Listing not suitable for children- Listing in danger of being suspended

[Amy1805]

Our home is listed as "not suitable for children." We have a fireplace surround that would hurt a child should they fall into it, we have stairs that are not child-suited on our deck/patio which is right by a road, we don't have outlet covers, etc. We continue to have guests request to stay at our home. I've declined 3 reservation requests because they all had small children. I received an email from AirBnb that my listing in danger of being suspended for declining the last 3 requests for our listing.

When I called AirBnb to understand why I was informed that although my listing may not be suitable for children it's up to the guest if they want to stay anyway. I was further informed that if I decline a total of 10 reservations my listing will be permanently deleted.

Is anyone else having this situation, and if so, can you offer any advice?

[Laura2592]

@Amy1805 we aren't suitable for infants and we STILL get parents who say that they want to bring them. Our stairs are basically a hair shy of a ladder. We don't want parents carrying babies up and down nor crawling/creeping toddlers wandering to the edge and taking a tumble. Its way too risky. 

I would get your guests to withdraw rather than you declining more reservations. Just explain that you aren't insured to include kids due to the lack of safety features and that you are unable to accept them at this time. Invite the parents to book solo at a future date and ask that they withdraw the request. Note, too, the difference between an inquiry and request. Don't go around declining inquiries. You don't need to. They will expire on their own. You just need to respond.

I think its crazy that ABB tries to wrest control of safety in a host's space from the actual homeowner. Its one of the reasons we put our property on the market. 

[Amy1805]

Thank you for your reply. I don't actually decline inquiries, only requests. I can't believe that the position of AirBnb when it comes to safety issues is that it's up to the guest. Ultimately I am liable, and those are risks we are unwilling to take. It's extremely disappointing to feel to unsupported by AirBnb.

[Debra48]

I also go through flurries of requests I simply cannot accept. I will give you a tip that works for me, which I developed after having experienced the same problem as you.  I posted a notice at the very top of my rules requesting prospective guests to scroll down and submit an inquiry by selecting Contact Host BEFORE making a request to book. Then, when I receive a questionable request (or actually, any request now), I politely ask them to withdraw their request and review my rules first. This serves quite a few purposes: it actually forces people who really want to book my property to read my rules first, and this is very important to me. It also is a trick question that lets me know if a prospective guest has read my rules. Clearly, if they have submitted a request, they haven't read my rules. Anyone who really wants the property will go through the steps. And those that don't withdraw their request and fall by the wayside. As for me, I have abandoned my long-standing rule of not accepting unreviewed guests because I feel that people who make the effort are worth accepting, regardless. I hope this helps! 

[Amy1805]

Brilliant! Thank you so much for the sage advice!

[Huma0]

@Debra48 

I like your approach and thought about doing something similar after reading your post. However, there is one problem here. That is that you have stated this not at the beginning of your house rules (which Airbnb does not allow hosts to determine) but in the section of additional house rules that guests have to click on a link to see. In my experience anyway, the guests who do not read the rules before requesting to book do not click on that section, so they are never even going to see this.

Of course, it's good to have there anyway so that you have the option to tell them to withdraw the request until they have read your rules. Personally, I ask all guests to confirm the full rules before I accept a booking request. I include an 'Easter egg' questions for them there so that I can know if they have actually done so (many, many people lie about it otherwise). 

This has helped greatly but doesn't work with ALL requests. The reason is that they are either not checking or paying attention to their messages (guests have no idea there is a 24 hour clock ticking, many do not have notifications turned on and lots think that once they send the request, the job is done and they're not expecting questions back from the host). So, telling them to withdraw the request is probably not going to work for a lot of these types.

I am glad to hear that this method works for you, but I can't see it dealing with most of the problematic guests that I get requests from because they are A. Not reading that expanded section of the house rules who will never see this instruction and B. Not making sure to check their messages meaning they never see the request to withdraw their request in time!

Hope that makes sense...

[Debra48]

Right you are, Huma. But since I have done it both ways -- with and without asking them to withdraw their request and read my rules first -- I find that more people either 1) withdraw and drop out or 2) read my rules and message me with an Inquiry. It's certainly not 100% effective. But it definitely increases the number of guests who withdraw their requests. And this is the whole point.

[Huma0]

@Debra48 

Yes, true, there is no harm in asking and I have also managed to get some unsuitable guests to withdraw their requests from time to time. It's definitely worth a shot.

However, I still find that there are three different types of guests in this respect:

1. Guest who reads and digests everything, sends you a nice introductory message with the info you require and you barely need to ask them anything (or maybe nothing at all) before accepting the booking. This is a rare bird.

2. Guest who has read some stuff but has missed the extended house rules and needs to be reminded to look for them in order to answer the Easter egg question.  They are happy to do so once pointed in the right direction. Occasionally, once this guest has read everything, they realise it's not a good fit for them and withdraw, or they ask questions that make you realise it's not a good fit. You ask them to withdraw and often they do.

3. Guest where it's like pulling teeth. No amount of reminders/prompts will make them read anything or answer your questions. Problem with this type of guest is that they are unlikely to respond within the 24 hour timeframe, but even if they do, they do not answer your questions. This is the guest you want to withdraw the request, but you cannot get them to do anything at all, so you just have to decline them. It's painful, but necessary.

[Paula2086]

Do you mind sharing your listing if that is allowed. I am new to airbnb, just opened my calendar and trying to learn 

[Paula2086]

I just read this and thought how brilliant! Lol I just launched my airbnb here in Jamaica. Do you mind sharing the link to your property if that is allowed. Thanks 

[Emiel1]

@Paula2086 

You can find it yourself from the community member picture of each member, as I also  can find your listings: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/249135396

[Sudsrung0]

@Amy1805 

I declined one last night, It quite clearly says we dont accept babies and children and the reasons why we dont, The way I see it we are covering ourselves and airbnb,