Host being penalized for declined bookings/ cancellations

[Shayna20]

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?

[Linda108]

Given your minimum age of 25 in order to book, @Shayna20  , it might be best for you to not use Instant Book so you can vet guests prior to booking.  Air BNB does not screen for that age minimum so you might have to cancel a lot of reservations which is not good for the platform.  While your minimum age is totally understandable, perhaps this platform is not a good fit for your beautiful home.

[Anonymous]

@Shayna20   As @Linda108  said, you obviously aren't a take-all-comers host, so Instant Book was not a good idea for you in the first place. You might as well leave it off.

But in the process of screening your guests, you should also take a close look at the Nondiscrimination Policy:  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1405/

It specifically says:  Airbnb hosts may not: impose any different terms or conditions or decline a reservation based on the guest’s age or familial status

So it would appear that you're not allowed to set a minimum age of 25, and risk having your listing suspended if you're reported for age discrimination. I can understand that you don't want your house to be used for a wild frat party, but an illegal age restriction is not the way to achieve this. You can either add security features that allow you to monitor the house, or consider listing on a platform with a more mature user base.

[Jennifer1421]

@Shayna20, I'll echo @Anonymous's warning about the potential for removal of your listing based on ageism - if reported you will likely be removed, as Airbnb treats discrimination very seriously.

As far as being put in "instant book jail", yes, it's a undisclosed penalty that is meted out and there is nothing you can do about it. It has happened to me, and Instant Booking was switched off on my listing without warning for a period of several weeks.

This is the first time I've heard of a metric (5 consecutive acceptances) that must be met, though. Usually, hosts are told that the account activity will be re-evaluated every 7 days, and Instant Book will be turned back on when the algorithm decides that the activity warrants it. So, it's good to know about this metric (if it is the truth - sometimes CX doesn't get it right), and what needs to be done to get IB switched back on.

[Ange2]

@Shayna20    It has happened to me. In my experience it is a hopeless cause to ask Airbnb to address this. I have never had any positive resolve and it has always ended up to be frustrating and a time-waster. It is probably an automated action baked into their coding. Always better to figure a way to have your own back and a work-around to issues that crop up on Airbnb, it is often less, and not, punitive.

Possibly your listing has slid down the search ranks because it is no longer new. Airbnb is alleged to give front page search priority to new listings for the first week or so. In my experience having IB makes no difference whatsoever in reservations, but not having it does give you more control. Many hosts refuse to do IB and still do very well without it.

In my opinion Airbnb should be clearer in stating what 'penalty-free' means, the definition of penalty in this instance is obviously specific and narrow because penalties do exist, just not the six penalties that hosts get if they cancel a reservation without IB or extenuating circumstances.  Note: Opaqueness is a theme in many Airbnb policies.