My listing shows up in search results for children when listed as unsuitable

[Ben551]

I noticed something odd today and wondered whether others have noticed the same issue...

I have a listing in the New Zealand bush that is genuinely unsafe for children. The hazards are no joke and I've made this clear in the description and rules. It's an adult forest getaway, plain and simple. Great for bird watchers, but if the kids "go bush"... I reckon we'll have to call helicopter rescue.

I have selected "no" to the standard questions asking about whether the listing is suitable for children or infants. However, I learned today that my listing still appears in search results on Airbnb when parents are searching for various combinations of adults and children!

I wrote to Airbnb and got no answer for why their algorithm contains such an obvious flaw.

I mean, for the parents who are searching it seems like a very reasonable expectation, to only be shown listings that are tagged as suitable for children when they have put adults and children into their search terms.

I'm quite a new host so keen to hear thoughts from others.

~ Ben

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben551

YOU ARE RIGHT !!! 

I just did a search by myself and as you see when I enter adults, children and infants it shows the total number of adults + children as GUESTS  .... and only infants are separated.

My listings are also not suited for kids but showing in search . Great! Now we will have to ask in our message if they travel with kids or not.  😞

I wonder if Airbnb will ever stop messig arround their website... every day we discover another new glitch !

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben551

hm, I wonder is it done with intent or is it a glitch... because if I want to book your place and choose 1 adult then I can book instantly but if I choose 1 adult and 1 child then I can only request to book.

And one more thing... before it was written : Adults, children and infants. Now it is written : GUESTS and infants.

Great, now we will have to decline booking requests and will be punished for it ! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

[Cor3]

Hi @Ben551,

This is ridiculous!

Your house-rules state: Not safe or suited to 0-12 year olds. And all it seems to do, is just turning off Instant Book, when people try to book WITH kids?

Most likely some genius designer must have thought: This is a form of discrimination or something.

Hosts don’t setup these rules, just out of nothing!

Most likely caused by the average age of Airbnb employees (all mostly young parents to young kids).

[Ben551]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thought this was weird...

Airbnb got back to me again to say that they will refer this issue to their Engineers. In the meantime they recommended that I update my Welcome Message to make it clear that my listing is unsuitable for children.  Travellers are shown the Welcome Message BEFORE they click 'confirm' on a booking, so it seems like a good place to highlight a few things.  I hadn't done much to customise the Welcome Message so I will do that today.

In case anyone else is looking for it, the Welcome Message is under Manage Booking > Guest Requirements > Guest trip information > Greeting. Oddly it's called "Greeting" on the App but "Welcome Message" on the website, so easy to miss.

[Ben551]

Update:

I have found that the Welcome Message character limit is very short, so I couldn't add much...

I amended our Welcome Message to say:

Thanks for choosing the Pāua Cottage! We know you'll enjoy your stay and look forward to welcoming you! 

Before booking, please take a moment to read our house rules. For safety and insurance reasons, we currently don't accept bookings with children or pets.