Two-Day Minimum Booking Issue with Airbnb: Unresponsive Support and No Progress

[Liridona4]

I'm facing an issue where guests can't book my Airbnb unless they reserve for at least two days. Airbnb has confirmed this isn't due to my settings. I've contacted their customer service, but there's been no progress. They ask for a good time to call, but don't follow through, and when I call, they say my case isn't assigned to them. I'm stuck and unsure how to proceed. Any advice?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Liridona4 Have you tried changing to a 7 night min stay and then back to 1 night? It might just trigger a reset of the listing - Just don't blame me if you get stuck on 7 nights!

There does appear to be another issue as the listing has many reviews but your profile only has 1. I guess you have recently been made a co-host? I doubt this is relevant though to the problem at hand.

[Liridona4]

Hi Mike and Jane!

Thanks for your response. Yes, me and my husband have tried that method several times, but it hasn't worked 😞

The issue with being made a recent co-host is unrelated to the matter, ut thanks for bringing it to my attention. I have been a co-host from the beginning, so will need to investigate further this matter now. 

Thanks,

Liri

[Paula]

Hello @Liridona4, welcome to the Airbnb Community Center.

It looks like this could be happening due to the time-based government regulations in Chicago, which require a minimum of two nights to Host an Airbnb. I did a search in our Community and found a conversation where fellow Hosts from Chicago were discussing this topic: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Ask-about-your-listing/Attention-Chicago-hosts/m-p/1316043.

It might be worth taking a look at the STR in Chicago to get a better understanding.

[Liridona4]

Thank you, Paula!

Your explanation has been the closest to making any sense. We are shocked that we weren't made aware of this at all, at any point in conversations with the AirBnB Customer Service (which continues to date, as they keep closing our cases).

I read through the thread, but the messages are indeed old, maybe from 3 years ago. We became hosts only this year, so we do not have a notification from the AirBnB or the Department of Business Affairs. We will need to reach out to see whether the ordinance is still in place, but it would perhaps be unlikely because before guests have been able to book a one-night stay with us, and also, it appears strange that Customer Service won't bring this to our attention. 

Should the ordinance not be the problem, do you have any other advice for us; even on how to deal with the Customer Service who keeps on ignoring our requests to provide an explanation?

Thank you,

Liri

[Paula]

Hello @Liridona4, as you mentioned, the conversation shared has been in our community for a few years. However, @Inna22, who is the original poster, is still a very active member in our community. I thought it would be a good idea to tag her here to see if she has any additional information that could help us understand the situation better.

[Liridona4]

Absolutely! Just posted on the thread, but will also tag @Inna22 . 

Thanks, again!

[Inna22 · Accepted solution]

@Liridona4 as far as I know that was a permanent change to the ordinance and not a Covid measure and still in place. You can google the full ordinance and I recommend you do that. While it is a fairly boring read, you do need to comply with a few things that are not intuitive (exit signs etc). I was once fined for something very silly by the city.

Also, I would not rely on customer service to know the intricacies of local regulations. I feel like they are barely keeping a handle on their own rules 🙂

[Liridona4]

Thank you @Inna22! I appreciate the clarity of your answer. This is at least feeling like it has some reasoning behind it. 

Just to make sure, to date, your guests have not been able to book a one-night stay at your place? 

[Liridona4]

And also, another important point, if this indeed is the case that the city of Chicago does not allow a one-night booking, how come there are places that show as bookable for one night in Chicago -- it's just that ours doesn't show?

[Inna22]

@Liridona4 are you sure? They are probably either not in chicago proper or they are hotel rooms vs STR

[Liridona4]

Ah, @Inna22, you're right! I think these are in places like Evanston, Oak Park, etc. Thank you for opening our eyes 🙂 

[Inna22]

@Liridona4 that is correct