Being penalised unfairly

[Matthew83]

The Airbnb ratings algorithm tracks how many times we "accept" and "reject" bookings.  The higher the ratio of acceptances to rejections, the better our exposure.

I have had two instances recently of impossible requests made by people who were gaming the system and making demands outside of my rules.  For example I have a "3 night minimum booking rule" but yesterday someone made an enquiry for a one night booking.  I had to decline it so I presumably got a black mark for that.  A few weeks ago an agency sent me a false enquiry - they used the enquiry mechanism as a way to get in touch.  Of course I had to Decline that as the request was spurious...... but again I get a Black Mark in the algorithm.

We need an "Unfair Request" button when we get crazy requests.

Does such a thing exist?

Matthew

[Michele39]

When you decline, you are asked to select a reason. One of the selectable reasons is something along the lines of "not a good fit" which I always assumed was due to people asking for things clearly indicated as not feasible within the listing itself. For example in one of my listings I clearly state that "you will need a car to get here" but I got an inquiry asking about public transportation. My place is in the woods in the middle of nowhere so I assumed the person just didn't read the listing, so I declined it with the "not a good fit" option. Does replying with such a reason get a black mark? 

Sometimes I just let the inquiry expire without declining it, after some correspondence with the person where we agree the booking wouldn't be right for them (because of price, dates, number of people, etc.) I wonder if this earns a black mark too?

[Fred13]

Good question..which is worse.

[Judy66]

I agree - why be penalised when guests book outside of your rules??

[Fred13]

I don't get it. IF you do indeed have a 3-day minimum, not in your 'rules' but in the Availability Options, the request wouldn't have come to you in the first place if it was for any less than 3 days. Also how did you 'decline' an 'inquiry', surely you mean request which shouldn't have appeared in the first place, that is what you should discussing with Airbnb.

[David126]

Sounds like an enquiry rather than a request.

[Sandra126]

I frequently decline because of guests asking for things which I do not allow (please please let us come with our toddler because we really like the house). The result is always a slip in the ranking. Unfair, sure.