Punishment for Declining Requests

[Allison111]

Hi All,

I'm actually very frustrated with Airbnb and their attitude towards Hosts.

Everything seems to be geared towards the Guests and all about their needs.

I mean without hosts you have no guests we are both in this together.

So the latest email threat I received from Airbnb is regarding me decling 3 requests.

1. Ok so first of all Airbnb are not the only platform available, we use multiple platforms to advertise on.

It's hard to keep all the various calendars in all the platforms up to date at times. It's almost like a full time job in itself some days.

Airbnb seem to be think they are the only ones out there.

2. A lot of the times when we receive a request we are asleep. depending on the time zone of course but I also have a Full Time Job, I am not sitting in front of my Mac waiting for a request to come in etc. We do have lives to live. With the extremely odd exception I always respond either way to all guests. The whole 24hour limit is at times stupid becuase if a guest leaves a vague request or response etc. and I need to request further information from the guest and they don't respond it all falls back on the host. Me. I either take a chance or decline, in which case I'm losing out financially or punished because the guest walks all over us or is ignorant and Airbnb don't get the bigger picture.

3. We get multiple requests for the same dates or similar overlapping dates, it's never just black and white with requests. So if I get a request for 1 night and an hour later get a request for 2 weeks I'm 100% sure I'm taking the booking for 2 weeks so I then have to decline the other guest. What happens? I'm punished for making money with Airbnb.

4. Because we use multiple platforms it takes time to login and respond to all guests whether they send a request or an inquiry it all takes time. Trying to see which guests suits us best, time of check in as some guets only come late at night. We have a family with 3 young kids so we have to take a lot of things into account when guests request to stay with us, some come for a night of drinking with friends and need a placee to crash others here to study and work etc. it's all different so at times I have to prioritise my bookings based on my family etc and what suits us as a family. So I may decline and what happens? Punished again.

Can anyone out there please let me know if there is any way we can try get through to the thickos at Airbnb? obviously by reading the forums here I am not alone.

With the Government in Ireland and around the World making it more difficult to use Airbnb as a form of extra income etc, you would think Airbnb would be bending over for both Hosts and Guests instead of just guests.

All replies welcome.

Thanks.

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[Joel211]

I have exactly the same problem as you. Being penalised is a disgrace especially when my reasons like yours are perfectly valid. My bookings have dropped like a stone as I have declined 11 this year. .

There are occasions where if I’m working filming away on Glastonbury Festival and Wimbledon Tennis which takes me away for three weeks then it’s literally impossible to host three weekend bookings so I have to decline them and hope I get a longer one. I take the time to explain to the guest exactly why it’s maybe not possible but I still get penalised by Airbnb. Because I have declined. 3 guests on bad reviews ( as I don’t want them trashing my house and contents ) and 8 guests because I’m not here to do the turnarounds I’m being treated by Airbnb as if I’m accepting and then cancelling. As usual if you ask them how they justify this policy they are completely incapable of coming up with an answer. They do not deserve to be so big..... Joel

[Debra2]

Hi.....feeling your frustration!

I'm on Instant book....so why should I get punished if a guest does not book after I respond with answers to there questions which are usually clearly defined on the website.

I also am on Strict Cancellation policy.

Airbnb changes the conditions and this advocates for duplicity on behalf of the guest,

I recently had a same day booking....I was out so I gave the guest the Code...this to me is officially booking in....went to my car 20 mins later...the guest had cancelled?

They had my code so I called to confirm they had cancelled.

No...there must be a mistake....they def cancelled!

Airbnb asked me to refund them.

Sneaky guests had been trying to stay whilst receiving a refund?

Airbnb threatened me with a resolution notice on my site...if I declined?

This was the first time I have had this.

Guests are taking advantage of the ongoing loopholes.

America says charge according to services provided ...which as an actual B&B I do not.

Some guests think I am a Foodbank and I have to enforce and change access hours for my own personal safety and peace of mind.

Ireland says lower your prices...to get more bookings###.

This years tax return has no taxable income.

I joined Airbnb as I have a beautiful home with amazing views and I have a love for community and what Albany and the South West has to offer....a lot of this is free which encourages more visitors and guests to come.

My rooms are discounted with base price on site.

Other places may be cheaper...in more ways than one... but majority of guests do point out the value in staying at mine in comparence especially with the hands on information for people from other countries. 

Home away from home.

Unfortunately life has to be about respect first....nice second.

Being too nice has led to theft and abuse of expectations.

I soldier on for the reasons why I started and what I have to offer as an individual.

Respect is a two way street...its just unfortunate that we have to enforce it.

It does not show on site that they are discounted.

[Penny75]

I could not agree more! I love everyting about Air bnb (almost!) except this penalizing us for decling bookings. As you say sometimes you are asleep or busy. Also I have had bad luck with first time Air bnb guests (they don't communicate, show up early, dont' realize it is not a  hotel we hare not here 24/7 etc)  so we tend to prefer those with experience, or at least build in the time to ask them some more questions and make sure they understand about Air bnb. We also have had people show up who are more than they said.  They are sharing out house so we feel we have the right to be selective without getting penalized, getting nasty emails and moving down lower in rankings. Especially as we get very high ratings and do respond always within one hour to questions. And sometimes they have a dog and we like to find out more about them, as although we allow pets it is with certain caveats.

And yes I would rather hold out for a l onger booking than a short one.

[Dawn33]

I just had to decline one yesterday. Guy using his friend’s phone to book without signing into his own account. Third party requests are not allowed, so I had to decline.  The guest resent the request today under his own name and I accepted.

Airbnb should not count the unacceptable requests against us.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I have guests fill out a request for a date they don't want simply becasue they want to ask me a question.  I get all sorts of questions like will I rent out for several months or just asking how far I am from a particular place.  I have asked in the past to have them cancel the request if they don't want those dates, but they always reply that they don't know how to do that.  So what I usually do in this case is to approve it and tell them to let it expire.  Sometimes I will respond with a message answering their question but I don't approve or decline the request and just let it expire after 24 hours.  

[Joel211]

And it’s 2019 and still going on. I’m being dropped down the listing because I have had to decline 11 booking requests. Reason 1) the guest has a lousy review. If I decline the guest because I don’t want them in my house I’m penalised. Ridiculous. Reason 2) I’m working away for most of next month so can’t host short or w/e bookings because I’m not here to do the turnarounds. So I decline and take the risk on getting a long booking which I have a hope of being able to honour. So we’re penalised for that as well. The idiot who replied to me couldn’t ( wouldn’t ) answer my first point. To my second point he told me I should block the short dates our. As usual the cretin didn’t properly read the note I sent them and completely failed to understand that if I block weekend dates out then I lose the opportunity to get the 2-3-4 week bookings. I got the usual thing where they bang on about algorithms and then,  having completely failed to answer the question, tell you the case is closed. Again re these perfectly valid reasons for declining being penalised  is ridiculous and completely unfair. It seems to be as bad as cancelling even though I give the guest a full explanation of why logistically I can’t host them.

. I’m now much further down the listing so have made a lot less money than last year. I loathe this company. As a matter of interest which other platforms do you suggest ? Cheers, Joel 

[Melanie33]

I had a guest request yesterday from a guest who is a member since 2015 with no reviews and just an email address and no profile.  I asked them for more details about themselves and who they were travelling with.  Get another message from them saying they would book by the end of the day but still no answer to my questions.  Against my better judgment I preapproved as did not want a decline against me but as yet they have not booked despite passing the time they said they would.  We shall wait and see!

[Linda108]

Just in case you want to stay on this platform, @Joel211, perhaps there is a work around for your desire to have a longer stay when your availability is reduced.  Instead of using the decline option, you could specific a date range in which the minimum stay is increased.  That way your listing will only be visible to guests who seek a longer stay.  I think 11 declines is a bit excessive as well as your solution is a waste of time to the potential guest.  One thing I have learned in the 3+ years I have participated on this forum is that many hosts are very clever in finding ways to use the platform to work for their individual needs.  

[Joel211]

Hi Linda, 

I didn’t know you couid specify the length of bookings in a specific date range so thank you for that. And tellingly, and as usual, Airbnb failed to tell me that. One thing I can’t agree with is that 11 declines are too much. Surely far better that way than accepting and cancelling later - which I’ve never done. There really shouldn’t be a penalty for deciding what to do with ones own house. It’s worth well over $1,000,000 and there’s thousands of pounds worth of stuff in there so I should be given the right to choose who stays without being judged by Airbnb. Especially given the extremely low protection provided by their resolution centre. On one occasion I caught a guest out who said he had two people on his group. He has seven people in the house ( Max 6) and completely trashed the place.  At 2am he and his friends woke the entire village up shouting their heads off in the garden which caused no end of problems. Despite me categorically proving that he had seven guests in the house it took Airbnb over three months to get the £320 due to me out of him. This involved being passed around nine different Airbnb staff ( usually with no warning and no explanation of why ) and over 30 emails. That’s why I’m so wary not to let bad guests in from the of. 

Three of the eleven bookings were ones I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. The other eight were ones that clashed with the month that I’m not around and I replied instantly with a full explanation so I didn’t really waste anyone’s time. The ones that replied thanked me for being clear so that there was no inference that I was ‘declining’ them for anything other than logistical reasons. I too have been doing this for four years but that was mostly with a flat in Brighton where I paid a cleaner to do the turnarounds. Unfortunately here it takes around 6 hours to turnaround the house and no-one will do it for the £60 cleaning fee which is the most I think I can reasonably charge.

I know it’s not ideal and hopefully your solution will reduce the chance of this happening again. 

The fact remains that there is barely any point having a review system for guests if acting on the information contained in them results in a penalty for the host. That’s totally indefensible. It’s not my fault if I get approached by a series of undesirable guests so why should I be shot down in flames for it ? 

I hope this reply doesn’t come across in the wrong way. I’m genuinely thankful for your help but Airbnb’s way of treating hosts is almost always bordering on useless. Their lack of knowledge, inability and refusal  to ask questions directly is incredibly frustrating and takes away any enjoyment gained from hosting the vast majority of guests that enjoy their stay. I’m fed up with getting wholly inadequate answers to issues and then being told the case is closed.  I’m fed up with them earning money from my work and providing no support as soon as there’s any kind of issue. The bottom line is this unjustifiable policy of penalising hosts seems to have lost me a lot of bookings as my enquiries this year are well down on last year. Regards, Joel 

[Rebecca181]

Here's another reason being 'punished' for declining booking requests is both unwarranted and unfair (just posted this in 'hosting'): https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Seedy-Motels-Have-Higher-Screening-Standards-Than-Airbnb...

[Lindsay277]

I find this to be extremely interesting as a new host. I have been naive and overly kind and generous (offering steep discounts because I feel bad, and lately, reserving dates for people who don't respond.) For example, I have been working hard to accommodate a family and blocked off my calendar for them because they wanted to stay for a couple of months and they are sweet, but they told me to unblock some dates so they could actually book and they didnt book, and didnt respond for over a week! I declined multiple people and received a scolding email from Airbnb, and finally accepted another reservation. Now the family contacts me because they can't book! I told them it's been taken and I don't dare cancel (I already canceled two reservations and owe 100.00 for them.) So what is the solution? Decline other people and wait for them or pass on them early on? Ugh, this sucks and feels so "corporate yuck."

[Linda108]

Seems like you made a business decision to favor a potential long term guest and found out that this business is really a first come first serve program. You cancelled other guests and have experienced the host penalties which is too bad.  Hope you take advantage of the Help Center to understand the business a bit better and continue to come to this forum with questions.  Good luck.

[Sarah977]

@Lindsay277  You can't really run a successful, smoothly-running hosting business if you take each reservation request personally and try to accommodate everyone just based on them saying they are interested in booking. Try to keep in mind that these are just strangers- you know nothing about them, have no way of knowing if they are sincere or not. If they waffle around trying to decide whether to book or not, don't let it be your problem. If I go into a store and see a dress I like, but don't buy it because I'm not certain about it, and then go back to the store 3 days later only to find that it's been sold, that's my tough luck.

If a guest contacts you and they sound like someone you'd really like to host, there's nothing wrong with letting them know that you have to take reservations on a first-to-pay basis, so if they seriously want to book, they should do so, as you can't hold the dates or turn down requests that are ready to proceed with payment. I did this with a guest who sounded really cool from her messages to me. She had sent an Inquiry, and when I didn't hear back from her for 5 days, I just sent her a quick message, saying no pressure, but just letting her know that if I got a request for those dates I'd have to take it. She messaged back right away, saying she had a fear of flying, so was procrastinating buying her airline ticket, but yes, she still very much wanted to stay and would get right on it, thankiing me for booting her butt. She did exactly as she had said and completed the booking within a few hours. (Turned out to be one of my fave guests and we still keep in touch)

[Lindsay277]

You guys are completely correct and I agree that I need to make decisions with my brain and not my heart. And learn to toughen up. I have always been a softie and root for the underdog and it gets me nowhere! 🤦‍♀️

[Sarah977]

@Lindsay277  I don't think there's anything wrong with being a softie, following your heart and rooting for the underdog. It's more a matter of figuring out what situations in life that's appropriate to, and which situations are best treated as strictly business. 

You'll run into all kinds of hosting situations where following your heart may be exactly the right thing to do. Helping people out who are appreciative of your efforts is rewarding to both parties. Knocking yourself out for demanding or entitled people won't be.

I have a really flexble check-in time, because I don't take back-to-back bookings and work from home. So my 11AM-11 PM check-in window has worked for all my guests but one. She was coming on the bus and her bus was getting in at 9AM. But she messaged me saying she was aware that the time was too early for check-in, so she'd just find a cafe to hang out in until check-in time. Even though I'm not an early riser and getting dressed, chugging some caffeine to get me in gear and ready to go out the door by 9AM is a stretch for me, I told her no problem, if she'd rather check in earlier. She was really appreciative- of course she'd rather drop her luggage and have a shower after a long bus ride than traispse around in a strange town with her luggage, who wouldn't.  But if she'd been the kind of guest who disrespectfully demanded or just expected that I'd bend my check-in time for them, I'd have told her that Sorry, I couldn't accommodate an early check-in.