Instant Book and house rules

[Barbara2737]

Hi All,

I am fairly new to hosting and so far all good instant book experiences.  Recently had one, however, in which the guest booked and then messaged that she would be having  six guests over so she could do their hair for a wedding.  
My listing clearly states 2 guests—it is a one-room barn loft.  I told her this wasn’t acceptable and that she should cancel (I don’t want my stats to get skewed because *I* canceled) and she has not.  I asked Airbnb to reach out and they said “she agreed to follow house rules.”  She lives locally and I have a suspicion she will still try to bring all the guests.  It’s self check-in.  Do I stand sentry at the door? Cancel her?  Ugh.

[Helen744]

@Barbara2737If you do IB then you have three no penalty cancellations . Otherwise contact Airbnb and ask them to cancel for you b, i am hoping that your rules state that only the booked guests can stay and any visitors must be run past you. she has told you that she will have six'clients' ? also state that businesses cannot be run from your space and simply cancel yourself . If you want to be nice suggest another nearby property that may wish to accommodate her .At least she was upfront about it . Generally people getting their hair done for a wedding do not hang around too long . H

[M199]

@Barbara2737 

It is well documented here that locals are trouble.

You shouldto contact Airbnb about the guest issue.  It sounds like a potential breach of the contract.

[Barbara2737]

Thanks so much for the response! The guest says they will follow the rules—this is what they told Airbnb.  I do not sense they will, and just hate feeling like a sitting duck.

[Rhonda301]

It’s your place if you not comfortable I would not allow it..add to your instant booking recommendations by hosts so that if they don’t have this they have to ask then it’s an inquiry and if they answer like I’m having  guests over to do their hair you decline it. Inquiries declines don’t count against you and you can call abb support and ask for your first cancellation on them.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Barbara2737 

She could just as easily do hair at her own local home. I'd get on getting CS to cancel her if she will not do it herself. This could easily turn into a party, as well. 

[Rhonda301]

I have on my instant bookings no negative reviews and host recommendations so that situations like this they have to inquire. Those you can ignore if you ask questions before approval and the answers don’t fit just ignore it. You satisfy your response time by the message. 

[Huma0]

@Rhonda301 

That information is not 100% correct. If a guest is unable to instant book with you, they don't only have the option of sending an enquiry. They can also send a booking request and many guests do exactly that. True, with an enquiry, you just need to respond with in 24 hours, but with a booking request, you have to accept or decline it within 24 hours, or you will be penalised.

If you ignore a booking request and let it expire, your response rate will go down, regardless of whether you messaged back or not. If you decline it, then your acceptance rate will go down. So, it's a catch 22, that Airbnb employs to pressurise hosts into accepting as many bookings as possible. Response rate is more important than acceptance rate (as long as you aren't declining a lot of requests), so it's usually better to decline the request than let it expire, although I will ask the guest to withdraw it before I do that.

As for the IB filter to have no negative reviews/recommendations from hosts, Airbnb is deliberately vague about what this means. The wording is just:

"

• Recommendations from other Hosts: Limit bookings to guests who’ve travelled on Airbnb and received only positive reviews"

But what does 'positive reviews' mean? I would think it means nothing lower than 3*, but we all know that a 3* rating is not that great. Another host suggested it meant anyone who has reviews higher that 1*!

Of course, it's worth turning on that filter if you use IB, but unless Airbnb clarify what they count as a positive rating for a guest, it's by no means certain that only great guests with great ratings will be able to IB with you. All it ensures is that no newbies can IB with you and no one with truly terrible ratings.

Also, what's to say @Barbara2737 's  guest had negative reviews? If she had had issues with other hosts for having people over (to do their hair or whatever), do you think she would have been so open about it?

The one advantage in terms of vetting guests that IB currently has over request bookings is that you do get 3 x penalty free cancellations a year if you feel uncomfortable with the guest or feel they are going to break your house rules. In theory, you can do this online without having to call CS. Unfortunately, in this case, the CS rep that @Barbara2737 spoke to decided instead to reach out to the guest rather than just do the cancellation. 

[Rhonda301]

I have conditions to instant bookings and when they don’t let those they have to send a. Inquiry. I asked CS and she said you messaged her back and if she doesn’t answer it doesn’t go against your response rate and it’s not a book g it’s just an Inquiry. This was what other super hosts here recommended and several podcasts I watched and so far it has helped me feel in control. 

[Huma0]

@Rhonda301 

No, that's. not correct. You are right when you say you just have to respond to an enquiry. However, if the guest doesn't meet your instant book requirements, they don't have to send an enquiry. They can send a booking request, which is different. With booking requests, it doesn't matter if you message back within 24 hours or not. You have to ACCEPT or DECLINE within 24 hours, regardless of how many messages have gone back and forth, or your response rate will be dinged.

See:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/28/respond-to-a-request

and

 https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/430/what-are-response-rate-and-response-time-and-how-are-they-...

"If a guest sends you an enquiry – a question, or any kind of message other than a reservation request – via Contact Host, you’ll need to respond to the enquiry within 24 hours to maintain your response rate. If the guest sends you a reservation request, you’ll need to accept or decline within 24 hours to maintain your response rate."

Any guest can send you a booking request. It doesn't matter if they meet your IB requirements or not. It's really important that hosts understand the difference between IB, booking request and enquiry as different rules apply to each.

[Helen744]

@Huma0,slight clarification Huma,with IB a booking will come through if,not all requirements are met and the guest will also attach a message.The host has 24 hours to clarify either Id or any minor identity issues such as clear id pics, with the guest.IT is not really an accept or decline issue.Cancellation for not clarifying must take place within 24 hours ,so it is a quasi  acceptance but the guest is already booked.If you do nothing at all then the booking simply goes ahead . This is the same as other booking methods but concerntined.In most cases it is triggered by not complying with rules ,such as no avatars or no previous reviews. This is also different to the hosts right to cancel three times anytime before the arrival of the guest . Being uncomfortable with the booking is acceptable .In Barbaras case I would simply say that.H

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

That's interesting. Could you please link to the policy document that outlines that? As far as I was aware, once a guest IBs, you do have three penalty free cancellations a year, so can cancel if you feel uncomfortable, but I never heard of a 24 hour period in which to clarify anything...

[Anthony1585]

you have choices, but they all are not good. 

- Stand sentry. 

- Immediately warn her that you will be standing sentry

- Inform her* a statement you will state below, she needs to cut and paste to affirm she will be using her paid for reservation exactly as booked, and will not bring any additional guests, because ......[this is key] only____ will be admitted. (you never said if it was a reservation for 1 oro 2 or?)

The trap a lot of hosts fall into (myself included until I got the big big hints, winkwink from agents) - don't threaten to cancel. You can't, technically without hassle. 

Just enforce "the reservation as is" - 80% of the time they are FORCED to cancel to get even a sliver of any consideration from you for a $1 back. (I have done that actually)

When you talk to agents . . . ALWAYS SAY OVER AND OVER

"We are prepared to honor this guests reservation as they booked it, but not in excess"

You could always turn the knife a bit . . .

"we do occasionally make special arrangements for events, especially something as important as this guests hair for a wedding - but we need to be officially approached with the correct information from the guest, and a request on what we need to do".

Do you know what happens at your place when girls hair "gets did"? hehe

dyes, chemicals, and fake hair weave fragments for weeks. 

There's a song about it . . .

[Barbara2737]

I am in horror of what the issues with hair (and makeup) could be.  I have white Everton go in the loft—towels, sheets, sofa (slip covered and washable, but still), and I’m a clean freak.  And I am not crazy about the idea of cleaning up hair fragments .  I so appreciate all this great feedback.  I’m leaning toward canceling because my intuition that this could be a bad situation is quite strong.  I may call CS again and appeal for them to cancel.

[Helen744]

@Barbara2737 you have three non penalty cancellations if you use IB. Simply use one . without ringing and inform the guest . Do not drag it out you should not be blocked for this .Good luck . This belongs to you not Airbnb and not the guest inform Airbnb why you did this , thats all. you need to deal with the guest and up front draw a line in the sand. Airbnbs are not for workplaces. Its different if people are ,working from home , as in using a computer and internet to do internal work. you are working from home by providing accomodation not a place for Hairdressers , which is called 'a salon'. this is a place to stay not a place to 'do hair'.doing wedding hair is lucrative and doing six people is 'six clients' .none of them may stay and generally hair is done in the mornings or the evening before the wedding . unless it is ' aunty Bev doing all the young bridesmaids hair'It sounds like the whole female part of the wedding party . Cancel soon enough for her to find somewhere else because people may need to be gathered all in one central area ,central to both other venues where they may be staying and the wedding venue. good luck H