Help! My bookings have dropped! Not sure why.

[Mimi20]

Hi everyone. I started hosting about two years ago and have slowly remodeled my hosting room from a basic futon into a really lovely quiet little space. Last year I was on instant book, smart pricing and was booking constantly. Come the fall, I remodeled the room, and in the quiet months had a couple of nasty experiences with guests. One couple had a huge row and the police were called by my neighbors - I terminated their stay and had to battle with airbnb NOT to have this affect my listing negatively.  I'm still not entirely sure it didn't have an affect as my bookings dropped a lot afterwards. Most recently I terminated a very young guest's stay who was becoming increasingly hostile to me and was extremely messy. I refunded him the rest of his stay but he still left a really awful one star review.

Since then I've had hardly ANY bookings and when I do a search my listing doesn't even show up as available. When it does show up, it says the price for one night is three times what I've actually priced it at - it includes the price, the fees, the taxes and the cleaning fee and says that is 'the price for one night'. I've been talking to airbnb about this but I'm curious if anyone has had this happen to them and what I can do to resolve it.

So basically I'm asking how can I recover my listing from the battering it's taken from these two cancellations? How can I get it to show up on the search again? What positive steps can I do to increase my bookings? Any and all advice gratefully received. I'm considering wheelhouse and would love other suggestions.

Thanks

[Ava30]

Hi Mimi: I just looked at your listing. Super price for LA, maybe too low? But you know your area, I do not. Have you "updated" you information or pictures lately? That activity does seem to keep a listing more active. I would also suggest, and this is just me, that the picture of the bed(s), only take a picture with a quilt or comforter covering the wrinkled sheets or iron the sheets to make it appear more tidy. I KNOW your sheets are clean, but unfortunatly, some people see wrinkled sheets as undesirable. Go figure. 

[Emiel1]

Hello @Mimi20 ,

There is a lot of competition in your city, but your listing does show up when zooming in on the map when searching Los Angeles. The price initially displayed in the listing and on the map is 20 USD (and the compatitors surrounding you also are on 20 USD). But when simulating a booking, your listing shows much higher price, like 43 and 59 a night (example: on 12 - 14 august). So you activated Smart Pricing or you set custom prices elsewhere (Like calender). Please note when guests choose dates when searching, the actual prices will show on the map (incl. cleaning fee etc..), but that's applying to all listings, not just yours.

Best regards, Emiel

[Paul154]

Raise your rates. $20/night in LA is a red flag.

You need to do some damage control. You have boundary issues that turn away prospective guests.

Ask Aribnb to remove your long-winded negative responses to reviews. They do not show you in a good light. You come off combative.

Consider you offering, your reviews and your personality. Like many of us, you seem to tire of your long-term stays. No problem, just limit stays to 4 days - it won't affect your income. Don't allow kitchen usage. It is a source of friction. Your revenue will not plummet.

Try to make Airbnb  the pleasant relationship that it can be.

[Inna22]

@Mimi20

I am sure in your place I would have thought in my head all the same things you wrote in your responses to the negative comments. I would have just never posted them.

Address future guests, not the one who wrote feedback and be very factual. Just think about what a future guest would think about it. For example, they would not really care that someone made a mistake of your child's gender but they would care that you are being hostile.

I am sure those guests deserved every word of your response and more, however this is business, not personal. Just remember that. Try posting a few very upbeat and postive reponses to your positive reviews to move all the negatives to some far page noone would ever click on and let your positive and welcome personality shine through those repsonses

[Mimi20]

To be honest most of my best guests said they booked because they enjoyed reading my responses to the **bleep**ty guests lol.

[Inna22]

@Mimi20 you will never know how many did not book because of your responses though. If you want more bookings, try to have clean professional responses. If you want to host just solemates, then just don’t worry about the number of bookings you get. Your overall stars are very high. 

[Robin4]

@Mimi20

Ruth, what I am going to say to you is not trying to be unkind. It is to try and be constructive....can you please read it and take it that way?

Your listing is showing up and I can assure you, you are not being deliberately penalised by Airbnb, but I am afraid your history is working against you here!

You have copped a couple of bad reviews which you have not handled well!

Ruth, you must emphasise your strengths and minimise your weaknesses, and I am afraid you are doing the opposite!

You have a great bunch of reviews that you have almost totally ignored when it comes to a public response! But you have got stuck into guests who you have had an issue with. There is even one guest who gave you a good review (Betty Jan 2017) and you climbed into her saying you docked here couple of stars because she left some dishes behind....really, Ruth, this will not gain you any respect!

Prospective future guests are going to read these and think that you are a pedantic, prickly host.....and not one to be dealt with.

You also have a recent host cancellation....I know, sometimes these things are unavoidable but, when that posting appears you have the opportunity to post a response as to why you had to cancel and this Ruth can limit the damage that a host cancellation is seen to do to future bookings.

Ruth, I am active on few information sites and I can tell you, one of the most frequently asked Airbnb questions is...."How can I be sure my Airbnb booking is safe"!

Guests are scared they are going to make all these plans and the host will cancel, or turn out to be a Frankenstien monster!

You must not give any hint on your profile that you find guests 'difficult'....and if you do simply turn the other cheek, thank them for their feedback and assure them that you take all comments on board. Be seen as a diplomatic conciliatory host....the sort we would all like to stay with. If they break your house rules, sure mention it, you do need to warn others, but don't launch into a 500 word tyraid because the toilet may not have been left as clean as you would like it or there was a dish or two not cleaned and put away!

When someone gives you a good review, respond, and make a nice statement relating to the stay. let prospective guests know that both you and your guests have nice experiences and make your listing not just visually attractive but personally attractive too.

As far as your visibility thing is going at the moment, get a bit of activity happening on your page. Try and get those terrible antagonistic responses of yours removed, refresh your pictures....maybe a bit less clutter! Guests don't want to all the time worry they are going to trip over kids toys or something or other if they are not all the time vigilant.

Change a house rule around, move your price up one day by a dollar and then next day move it down again. Get a few friends to send you a question via the cotact host tab...get some activity happening on your site. The algorithm that governs search placement responds to...'activity', and the more things you can make happen on your page the higher you will show in search placement.

Mimi, in short, reading your reviews, I would not want to book with you! I would be frightened I might do the wrong thing....you are not thanking people who like you but, you sure are caning those who you feel do not fit your mold!

Success breeds success but, failure tends to breed failure....look to your successes and brush the failures aside, and the booking will start coming back again....believe me Ruth!

I hope you can see this as constructive.

Cheers......Rob

[Mimi20]

Thanks rob! I have a 100 percent response rate and a 90% acceptance rate. I literally lost points by the last one star review and Airbnb told me to respond to it as I spoke to them about it. Ill try and be more enthused by positive reviews and  take your advice on board!

[Robin4]

@Mimi20

That's  a great  attitude I like that!

I am just a humble converted garage in the back-blocks of nowhere Ruth, no endless swimmer outside the door.....no manicured 18 hole golf course through a gate in the back fence, but I am fully booked! Every month that goes by I only have 1 night or 2 without guests in residence. I have hosted 127 guests in the last year...nearly 100 of them on Airbnb and the thing that makes this place attractive is, the reviews.

Great reviews are money in the bank and I will go out of my way to get a great review, I always respond to every review. To me it is like finishing the last page and closing the book.

Guests are fearful of what they are getting themselves into because to them Ruth, you are an unknown! You are not like room 537 in the downtown Hilton where they know exactly what they are getting. The only way you can make them feel at ease with their decision is what your previous guests have thought of you.

I do not doubt you respond to every enquiry and have a 90% acceptance rate and I also don't doubt that you are a great host...the bulk of your guests tell you that. But what your future guests are seeing is a couple of seriously debated negative reviews and a host cancellation, and it is possible this is turning them away.

I am not saying you were not justified Ruth, you may well have been but, you have to assess what is more important....getting even, or making money!

I could have launched into a couple of horror stories here in my time hosting but, I didn't! I love it every time that text notification sounds....it's more money.

The reason I host is to make money, and I do everything I can to keep that money stream flowing!

Cheers.....Rob

[Mimi20]

LOL, any idea how to edit or remove responses? Like I said some of those responses I SWEAR I thought were private feedback and I was like Oh S**T when they appeared on my listings.

Thanks for having a sense of humor. I do wish airbnb had a separate forum for budget / home sharing as I feel like the professional hosts are taking the prices up and bringing the impersonal in, and the original idea of airbnb - homesharing or quirky, interesting travel - is being squeezed out. I myself don't tend to use airbnb as much as I used to - I prefer hipcamp for travel within the US and have found myself falling back on hostels and unique bnb's as I haven't had great experiences with this 'new' branding of airbnb.... interesting...

[Ute42]

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Hi  @Inna22 ,

Mimi asks: My bookings have dropped!  Not sure why.

[Content hidden in line with our Community Center Guidelines]

[Mimi20]

Hey Inna. “She” is reading this thread. Cheers for the insight.

[Inna22]

@Mimi20 When someone is tagged, they are not the one writing the post, they are the one being addressed. Just like I am addressing you now. 

[Jeanette37]

Hi Mimi.  I have had a few horrible reviews based on guests being harsh about my space but some straight out lies and this has been made public so I know where you're coming from.  I haven't tossed any guests out but would if I felt unsafe or thought that my unit was at threat of being damaged, vandalised etc.  I don't blame you for doing so and I feel this is your right based on their respect for you and your space and even neighbours' experience of (listening to the row).  That wouldn't have been pleasant for them.  The fact that your bookings have dropped could certainly be a direct result, sounds more likely than co-incidence or a seasonal factor.  You could try to refresh your listing based on your renovation and push its positive.  If you have particular pride in the room, highlight this.  Keep your chin up.  Hope this helps.  Jeanette.