Customized rule set not applied when Instant Booking is on

[Sari658]

I had the strangest thing happen to me last week. I typically have a 4 day minimum for this one listing. But there were several of them in August and then there was a 10 day gap between two 4-day bookings. To minimize hassle I decided to put in minimum 7 day requirement for that week by utilising a custom rule set. A week later I get a booking for 4 nights!! 

Airbnb support tells me that Instant Booking overrides the custom rule set. I have asked upmteenth times where does it state that "please note that a custom rule set is not applied if you have Instant Booking on". I find that nowhere and am getting a run around from Airbnb with links to instructions which tell me nothing of the sort. I have gone through all I can find on Instant Booking but has any one of you come across with this issue. Is this true or just corporate BS they feed me to avoid discussing the software bug or to avoid a cancellation? Airbnb refuses to cancel the reservation. They tell me to do so and pay the penalties which of course I am not going to do. I did not cause this problem. 

So, do you know where can I find information that a custom rule set should not be used when Instant Booking is on? 

Thank you 

[Joan2709]

HI @Sari658 

This is tough to analyze without seeing your Rule Set (what restrictions you used). Was it just minimum stay and not check-in or check-out restrictions? Instant Book has nothing to do with overriding a minimum stay (as far as I know). Rule Sets can be tricky...and not alot of information out there to address all the scenarios. 

If your Rule Set was just a minimum stay restriction, I have heard that if the guest booking "touches" your Rule Set it may not override the booking. Let's say you put a 2night min stay for Fri/Sat so a guest doesn't break up a weekend. I have heard that if a guest books a Thur check-in with a Friday checkout, your 2 night min would not override that booking (I think). You would have to have the entire month set at 2night stays to prevent a guest from breaking up a weekend if you only use min stay in Rule Sets. You would need to add check-in, check-out restrictions in addition to the min stay restriction and/or use addl Rule Sets to "bracket" the Fri/Sat 2 night min. I'm sure that's all as clear as mud 😂

All this sounds very confusing (I'm confusing myself 😊).  Suffice it to say just creating a Rule Set with a minimum stay will not necessarily get the job done. The best way to test out a Rule Set (to see if its working they way you want) is to go in like a Guest and try to book the dates in question. I have some pretty complicated Rule Sets and sometimes I just have to go into the Guest View Calendar in order to see if its actually working the way I want. Some of my Rule Sets have min stays AND check-in and check-out restrictions. It's enough to make your head spin for sure.

Maybe another host who has experienced this "touching a min stay" issue can chime in here.

[Sari658]

Thanks Joan. The rule set was really simple. Only minimum stay 7 days, no limitations on check-in or check-out days. No pricing rules either. I tested the situation vice versa: i.e. The minimum rule was set to 4 days and default minimum of the listing to 6 days. One could easily book 4 days. But when my default was 4 and the minimum rule was 6, the default setting overrode. So, this is not explained anywhere. This is entrapment! This listing happens to be my home so the minimum stay needs vary depending how I can arrange my other living arrangements.

and the support gives me the run around. Does not respond for 2 days, then ”Anastasia” is out of Office. You know how it goes. But why they do this, is beyond me. Why not discuss and negotiate a resolution or allow the cancellation so that the host is not left in the lurch. 

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sari658 

Well, rats!!  😠

This is super frustrating, especially since it left you without options! It didn't help that CS was confusing the issue even more by telling you Instant Book "overrides a Rule Set".  A Rule Set will always override your default settings, if applied correctly. CS should have said:

"...if you use Instant Book, you won't be able to prevent a booking, if the Rule Set you created, or your default settings don't prevent it."

That is a true statement. 

If you weren't using instant book, you would have seen the Rule Set you were trying to use wasn't going to work the way you intended, and you could decline the booking request, or let the guest know only a 7day stay was available.

Most of what I learned about Rule Sets, I found out from user forums, YouTube and making my own mistakes! Here is the only information I have found on Rule Sets on Airbnb. There is also the Community Guide with Screen Shots:

Rule Sets

 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2061

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2062

Community Guide

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Guides/GUIDE-Use-Pro-Tools-to-Set-Calendar-Custom-Pric...

Rule Sets are tricky....without being able to see your calendar and Rule Set, It would be hard for me to analyze what happened. You said you had a 10-day gap and applied a 7night min (no other restrictions). I believe this is what caused the issue. Since you didn't use check-in or check-out restrictions with your Rule Set and only applied a 7night min stay to a 10day opening, this allowed a guest to book 4 nights in that gap (your default setting). You would have needed to add check-in/check-out restrictions to the Rule Set, require a 10night min stay, or "bracket your 7night min stay Rule set with another Rule Set before the 7nights and another after the 7night min stay (I believe). It's always possible it was a "glitch" with Airbnb. That being said, most of the time when a Rule Set I applied didn't work, it was my fault for not understanding how to create the Rule Set to accomplish what I wanted. It's like any other computer program; it will only do what you tell it to do. 

Again, so sorry about what happened. I wish there was more information for hosts on this as well, as some of what I learned came from making mistakes (not a great way to learn!). It would be helpful if there was more cautionary information available regarding application of Rule Sets in addition to just how to create and edit them. This is especially true for Hosts who use Instant Book and also live in the home. 

[Sari658]

Yeah, I get it that software has its glitches. I work in software industry and have worked for the most part of my professional life so I know all about that. Or a lot anyway. 

But my issue is this: if it is not properly instructed anywhere and not even a caution is issued, then the only right remedy would have been to allow me to cancel the booking immediately without ramifications. And they did not allow me to do that, they did not instruct me in any meaningful way how the rule sets should be applied and they are evasive and practice delay strategies (the most annoying part I think). 

Now the end result is that I am annoyed and frustrated, I have to host a booking which I really don't want because it is negative revenue and am none the wiser about how the rule sets should work. The town is full of other apartments readily available and many of them cheaper than mine. The guest would not have suffered if Airbnb had allowed me to cancel . 

And I have disabled Instant Booking. Can't take this kind of s..it the second time.

But on the positive note: been fun "talking" to you!

[Joan2709]

Fun chatting with you too!!  One thing you could try until feel comfortable trying Rule Sets again...

You could leave Instant Book on until you have another situation where you want to try a custom Rule Set again. I would simply turn off Instant Book for that short period you have applied the Rule Set and thus you would be able to screen bookings during that time frame. This would also clue you in that the Rule Set you applied may not be working properly without getting hurt by a booking you didn't expect. After the dates have passed, simply turn Instant Book back on. This would be a great way to test out your Rule Set(s) with no negative consequences of a booking you didn't want. You may get a trip request that you don't want (Rule Set didn't work the way you wanted). You can get the guest to cancel the trip request, or decline. It would be better to advise the guest those dates are not actually available and get them to cancel the request and submit a new one if they like. Otherwise, you will have to decline a trip request. Declining trips is tracked by Airbnb and if you have too many, it will hurt you in search results rank and even your SuperHost status. 

Either way, I thing you will continue to do very well! Your listings look great!

Cheers!