OMG I finally got a booking!

[Huma0]

So, the Summer Release rolled out back in early May. Since then, my views have dived and I've barely gotten any enquiries, let alone booking requests, and I've had no bookings at all except for a couple from returning guests.

I have recently been in contact with CS about this. After a bit of back and forth, I was told that there was an engineering team working on fixing some of the glitches related to the Summer Release (this was vague, so I don't know which specific glitches they were referring to) but there was really nothing they could do in the meantime to help me. I am not knocking the CS Rep who, as it happens, was pretty decent compared to most I've dealt with in the last couple of years. It just wasn't within his control to do anything to help me.

Then, all of a sudden, I get an enquiry. No big deal, I hear you say, but it's the first one in a month and for a listing that used to be my most popular but that seemed to drop off the map completely after the Summer Release. Then, today, I got a booking request for that same room and, after a bit of back and forth, accepted it. That is literally the first booing in two months.

Maybe it's a complete coincidence, or maybe something has happened.

[David8879]

So, after long fight with ABNB robots (not bots - human robots) - my listing is finally being assigned to BEACH and BEACHFRONT categories (for those who were not following - it was NOT in ANY category - their AI is more of Artificial than Intelligent). Lo and behold I get booking 20 minutes later. Coincidence?

[Huma0]

@David8879 

Wow. Could be a coincidence, but highly unlikely. Being added to categories hasn't resulted in any bookings for me, but then I doubt the guests that would normally book with me are searching for those categories. They know they want to come to London, so why would they search Iconic Cities first?

Beach and Beachfront are entirely different though. I can totally see why guests would click on those.

Keep us updated as to how the bookings go.

[Amanda660]

@Huma0 after the excitement of a wee flurry of bookings (2 weeks ago after 8 weeks of nothing) it’s died an absolute death again.  

Booking came in 2 days ago via BDC but they’re returning guests. who stated earlier in the year. 

[Huma0]

@Amanda660 

Oh dear. Well it sounds like you and I both had a wee ray of light a couple of weeks ago, but it was just a coincidence...

I was hopeful that some glitches were finally getting fixed and that it might make a difference.

Do you know how things are going for your local competition? I wish I knew, but with thousands of listings in London, it's impossible to tell.

[Amanda660]

@Huma0  I’m in a Scottish Host Group too and everyone seems to be experiencing the same.   Lots of hosts on during July and August through bookings made pre-rollout but September onwards is a washout. 

Many who have been commenting weren’t aware of the changes back in May.

[Huma0]

@Amanda660 

So, where are the guests booking I wonder? I'm guessing they must be using other sites or booking hotels, traditional B&Bs etc.

For homestays though, what other options do they have here other than Airbnb? 

[Sue853]

We had a split of about 95%/5% in favour of ABB over BDC for our shoulder season last year. This year that has flipped on its head, and we are more expensive on BDC. I tried the other channels VRBO, HomeAway etc for our first 18 months and got nothing from them so now we only list on ABB and BDC. 

[David8879]

I fail to comprehend what ABNB will do after September Quartery earnings release.

Heads ARE going to roll 

[David8879]

Here is my favorite saying for the hosts believing in social justice:
"If everything going well, fear not - it will not last forever"

[Huma0]

@David8879 

Yep. I very seriously thought about quitting Airbnb after the whole COVID-19 refund fiasco. Regardless of what one believes about whether or not all guests should have received full refunds or not given the circumstances, it was NOT okay for Airbnb to override their own COVID-19 EC policy, plus refund guests for nights, or even weeks, they had already stayed. Sadly, I couldn't really find viable alternatives for platforms that do homestays in London.

Fast forward to late 2021 and my bookings had pretty much recovered and things seemed back on track. It's not like they could make up for the loss of income in 2020 and most of 2021, but at least I (and I am guessing many other hosts) were no longer losing sleep about our STR income. 

Then, bam! Here comes along the Summer Release fiasco which, unlike the COVID-19 refunds and the laying off of experienced and well trained CS staff, was completely avoidable. Not only did the good (and secure) times not last forever, but they didn't last very long!

Other hosts often say do not put all your eggs in the Airbnb basket, but what do you do if there are no other baskets available or only ones that the eggs won't fit in?

[David8879]

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[David8879]

And beating on the dead horse again - how the hell ANYONE (especially ABNB AI programmers) explain this HUGE views' jump with fully booked propertY. 

WHAT
THE
HELL
?

[Huma0]

@David8879 

Mmm, it is definitely very strange. My views are showing as better than the previous month, but at the same time, have been on a downward trajectory since around 11th July. So, basically, after my listings were added to the categories, my views went down!!

Also, as for Airbnb quarterly profits, I heard that they reported they had are really great quarter. I wonder who is booking and what they are booking...

[Huma0]

OMG, I finally got another booking. First one (across my three listings) since the one I originally posted about here back in mid-July. Weirdly, that booking, plus the one in July, were for the room that really dived the most in terms of views...

Right now, all my listings are showing dire views, down on the previous month even thought all months since early May (Summer Release) have been very bad.

I just checked my conversion stats though and don't understand it. Can anyone explain?

One listing is showing as having a roughly 20% higher conversion rate than last month, but that listing has not received any bookings at all since the Summer Release, bar a repeat guest that booked with me direct. The other two show as being down on conversion, with the one room - the only one to get bookings from new guests - as being -63% from last month.

Do these stats make any sense to you? They don't to me...

[Huma0]

Scrap that. The guest who booked on Saturday cancelled the next day. No message, no explanation. 

Before accepting the booking the night before, I answered all of her questions (she had a few because it was clear she had not read the listing before sending the request).

So, that takes it back to just one new booking across three listings since the Summer Release...