airbnb you are going downhill with your instant book

[Janis20]

I hate it what you did with your instant book, the biggest problem is that guest don't recognize this feature is turned on by default!!! And here you make huge mistake. If someone want find something in my city next week he loose 45 listings instead of 56 he see 11!!!

Who on earth like this??? Guest see for couple seconds and head over to booking.com with much bigger choice. Because options are less and prices of course high sometimes in desired area close to beach with instant booking is nothing to be found!!! but if you turn it off there are plenty options which now 90% guests simply dont see!!!

From computer at least there is small notification that instant booking is on but still people dont recognize it, BUT THE WORST IS  mobile application it's completely hidden under filters and guests have no way to know instant booking is on (and these days most people use mobile app to book) . I have spoken to hosts when I traveled and they say this year is much worse as previous. Hosts are upset they have less clients and guets they have less choice. If someone wnat instant book you have notification about it so what is problem? when someone send request he also get information of instant book feature so what is your problem?

I even did experiment I put my room 10EUR one night like morning for current day nobody booked when everything else in city was 20+EUR and my was next to beach in central spot, in booking.com it would get 100s of bookings for this price!!! You dont have traffic.... people are turning away. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Janis20

Maybe that is why booking.com is so successful - they are instant book ONLY.

[Michelle596]

? So turn on instant book on your listing(s).  Problem solved.  AirBnB was losing customers because hosts were practicing discrimination of the generally illegal kind or taking too long to get back to guests.  Instant book is the only option I want if I'm booking an AirBnB and I'm sure many others are like that.  As a host I'm here to keep my listings as fully occupied as possible so aside from guests who don't meet AirBnB's basic requirements, guests not staying a longer time can instant book. Whether the feature is on or not, people staying a longer period of time will still have to wait on you to approve or decline the request.  And you can turn it on and set additional requirements beyond the basic, if you are trying to weed out those who are undesirable for valid reasons.  Such as less reviews or less verifications than you'd prefer. 

If you want your listings to show to everyone, turn on the feature.  AirBnB knows new users expect the ability to book instantly to function like any typical reservation site and is trying to compete and grow its customer base.  Hosts who don't allow instant book especially on the lower end of pricing are not helping the customer base grow.

[Ad7]

The problem I had recently as a host with the instant booking on, was that I had to cancell a reserved guests because of a wind damage issue, the fellow was rude in his replies and late getting back to me! Then I was told because I didn't call Airbnb, I maybe penalized and my stats got a red flag!!! 

There must be a better way of catching these undesired negative affects of forced policies!! I should be able to cancel any reservations I deem not fit for my home (I have an entire home listed), or perhaps at least have  Airbnb check the texts and communications between myself and the would be guest to see the reason before deeming my cancellation BAD!!!! But it is a dumb algorythm not a person making that choice for Airbnb!! 

Airbnb is a wonderful place yet, but polices of cancellation need to be reviewd to avoid hosts leaving because of the nonsensical trappings of this instant booking wiht limited rights to cancellation!! 3 cancellations a year, really? I am checking other places. 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Ad7,

Great to meet you. 

I am sorry to hear about your recent damage to you listing, I hope you have managed to get it all back to normal. As this meant you had to cancel your guest's booking due to this at the last minute, just to mention, you may have been eligble for Extenuating Circumstances. I am not sure if you tried to contact Airbnb, but I would always recommend contacting the Support Team to speak with them about your situation and why you need to cancel. Often, the team don't know the reason why a cancellation has happened. 

More specifically for Instant Book, if a host has this activated they have unlimited penalty-free cancellations if a guest breaks a house rule, if they intend to break a house rule, or if the host is uncomfortable with a reservation. We have recently asked the top Instant Book questions, from the Community here to the Instant Book team. Here is the thread if you are interested. 🙂

I hope you find this useful and I look forward to speaking with you again.

Lizzie

[Regina135]

Why can't I read the comments?

[Judy22]

Airnbn - I had to pay criminal penalties and legal fees as a tenant rented my house, then sublet to unknown persons, who caused the police to visit the house.  I as the landlord was given a summons, i had to hire a lawyer and then pay $2,500 in penalties.  Airbnb then decided NOT TO PAY OUT MY $3,000 SECURITY DEPOSIT - on the grounds that "no physical damage was caused"?  I am taking all my listings off Airbnb immediately.  They do not screen tenants, and offer ZERO protection when i am charged with a misdemeanor???? 

[Ad7]

Judy, Glad you decided to post here, because these are the kind of concerns I have had with no seeming help when I as a host really need to be shown by the very company that's making money off of me!! Indeed Airbnb needs to work on their policies.

Please also read my comments on OCT.4th about Cancellations and Instant bookings if you are a new host, this lady in New York, me in Arizona, we both are saying, BE CAREFUL HOW YOU DEAL WITH AIRbnb, you won't have a recourse once the actions have been taken.

[Vivien13]

Did you get fined because short term rental is illegal in NY?

[Paula-and-Gill0]

I had one bad experience with instant booking, and I hope to neve use i again. However, tonight while writing a review I noticed it was on. I never did this. I didn't go to that link. It's not like it can be done by accident either. A host has to navigate to their listing to do so. Had I not noticed, I could have had a instant book guest. Not cool AirBnB! I will keep an eye on this and I strongly recommend everyone else do the same.