Getting requests from unqualified guests with Instant Booking ON

[Don-And-Emily0]

Hi there lovely hosts,

Two months ago, we have decided to turn on Instant Booking  and somehow we get a lot of requests from members with no reviews and/or members who completely disregard our basic house rules. 

It is very time consuming to try and go through the process of vetting potential guests manually, when IB settings like “must have recommendations from other hosts” and “no negative reviews” etc  should take care of it.  Trying to ask the guests qualifying questions and then spending time with Abb on the phone is very time consuming lately.

We want this feature to work as it is meant to be, but somehow most guests ignore the rules.

For example we have a 6 person max, no children under 12, and no pets policy. We just had a potential guest send a Thanksgiving inquiry for 1 person who did not want to write any details  about her trip/group. 

After A LOT of back and forth communication, turns out she had 8 guests and 3 kids under 11… and ended her message with “you don’t have to worry about us, we are good people”. 

Guess  in her world, people who lie and try to deceive others are “good people”

We are aware that dismissing such requests is an option with IB, but after doing so once and getting penalized for it, we are very reluctant to repeat it.

We’d love to hear from some of you who use the IB setting, and how you deal with this issue.

Thank you in advance.

[Colleen253]

@Don-And-Emily0 There isn't much you can do about people not reading your listing or rules. Inappropriate Inquiries and Requests are just a reality, unfortunately. I don't waste my time on Inquiries, as 99% of them are people asking for something I don't offer, or they want me to bend my rules for them. I certainly don't want to start accomodating them, because I'm guaranteed to end up with a problematic stay. A short, polite 'Sorry, but no. Best of luck in your search for something more appropriate for your needs!" is all that's required. With inappropriate Trip Requests (rare, I find), I make every effort to get the person to withdraw it, and if that's unsuccessful, I just have to decline. 

Re your "inquiry for 1 person who did not want to write any details about her trip/group", well that's a red flag right off the bat. EASY NO. Do not waste a second more with dragging any info out. 

"We are aware that dismissing such requests is an option with IB, but after doing so once and getting penalized for it, we are very reluctant to repeat it." Not sure what you mean here. Requests and Instant Books are two separate things. How were you penalized? 

[Don-And-Emily0]

@Colleen253 @Sarah977 Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry I should have been more clear. We cancelled a trip on a group that followed us to another platform just before we left Abb fir two months, not realizing the penalty involved. One cancellation out of 100 seems like a steep penalty, but that is on our record now. 

[Sarah977]

@Don-And-Emily0  If you have IB turned on, then the chances of the requests you get being from people with no reviews, or who have had bad reviews (or maybe they have no reviews because they were bad guests and the hosts decided not to review them, unfortunately) will be high, because they don't qualify for IB.

You don't necessarily have to decline an inappropriate request if you can get the guest to withdraw it before the 24 hours is up. Just tell them why you can't accept and suggest they withdraw the request asap so they'll be free to look for another listing.

I'm also unclear on what you mean by having been penalized for "dismissing" a request.

[Don-And-Emily0]

Thanks for the tip. Very useful. I am really surprised at how many people have abb accounts since 2015-16 but have zero reviews. Maybe like you said, they were so bad, hosts did not want to review them.

We just rented what we thought was going to be a one bedroom near our home because we are renovating, and when we got there it was a “Spartan” studio with very few amenities. Long story short, it was so bad, we did not want to review it. 

[Sarah977]

@Don-And-Emily0  I have had several guests who showed that they had been members for several years and had no reviews. In all cases, it was totally innocent.

One had joined up planning to take a trip, which never materialized, because work commitments got in the way. Another had had 2 Airbnb stays, but her hosts hadn't bothered to leave reviews. Another said she'd stayed in several Airbnbs, but under her husband's account, this was going to be her first solo trip. She also said she just liked perusing Airbnb listings over the world, like looking at a travel magazine.

All of those guests communicated well with me when they requested to book, there were no red flags, and they all were great guests.

I don't quite understand you not leaving a review for an awful place, though. You should warn other guests if it was inaccurately described and pictured.

[Susan1188]

Zero reviews can mean 2 things: either no activity, or bad experience and host did not review.

many people, myself included, have dormant accounts created on an old email they can re-access if they get a bad review on another email.

[Sarah977]

@Susan1188  Those aren't the only possibilities. I've had guests whose previous hosts simply hadn't bothered to leave a review. Not all hosts leave reviews. I've read hosts saying that if the guest doesn't leave a review,  they aren't going to bother themselves to leave a review for the guest (with no regard for other hosts who would appreciate being able to read a  guest's reviews) and there are also hosts who are serial non-reviewers.

There was no reason whatsoever to disbelieve those guests, as far as them saying they'd had other Airbnb stays- they were great guests who I would have a very hard time believing did anything objectionable in their previous stays. And they didn't tell me this in order to get accepted- it came up in conversation when they were in residence.

[Kate2038]

@Don-And-Emily0   I get very few IB bookings, and in the last several months  I've received a lot more requests (those are NOT IB) from people who don't meet my minimum requirements. Some of it has to do with the number of people coming onto the platform as travel resumes post-covid.  There are just a lot of new guests who are learning how AirBnB works, and it's our opportunity to show them the kind of behavior we expect. 

When I get a request from someone who doesn't have verified ID [the number one item lacking], I simply tell them that they have to upload their ID in order to book with me.  90% of people do it. Sometimes they need a little instruction.  The last 10% never answer at all, and that's fine because I don't want them.

It is true that if you turn down a lot of requests, the algorithm will de-prioritize your listing.  And you should turn down requests for people who are asking for unreasonable accommodation.  BUT - people who make inquiries (not IB or request) haven't seen your house rules yet, and you might want to make some things clear in your description (ie no pets) . So keep all that in mind 

And if someone if being overly aggressive or not getting back to you as the deadline approaches, you can call customer service and ask them to withdraw the request

[Colleen253]

@Kate2038 "When I get a request from someone who doesn't have verified ID [the number one item lacking], I simply tell them that they have to upload their ID in order to book with me.  90% of people do it. Sometimes they need a little instruction.  The last 10% never answer at all, and that's fine because I don't want them."

You can automatically require ID for guests to book,

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/272/can-i-require-guests-to-be-verified-before-booking?locale=en&...

[Don-And-Emily0]

@Kate2038 @Thanks for your reply. I agree with your point. Our last guest was completely new to abb. I tried to engage her and when I realized she was not familiar with the process, I guided her through. 

She turned out to be an lovely guest and wants to come back with her group. 

After a year of hosting we are starting to get repeat guests, which we really appreciate 

[Fred13]

@Don-And-Emily0  At $660 a night you do not have much to worry, unless is from someone that wants to pack your cottage with more than 6 people, IB or no IB; to bring down the price per person more to their level of affordability.

I have also noticed that IB is not excluding applicants without reviews; in fact 2 years the worse guest we ever had got through the system because of this glitch.

[Don-And-Emily0]

Hi Fred - thanks for your reply.

Yes - unfortunately we did have one such experience with a young man without reviews. He took the screens off our windows and brought in some 20-30 people at night for a grand party at our expense. You can see his 2 star rant he left after we confronted them. Never again!

[Nina69]

@Don-And-Emily0 @Turn it off, I have been on Airbnb since 2012 and will never do instant book. I book up fully just fine. Airbnb really wants you to do it, as it is very hard to complete a listing without it which is very unfortunate. Remember, You are in charge of which guests you accept, Not Airbnb

[Don-And-Emily0]

@Nina69 Thanks for the advice. I thought having IB on improves visibility. In my area, the airbnb listings more than doubled in the last year so I thought it would be a good idea for that reason alone. 

Not sure how exposure works at all. Sometimes we get 20-30 views per day, and other times we lose just as many... the stats are very confusing.