Bookings suddenly stopped after contacting airbnb

Answered!
RoniSue0
Level 6
Tempe, AZ

Bookings suddenly stopped after contacting airbnb

My small Airbnb has been running for about a year. I've had a 99% occupancy rate with only 0-2 nights unbooked per month.  Every one of my reviews were 5-star until a couple of weeks ago when I received a 4-star review. There was an environmental issue with the room that I couldn't control, the guest left, we communicated well, and I contacted Airbnb to ensure the guest would receive a full refund. The guest gave me 4-stars, but my bookings came to a screeching halt. I'm still a Superhost, but I'm not getting booked, no matter what I try! 

 

Why have I gone from being BOOKED SOLID to not being able to attract ANY bookings during a heavy seaons here? Airbnb prices are really high in my area, but I'm applying steep promotions and/or offering rock-bottom pricing, just trying to pull in anyone! What is HAPPENING??

-- Did my call to Airbnb get me punished?

-- Does getting one rating below 5-stars destroy my visibility? 

-- Did Airbnb's "categories" roll-out have anything to do with this? I'm near a university, in the center of all kinds of arts venues and nature hikes, but not showing up in any of the categories because my place is just a nice, clean, simple, suburban unit; it's not a high-end property with million-dollar views.  

 

My stats have nose-dived, and I don't know what I can do to get a steady stream of bookings again. I've tweaked and refined every setting I can find, but I'm in the dark as to what went wrong! 

 

Please help??!!

Top Answer
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@RoniSue0 

 

Your listing is in the search system and it can be booked.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/homes?host_id=1180240&map_toggle=true

 

So technically it is OK.

 

You can check your ranking by performing a search in your area (when not logged in).

Airbnb recently updated the platform with new features and it seems to me listings are presented in differeent order then before. The major issue causing this is as Airbnb has set "flexible" as the default search option. This should be optional. Most guests are not flexibel and simply want to search for the dates they have in mind.

 

Try promoting your listing outside Airbnb (Social media, private website etc), use the "share" option on the listing (and also add a cover photo to your homepage: https://www.airbnb.com/users/1180240/listings )

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35 Replies 35

Does anyone know how to change the category your property is in?

Same here.

Jennifer1774
Level 5
Sacramento, CA

Ours is the same and I attribute it to the change Airbnb made to the search when they added in their categories.  Our views have plummeted and our bookings have tanked.  It’s distressing.  

I’ve concluded the same. It’s been very distressing. 

Gwen386
Level 10
Lusby, MD

@RoniSue0  What was the environmental issue and did the guest speak on it in their review? If yes, this could possibly be a reason. 

The guest didn’t say anything negative and gave 4 stars. This coincided with AirBnB’s update, and I have concluded that is why I stopped getting bookings. I have a simple, suburban AirBnB that doesn’t qualify for a category.

Hi all same here. I went from hero to zero!! Not sure why ??? I’m a super host with 99 % booking and have nothing now? What is happening ? 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Beatriz630 

 

Same here. No bookings (except for a repeat guest) since the roll out of the Summer release. I was booked out prior to that, other than dates that were blocked on the calendar.

 

I am 100% positive it's due to the Summer Release. There are numerous threads here on the CC discussing that if you want more information.

I am having the same issue. I had 10-12 bookings for the spring, but have not received any in the last month.  How does the changes Airbnb made caused bookings to drop so dramatically. I’m have also reduced pricing, but still crickets…

Did you figure it out?

Were you able to fix this? My bookings have dropped off drastically to nothing following our first season of 100% 5 star reviews.  Worked so hard and now it is like we are starting over. Desperate to figure this out. Any insight is appreciated. 

Lisa937
Level 2
Summerfield, NC

Same here. 

Did you figure out how to fix this drop off in bookings? I’m experiencing the same drastic change. 

Add my name to the list of super hosts no longer getting bookings. Are we all in the reasonably priced category and being filtered out in preference for more expensive bookings? 

Did you figure it out? Same happening to me for summer of 2023. Nothing! I am 100% 5 star reviews. Desperate to figure out how to fix this.