If you're an experienced host I am sure that you're familiar with this issue but I feel like I am being penalized for being a diligent, responsible host. I listed a week or two ago and had two instant bookings very quickly. My second instant booking had a terrible review, so I called Airbnb and they cancelled it 'penalty free' so they said. After that I received a number of requests to book and no instant bookings which I thought was odd, and accepted them all. One guest then cancelled his reservation.
Yesterday I got a request to book which I declined because they didn't meet my minimum age to book which is clearly stated in my listing. I called Airbnb to verify that wouldn't negative affect me and after a lot of conversation I found out that they turned off my instant booking without my knowledge because of the first instant book cancellation and that they wouldn't turn it back on until I've accepted 5 requests to book consecutively......I have now essentially been 'reset' to 0 because I declined that last request, even though it was for a legitimate reason.
I am upset because I had no clue they turned off my instant booking, no clue about these repercussions, and this week I have noticed a drop in views and inquiries, which I suspect is because I don't have instant book feature. They even grouped the guest cancellation in my track record when discussing this concern with me! My question is for a host who has experienced a similar issue, how did you successfully elevate this concern so they actually listened to you and got this type of arbitrary decision reversed? Or is this a hopeless cause?