Airbnb's Instant Book Penalty Free Guarantee

[Jay-and-LaRita0]

We joined Airbnb a little over 3 months ago.

Using Instant Book seemed to be a great idea for all of the reasons that Airbnb listed as " the benefits". 

In reality, we have had numerous guest Instant Book our property and saying that it will be for 1 person but were actually planning very large, out of control parties.

5 times our property has been damaged, or items stolen/items destroyed and the neighbors disturbed...only by the guest who have lied about the purpose of their stay. 

Although we have had many NUMEROUS contacts with customer service seeking ideas and resolutions, they have offered little to no assistance.

So, we continued getting Instant Book[ings] from people who did not accurately represent themselves or the purpose of their stay and having large parties which we emphatically state is not allowed. It's listed 1st in the listing's Description and in the interations with the guest when messaging.

Airbnb is now penalizing us by denying us the option of Instant Book. Their reason: excessive cancellations!

But Instant Book cancellations are supposed to be PENALTY FREE if the guest does not meet the House Rules. 

When we asked them why we are being penalized if Instant Book is supposed to be penalty-free,and as they are aware of our NUMEROUS attempts to resolve such issues with Airbnb customer care? 

Their answer; "this is what we have decided, but you will soon have access to Instant Book, again".

That's not addressing the "penalty free" guarantee.

So, although we have  5-Star ratings and many guest compliments, our listing is not getting the attention that it deserves because of Airbnb's decision not to support host whose guest abuse the house rules!

THIS IS VERY, VERY UNFAIR

Frustrated by the lack of customer service support and/or our own possible lack of experience, we joined the Airbnb commmunity to get help.

We must not be the only Host experiencing this Instant Book nightmare, right?

But even with Instant Book off, we get the same in the Inquiries.

We now send Special Offers to Inquiries who answer the reason for their stay is "to have a party" with an  upcharge for the total number of guest they will be entertaining.

So far, most decline to book due to the high cost of throwing parties, we therefore are not the ones declining inquiries.

Actually, not all of our guest have been bad.  For the good ones, we love them.  If all of the guest acknowledge the house rules, Airbnb would be a great business venture.

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[#2]

We joined Airbnb a little over 3 months ago.

Using Instant Book seemed to be a great idea for all of the reasons that Airbnb listed as " the benefits". 

In reality, we have had numerous guest Instant Book our property and saying that it will be for 1 person but were actually planning very large, out of control parties.

5 times our property has been damaged, or items stolen/items destroyed and the neighbors disturbed...only by the guest who have lied about the purpose of their stay. 

Although we have had many NUMEROUS contacts with customer service seeking ideas and resolutions, they have offered little to no assistance.

So, we continued getting Instant Book[ings] from people who did not accurately represent themselves or the purpose of their stay and having large parties which we emphatically state is not allowed. It's listed 1st in the listing's Description and in the interations with the guest when messaging.

Airbnb is now penalizing us by denying us the option of Instant Book. Their reason: excessive cancellations!

But Instant Book cancellations are supposed to be PENALTY FREE if the guest does not meet the House Rules. 

When we asked them why we are being penalized if Instant Book is supposed to be penalty-free,and as they are aware of our NUMEROUS attempts to resolve such issues with Airbnb customer care? 

Their answer; "this is what we have decided, but you will soon have access to Instant Book, again".

That's not addressing the "penalty free" guarantee.

So, although we have  5-Star ratings and many guest compliments, our listing is not getting the attention that it deserves because of Airbnb's decision not to support host whose guest abuse the house rules!

THIS IS VERY, VERY UNFAIR

Frustrated by the lack of customer service support and/or our own possible lack of experience, we joined the Airbnb commmunity to get help.

We must not be the only Host experiencing this Instant Book nightmare, right?

But even with Instant Book off, we get the same in the Inquiries.

We now send Special Offers to Inquiries who answer the reason for their stay is "to have a party" with an  upcharge for the total number of guest they will be entertaining.

So far, most decline to book due to the high cost of throwing parties, we therefore are not the ones declining inquiries.

Actually, not all of our guest have been bad.  For the good ones, we love them.  If all of the guest acknowledge the house rules, Airbnb would be a great business venture.

[Ansel0]

it happened to me recently. Guest was unresponsive, i canceled the booking and i lost my instant book feature. They force you to adjust your listing, and at some point instant booking will come back on. It's definitely not fair and bad for business, but they have shown us that they do not care.

Search the forum. This is an ongoing issue

[Jay-and-LaRita0]

How long did it take before they put Instant Book back on for you? Did you get notified that it was on or help with clarification on thier own guarantee?

There's no restitution for this unfair practice.

[Yadira22]

Hi @Jay-and-LaRita0 

I am so sorry this happened to you. 

To put off party people I would update your

-minimum nights to 3 and you can adjusts these if there are any gaps (but in desktop) 

-your cleaning fee is very cheap for such a large place, maybe review this

-set a maximum for number of guests, 16+ screams party central to me 

- ”deposit charge” Airbnb does not charge this but one of 1k or so would put party people off

-update rules to say “only registered guests are allowed access to property” and maybe put rules regarding noise, respect for neighbours etc. 

-maybe also consider installing a camera outside and also a decible recorder which alarms you if it exceeds a certain volume but fully disclose this in your listing 

that’s all I can think of right now but good luck to you! 

Yadira 🙂

[Jay-and-LaRita0]

Thank you so much!

[Ann489]

@Jay-and-LaRita0welcome to the wonderful world of hosting with Airbnb!   Instantbook is ok once you get the hang of hosting...the only real benefit being that your listing gets boosted.   I would not despair, because AIrbnb decided to "punish" you and turn it off for a little while.  Once you are able to use IB again, make sure you have all possible guest requirements turned on, like requiring government-issued ID on file, profile pic, recommendations from other hosts, etc.  But regardless, learn to ask a lot of questions of your potential guests.  Require names of all those staying on the property, purpose of visit.  Pay attention to how the guest communicates.  Are they locals? That's often a red flag.  It takes a while to get the hang of it.  And if in doubt, decline.  And lastly, my recommendation would be to not allow parties.  You have such a lovely space...why take the chance on having it trashed?  You should also change the number of guests allowed to reflect the number of beds available. Right now it says, 16+, and I don't see that many beds available!  😉

[Jay-and-LaRita0]

Duly noted. Great support. Thank you!!!

[Emily487]

@Jay-and-LaRita0 

What a great place you guys have!

We want to deter parties, too, so I added a short line at the very top of the description of our listing that "We can not host parties, smokers, or local guests". This line has allowed me to cancel two instant books because they were either in town for a party or they were locals. 

I might also recommend that when a guest reviews you on your page, that you not write a response to anything that they mentioned to you in their private feedback. It kind of muddies the message for potential guests. I

If you are thinking about cameras, I recommend the Blink ones from Amaz0n. I fully admit that the quality is not the best BUT they are battery operated so you don' t have to spend time and money wiring them and you have the flexibility to move them when you need to. If you buy a good mount for them, it will come to about $100/camera.  I use them at my house and it catches any "movement" outside. I also use one in my own gross basement just so I can see if there is water without actually having to tiptoe down there.