Calendar

[William527]

My place is highly desirable these days, though it's summer seasonal. I keep a 6 month lock-out on my calendar so I don't have to field all the inquiries/ requests until late January. Why is Air ignoring my lockout? I'm getting requests now when no one should be able to even see the property as available for weeks? 

- WG

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@William527  Guests should not be able to fill in dates on an inquiry or request that don't show as available on the calendar. But if you use IB, there is apparently a box in your settings to toggle on or off that allows a guest to input dates that aren't available if they send a request, so make sure that is toggled off. 

What guests can do is fill in dates they don't actually want, but inquire in their message as to whether they can book other dates. There's nothing stopping them from doing that.

[William527]

Thank you Sarah. I left the previous service because of the insistence on IB. I have no need of it, but do need to screen reservations. 

 I have a need to rent, and have built a return clientele over the years, and also need to NOT rent to certain repeat customers. 

I learned, especially through covid, that a hopeful can cancel their reservation, and another will magically appear within hours.

I wonder if you have thoughts about the review process? It seems so critical that no one may leave an honest review, ever, of guest or host. I always give 5 stars to a guest, but Air will ask if I would rent to him/ her again. When I say that I would not, does my response block that person from asking again?

Thanks again,  WG

[Colleen253]

@William527 “…no one may leave an honest review, ever, of guest or host”. 

I’m afraid you’re misinformed on reviews. Why do you think no one can be honest?

When you click ‘would not host again’, it prevents that person from instant booking with you. They can still send a request or an inquiry. You would have to report and block them to stop them from contacting you ever again.

[Gordon0]

>>I always give 5 stars to a guest<<

With fellow hosts like you, who needs enemies?

[Sarah977]

@William527  For goodness sake, you must leave honest reviews. Why wouldn't you? Why would you give 5*s to a guest you wouldn't want back again? Why would you leave a misleading review about a guest for other hosts? Please do not do that. Don't you want to be warned about a bad guest by other hosts? If you leave dishonest reviews, terrible guests just go around making hosts' lives miserable.

I also have never used IB and never will. I can't imagine letting someone book without communicating with them first (I'm a home share host).

P.S. I don't really understand your listing. You only have 6 photos, you don't show the place hardly at all- (2 bedrooom pics, one of which looks like it has some sort of net covering the bed, when there are 3 bedrooms, no bathroom photo, no photos of the kitchen or a living room), and you have almost no description at all, nothing about the house or the area. I would have no idea of what I was booking. 

[William527]

You take issue with how I've represented my place, the lack of pictures and poor description. Yet I'm booked wall-to-wall every season. Guess I'm failing after 15 years of renting.

[M199]

@William527 

"I always give 5 stars to a guest"

Really?  Do you understand the impact that these kinds of "perfect" reviews have on other hosts, many who make their daily living by running Airbnb and working very hard, only to get bad guests because some previous host did not have the guts to be honest?

Shame on you.

BTW this is a one of the reasons we're getting out.

[William527]

Shame on me?

You'll never have an accurate picture of what I've worked through to get to this point in marketing my family home for rental, the only reliable revenue stream I have at the moment.

As far as I understand it, If I give an accurate review of an undesirable guest, I'll get an undesirable review in return. Air is adamant that everyone loves everything about every guest or host.  Acrimony is no good for Air's business model is it?

Honesty? How does that improve anyone's standing? I got screwed on a guest because of the reviews. You've never had that happen?

The entire review process is based on a mutual lie. The review process is, in fact, worthless.

But you're jumping ship. I have no idea what the issues are that have brought you to the conclusion that you would walk away from AirBnB. I was with Home Away, and we could probably commiserate on why that was no longer the best platform. Yet, I would say that you can shelve your scorn and your shame as you know nothing of my own situation or approach to renting the cottage that's been in my family for 60 years.

[Sarah977]

@William527 "As far as I understand it, If I give an accurate review of an undesirable guest, I'll get an undesirable review in return"

You understand wrong. Reviews are blind. You cannot see the guest's review of you and they cannot see the review you wrote for them until the reviews are published. And once they are published, they can't be changed. So no one can give you a bad review "in return" for leaving them one. It doesn't work that way. 

Also, guests cannot see the star ratings you leave for them.

Do not leave reviews at all unless you are willing to write honest ones. You do all other hosts a disservice by leaving a good review for a guest you wouldn't welcome back. That the cottage has been in your family for 60 years, or your approach to hosting, is totally irrelevant to leaving honest reviews.

[Elaine701]

Sigh