacting all these people and be ashamed to say we had technical issues. To my horror, for each booking that I cancelled, I had to pay a penalty of 50 dollars. Do the math for 14 booking and see how much I had to pay Airbnb for cancelling.
I had no email confirmation for any of these bookings and no notification or any chance to accept or deny any of these bookings. Some of the guests were very helpful and some just pain and unhelpful. Airbnb technical issues turned into nightmare and Airbnb has no compassion to not change the penalty when you have a genuine problem. I had no idea about any booking or how to fix the problem. Not happy at all.
Airbnb cancelled a client reservation and fully refund her violating my strict cancellation policy. Cancellation was done less than a week of her arrival and Airbnb did not have the respect nor courtesy of contacting me to inform it. Very unprofessional. Lousy client service. #OwnersandhostdonotmattertoAirbnb.
So what did you learn about not being prepared when listing your homes?