AirBNB threatened to suspend my account **

[Douglas353]

I just received a notice from AirBNB threatening to suspend my account for **.  The AirBNB support person told me **

WHY IS AIRBNB TELLING ME **?   THAT'S NOT RIGHT !

In addition the information on AirBNB's web site about short term stays is WRONG and violate current short term rental laws.  

I have bookings I don't want to lose.  Why would AirBNB suspend my account when I have active bookings? 

Anyone else having the same issue?  How do I contact the AirBNB advocate/liaison person or someone at AirBNB to discuss this issue?

Thank you

**[Content redacted due to its misleading nature]

[Douglas353]

@Lisa723  That's along the lines of what I've been doing except through Airbnb messages.  I've had no problems with the people who have booked.  Just got a 5 star rating from my last guest.  What's happening is people don't respond to the special pricing/dates offer then it looks like it turns into something against me.   I'm not Declining their stay, I'm offering them a stay.

Do you understand how special offers work in which the guest does nothing? 

[Lisa723]

@Douglas353 yes, I do. I think you need to forestall booking requests from people who don't understand/trust your method for working with/around the law, by making it as crystal clear as possible in your listing and your pre-booking messaging how booking with you is going to work.

Ultimately, if a guest sends a request to book and the result is not a confirmed booking, you are going to suffer. So you need to do all you can to prevent requests to book that you can't convert to a booking.

[Douglas353]

So even if I offer a special booking and the guest doesn't accept it goes against me?  I guess that's why the CS rep at Airbnb said to call and cancel.  That way it won't go against me and might possibly go against the guest. 

You've been a lot of help.  Thank you 

[Lisa723]

@Douglas353 you're welcome!

If a guest sends a booking request, and it doesn't result in a booking, it goes against you-- unless the guest withdraws the request.

The advice to call and cancel a confirmed booking is mostly bad.  In some circumstances you can get a penalty-free cancellation, but it's not something to count on.

I think you need to focus on preventing booking requests from guests who are not on board with your 14-night requirement.

[Douglas353]

I want to make sure I understand this, because this isn't what I was told by Airbnb CS.   This is from memory so work with me. 

There is the accept button and flat out Decline.  But then there's a Special Offer, Dates Unviable and I'm not comfortable with the guest buttons.   

Are you saying if I click on special offer and the guest doesn't accept that's the same as me just clicking on Decline?  (Even though I'm not declining) 

Do "dates unavailable" and "I'm not comfortable with the guest" result in dings as well?

Is the ding counter ever reset?  

[Lisa723]

@Douglas353 if you send a special offer and the guest doesn’t accept then yes that is the same as or worse than a decline. In both cases the guest is requesting something you are advertising and isn’t getting it.

[Douglas353]

I’m not Declining, I’m giving a special offer to the guest. 

[Emilia42]

@Douglas353 Yes, but after the 24-hour window that Special Offer counts as a decline if not accepted. If a guest puts through a request to book and that request is not turned into a confirmed booking with the 24-hour window it is a DECLINE. Just because you are physically not clicking the decline button doesn't mean you aren't declining a booking. You are trying to skirt the system and you can't. 

[Douglas353]

@Emilia42  Why do you say I’m trying to skirt the system?  That is not true, and YES the system can be skirted.  I’m trying to work within the limitations of Airbnb’s reservation system while abiding by local laws.  Yesterday I received 5 phone calls from Airbnb CS about this issue and they told me since I stated in the listing people requesting sty’s for less than 14 nights should contact me Airbnb don’t have an issue with what I am doing since I am offering a stay with me.

[Emilia42]

@Douglas353 

You are trying to skirt the system by thinking that you can send the guest a special offer and that will replace a "decline." It doesn't.

A special offer means nothing unless accepted. So when the 24 hours window times out and you are left with a guest who either hasn't answered or has refused the offer than that counts against you as a DECLINE. That is how the system works.  

[Sarah977]

@Douglas353  You are conflating two different things that aren't really connected.

One is your reason for how you are dealing with guest requests- because of your local laws (and yes, you are trying to skirt the laws- I don't know why you keep denying this- it seems the intention of the law is to prevent short term vacation rentals in favor of offering longer term housing).

But that has nothing to do with how Airbnb calculates declines- you could be sending these special offers for any reason. You are denying bookings to any guest who refuses to book for less than 14 days, when your booking settings say that they can book for a minimum 2 days.

It would be the same as having your listing say that you accept up to 4 guests, so that you appear in search to those looking for accommodation for 4, then telling them that you actually only accept 2, sending them a special offer for 2 and expecting them to accept it.

[Douglas353]

@Sarah977  Not a good analogy at all.  That would be bait and switching.  That is NOT what I'm doing.  It's more like going to a restaurant.  The guest orders a medium burrito.  Shop owner says we are out of medium burritos but would you like a large burrito for the same price?  The large has everything the medium burrito has an a bit more.   It's up to the guest if they stop eating when they finish the medium burrito or eat the entire large burrito.

[Sarah977]

@Douglas353  I find your analogy also not on. If the restaurant never  had medium burritos but continued to offer them on their menu, that would be false advertising.

You are doing bait and switch. Your listing is set to 2 night minimum. So guests can send requests for 2 nights. Then you are telling them they can't book for only 2 nights. That's false advertising.

Whether you think they'd be foolish to not accept your special offer is immaterial.

[Lisa723]

@Sarah977 I think if the listing text is clear on the procedure this is no bait and switch. The guest can get the 2-night stay at the advertised price, but to comply with the law the booking will be for 14 nights. There is really no reason for the guest, or anyone, to object to this. @Douglas353 is caught between a poorly-written law (which really should limit bookings to one stay per 14 nights, rather than requiring all stays to be booked for a minimum of 14 nights) and Airbnb's limitations.

I think if I were in this position I would be working really hard to convert to direct booking-- or just give it up and convert to LTR.

[Douglas353]

@Lisa723  Oh Lisa how right you are.   Here's the issue with LTR, Berkeley's rent control laws.

Because of covid and no students in a college town ltr rents for 1 bdrm apartments are down 25%.  (Two bedrooms are up because everyone is working from home.) 

If we rented our apartment today it would be 25% below fair market value.  In the fall if/when rents return to "normal" Berkeley's Rent Control laws prevents limits the rent increase.   It would take 30 years of rent increases for rental properties to reach 2019 pre-covid rates.  There are people who have 3 bdrm 2 ba appts for $800 per month when across the hall they are paying $3,000 for the same apartment.  

Berkeley Rent Control laws never considered a time when rent's would dramatically decrease for a long period of time.  Most properties in Berkeley cannot legally be strs

And we know the City of Berkeley is working with Airbnb to fine and shut down illegal strs.  

Many landlords are have left their apartments vacant and are waiting for rental prices to bounce back.  The city wants them to rent to the homeless.

What would you do in this situation?