Which do you prefer: Instabook or Request?

[Debra48]

As a host, I have problems with both. With Instabook, we have the option to set parameters whereby the guest must be reviewed and cannot have negative reviews. With Requests, no such options exist.

With Instabook, you are allowed to decline if the guest makes you feel "uncomfortable," up to three times without penalty. With requests, you are allowed to deny three times before being penalized.

With Instabook, your calendar is not blocked if you reject the booking. With Requests, your calendar is automatically blocked for 24 hours unless the guest withdraws the request. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, I shut down Instabook. But lately I am reconsidering because I find the Request system to be quite burdensome, particularly since I get numerous requests from people who either have not read my house rules or are unreviewed. In both cases, I have to deny the request and am penalized or implore the guest to withdraw the request. 

I have suggested to Airbnb that at the very least, establish the same parameters for the request system as Instabook, and if the prospective guest fails to meet said parameters, then automatically reroute the prospective guest to an Inquiry.

I'm curious to know which system (Instabook or Request) hosts prefer, and why. Before I switch back to Instabook, I'm interested in host feedback. Thank you so much for taking a bit of time to share your personal host experiences. Others no doubt will find your input valuable, as well. 

[Sarah977]

@Debra48 "I have suggested to Airbnb that at the very least, establish the same parameters for the request system as Instabook, and if the prospective guest fails to meet said parameters, then automatically reroute the prospective guest to an Inquiry."

You don't seem to grasp why hosts are able to set some parameters for IB. It's because they have no opportunity to read a guest's reviews and communicate with them before a booking is confirmed. It's designed as a security feature for hosts who use IB.

With a request, you can see if they have reviews and read them, you can see if they have verified ID, you can communicate with them.

Inquiries are a way for guests to ask questions without committing, if they have special requirements or things about the listing aren't clear to them, or they just have a question, as some of my single female guests have, as to whether the 20 minute walk to town is safe for a woman alone.

If they have no questions, or anything to discuss, why would they want to send an inquiry, rather than a request?

[Debra48]

Actually, I find that many requests are accompanied by questions (unfortunately). You would think not, but they are. 

In the end, it seems to me the ease of cancellation is the central difference. If an IB makes you uncomfortable, say, because they have a negative review, you simply contact Airbnb and let them know. Airbnb happily cancels it. You can still communicate with a person who uses IB. If you are uncomfortable with the communication  (or lack thereof), Airbnb will cancel the booking if you state the guest makes you uncomfortable. If a person uses IB without verified ID, the system gives them 12 hours to complete the verification process and if not completed within that period of time, their booking is cancelled.

At least this is my understanding of how the system works. Airbnb is much more willing to cancel bookings if you state guests who use IB make you uncomfortable. And this comes without penalty.

[Michelle53]

@Debra48    Airbnb may require you to turn off instant book if you call in a large number of cancellations. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2022/can-a-host-cancel-a-reservation-without-adverse-consequence...

Instant Book reservations

Hosts can cancel Instant Book reservations without penalty under certain circumstances. Some examples include:

• The guest makes it clear they’ll likely break one of the host’s house rules, like bringing a pet or smoking
• The listing does not fit the needs of the guest
• The guest has several unfavorable reviews or a lack of profile information that concerns the host

You’ll be able to cancel Instant Book reservations online penalty-free 3 times in one year for these reasons—after that, you’ll have to contact us to make the cancellation without penalty. Otherwise, host cancellation penalties will apply.

If you cancel a large number of your Instant Book reservations, you may be required to turn off Instant Book.     (emphasis mine).

Items 1 and 2 aren't going to be of any help if you are having difficulty communicating with the guests.  Perhaps you might consider adding language to your listing that your booking window is short and you kindly request that guests return your messages as soon as possible. Or words to that effect. 

[Debra48]

Sarah gave me some excellent verbiage to use below, which I greatly appreciate. The only reason I turn down requests are because of one or more of the three reasons you state above. Either guests are unreviewed, they didn't read my rules or they have a bad review/profile info. I turn down requests for these reasons all the time. At least one of these reasons (no previous reviews) is mitigated automatically through the IB process. That right there saves me a little time and trouble.

I really appreciate your suggestions and input, Michelle. I think after Thanksgiving I will try out IB again, see how it works for me. My problem is that the request system is ill-equipped to handle hosts who are bombarded by requests that they cannot honor. Thank goodness things have slowed down a bit!

[Sarah977]

@Debra48  "In the end, it seems to me the ease of cancellation is the central difference. If an IB makes you uncomfortable, say, because they have a negative review, you simply contact Airbnb and let them know. Airbnb happily cancels it."

But Debra, there is almost never a need for a request to be cancelled after a host accepts it. You have the opportunity to  look at a guest's reviews, see if they are verified, and communicate with them before accepting or declining. So why would you need to cancel after the booking is accepted?

The reason Airbnb makes it not difficult to cancel an IB booking is because the booking is confirmed without host involvement. So if the guest then sends messages which raise red flags, the host may want to cancel. With requests, a host has the opportunity to get those red flags before ever accepting in the first place.

I have never used IB, and my experience with requests is quite different from yours. My guests tend to send polite, informative messages along with their requests, and have some history of positive reviews, and answer any questions on a timely manner, so I have no qualms about accepting, and have never once had to cancel a booking because red flags emerged after the booking was confirmed.

I understand your frustration with requests if the majority of the ones you get don't respond to your questions and your calendar stays blocked. 

As Michelle suggests, there is wording you can use that will encourage a response. Something like "Hi XX. Thank you for your request. I have a few questions I ask guests before I will accept a booking, which are ______. Please answer asap so we can get things squared away. If I don't receive a response by 3 pm today, I will respectfully have to decline."

Of course, you have to take into consideration what time zone  a guest is in. It would be unreasonable to expect them to respond if it is the middle of the night for them.

[Debra48]

I don't know if it's a technical glitch or what, but I was mobbed with requests over the period of a few days, and two of the times their request was ACCEPTED while I was messaging them. So infuriating. Airbnb said they cannot accept requests; I said I never accepted the requests. We went round and round -- to nowhere. 

I WISH my prospective guests would have a history of positive reviews. Unfortunately, that definitely is not always the case. So that leaves me in the position of either 1) denying their request and getting penalized, 2) wasting time calling Airbnb to explain, 3) asking guest to withdraw the request, which I personally find offensive. 

Further, I have found my questions to be unanswered for hours on end, which is frustrating to say the least. That said, I do love Michelle's suggestion (THANKS MICHELLE!), and took a screen shot of it for future use. Thanks for reiterating it here in your comment, Sarah! Y'all have been super helpful and I truly appreciate it. And this -- from a seasoned superhost.

[Sarah977]

@Debra48I WISH my prospective guests would have a history of positive reviews. Unfortunately, that definitely is not always the case. So that leaves me in the position of either 1) denying their request and getting penalized, 2) wasting time calling Airbnb to explain, 3) asking guest to withdraw the request, which I personally find offensive.

No, those are not your only options. You don't seem to understand that just because a guest is new and has no reviews, that is not enough in itself to refuse to acccept a booking from them. So there is option 4.

It's a matter of communicating with them to ascertain whether they will be a good fit for your place, whether they understand how it all works, have read your listing info and house rules, making sure they've entered the coreect numver of  guests, etc. So yes, you do need to spend more time dealing with them than you would an experienced guest. That's just part of the job of hosting.

You are trying to have the same requirements for a request that you are afforded for an IB, but that isn't how it works, and that isn't how hosts handle requests. If you keep insisting on not accepting a guest simply because they have no reviews, you will continue to be frustrated and aggravated.

While I do get many more requests from seasoned guests who don't throw up any red flags, I've accepted several guests who had no reviews. They all turned out to be great guests.

The one I was most wary about was a profile that said he was a student, the profile photo was of him and 2 other guys toasting with drinks in their hands, and he had no reviews, but a profile that dated from several years earlier. He communicated nicely and politely, though, and I accepted. 

He turned out to be a stellar guest who left his room and bathroom so immaculate it didn't even look like anyone had stayed in there for 4 days aside from the used towels hanging neatly on the rod. He even made the bed. And brought down his small bag of garbage and recyclables unbidden, asking where he should put them.

I was happy to be able to give him his first review, which was glowing.

So work on some wording that will hopefully prompt the requesters to answer you, and go for option 4 if possible- accepting the request based on your communications with the newbie guest.

There is nothing offensive about asking a guest to withdraw their request if they indicate they are intending to break your rules, or asking for something that you don't provide, or are throwing up red flags. But asking them to withdraw a request simply because they are new to Airbnb indeed isn't okay and would be offensive.

[Debra48]

So this is what happened to me. I was contacted by a doctor who said he and a fellow student from medical school days were going to be in town for a convention. He gave me his name. He checked out online. And assured me he would treat my home as his own. When I returned, artwork was OFF the wall, lines of cocaine were on the bedroom side tables, his doctor buddy was drinking a beer with some bimbo 1.5 hours past checkout time while waiting for Uber, the house smelled like a brewery, body oil and stains were all over the sheets, etc. I was mortified. Ever since, I have not allowed unreviewed guests to stay unless they literally beg for the place and provide an outside security deposit and sign paperwork. If they don't, I take a quick pass. Once burned...twice shy!

[Sarah977]

@Debra48  I totally understand that if an unreviewed guest turned out to be a nightmare, it would make you not want to accept unreviewed guests. But plenty of hosts accept non-reviewed guests and they turn out to be wonderful.

Just because someone has a car accident doesn't mean they'll never drive or ride in a car again. If the accident was totally another driver's fault, that's akin to a guest managing to breach your vetting procedures by saying all the right things ( saying he's a doctor and saying he'll treat your house like his own would actually be red flags to me. Like he's trying too hard to convince you). So even though you may have thought you asked all the right questions, the guest bamboozled you. So the next time, you learn to ask different questions and not assume because someone is a doctor, he'll be a  respectful guest.

Just like even though the car accident was someone else's fault, we will probably drive more defensively going forward.

If the car accident happened because you were distracted, overtired, had been putting off getting bad tires replaced, etc, then that would probably be a learning experience- you'd get behind the wheel again, but would make sure not to drive in a way that caused you to have the accident.

So that's all I'm trying to say. There's no need to never accept a guest with no reviews just because one lying jerk abused your trust. The world is full of lyiing jerks and we encounter them in many walks of life. We don't decide that everyone who happens to look a lot like that guy who was a toxic co-worker must also be a lying jerk. We instead judge people by their indiividual behavior. 

I  used to be the kind of person who just assumed everyone had good intentions and trusted them until they proved me wrong. After getting burned several times, I now don't automatically distrust people, but I don't just blindly trust them until they prove themselves to be trustworthy.

BTW one of the filthiest, most chaotic homes I've ever been in was one of a doctor I knew outside of his practice. 🙂

[Debra48]

Okay, Sarah, I hear you. Maybe I should lighten up, you say. And maybe you're right. But not for unreviewed doctors and, I will add, unreviewed professional athletes. Doctors can be, after all, the worst abusers of the drugs they peddle. And professional athletes are, well, very strong playboys. I know I'm being judgmental and of course there are exceptions, but not if they're unreviewed. Never again!

Oh, and btw, do you have a checklist of items you go over with unreviewed guests, i.e., did you read my rules, etc.?

I really appreciate your feedback! I come here to this community often times to air my own frustrations, and y'all have been wise and kind in return!!! Thank you.

[Sarah977]

@Debra48  Yeah, I had a dentist friend who got hooked on the pure liquid cocaine he had access to and went nuts one night, going to his office and smashing everything up. 

When I get a request which is accompanied by a message that isn't informative or confidence-inspiring, such as nothing more than, " Arriving  at noon", before I've even accepted the booking, my strategy has been to answer them like "Hi XX, Thanks for your request. I'm just checking as to whether you've read thoroughly through my listing description and are aware that it's a 20 minute walk to town and the beach, and that I have a large dog, in case you have allergies or are afraid of dogs?"

I use those two questions because those are things that could be deal breakers for guests for my particular listing, and because that info isn't front and center in my listing ad- they have to read through things to get to that info. So if they answer, "Oh, yes, I'm aware of that- I like to walk and am an outdoorsy type. And I love dogs and have one myself, although I won't be travelling with him", then I know that they haven't just looked at the photos and the price.

Other host's questions would be different, of course. I don't ask if they've read the house rules, because even though I have no children, no pets, and no parties checked off, as a home share host who only hosts one guest at a time, those rules aren't really an issue- no one could get away with those things.

Entire home listings are far more open to abuse, so if I had one, I'd definitely be really clear about whether they had read all the rules and agreed to comply. 

I find that asking some questions designed to give you an idea of whether the guest has actually read things, coupled with a friendly, chatty tone, ellicits on-point responses, but YMMV. 

I've actually got dates blocked to booking now, because of covid and some other things going on in my life at the moment, and had forgotten to block far enough out. So I got a request 2 days ago for late Dec. with a pretty nice message saying "they" liked the looks of my place and wanted to book. Within 5 minutes, before I had a chance to answer, another message came from him,, "Oh no, my girlfriend just noticed it's only a single bed ", followed by him immediately withdrawing the request. So luckily I didn't have to answer him at all or decline, but I did in fact message him, as hopefully a favor to other hosts, saying " Yes, it's a single bed and my listing also is titled "For Solo Traveler" and shows a one guest maximum. It's important to really read all the listing info before sending a request."

🙂

[Debra48]

It's just amazing how many people do not read the rules and yet send in requests. Which isn't really a problem as long as they are prompt with communications and withdraw their request. But too often I've had the exact kind of problem Brian is ranting about -- it is infuriating. And when I'm dealing with 3-5 requests a day, it makes me wanna tear my hair out! 

Today I booked myself a place on Airbnb and noticed the "contact host" button is a long scroll down the page, well past REQUEST. That's just effing wrong, imo. 

[Sarah977]

@Debra48  I don't know why I hadn't looked at your listing before, but I just did. I'm gobsmacked. It's stunning. I think it's the most incredible listing I've seen, at least as far as what appeals to me personally. No plans to come to LA, but if I ever do, I'll find a few friends to split it with, for sure. 

[Debra48]

I would welcome you with open arms, Sarah, because you have helped me process this. Ultimately, my son and I are both marketing gurus and we're putting our heads together on how to sidestep this entire IB/Request system into which Airbnb has locked its hosts. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Debra48 we use instant book and haven't had any issues so far (touch wood). When we switched it off during the pandemic we disappeared on the search listings.