Blocked bookings (unrelated to Covid-19) -- message to potential guest: Choose another place to stay

[Joleen0]

I'm a four-year plus Superhost with Airbnb with predominantly 5 star ratings for almost 800 bookings --

Have other hosts discovered that their potential guests are being blocked from booking (unrelated to Covid-19)? I had a recent guest try to book with me and she received a notification that basically said booking with me was unsafe and she should instead get a hotel room through Airbnb. 

The message read: 

Choose another place to stay 

Airbnb prevents reservations for entire homes when a pattern of factors (like location or reservation time) suggests the booking may be unsafe. 

This restriction is not related to the coronavirus. For resources on coronavirus, see airbnb.com/covid

Please try a hotel room instead.

SEARCH HOTELS ON AIRBNB

I was told it was for my protection. But protection from what? --  "We have put some procedure in place that block certain reservations for your safety and we're not able to make exemptions for those. As part of Airbnb's efforts to respond to recent incidents, we have implemented rules on booking patterns associated with prior risks. We are notable to support this particular booking with the guest (_guest name confidential___).

My potential guest has no past booking history as she has not yet booked with Airbnb ever before, therefore, there is no booking pattern for her. 

Can anyone provide clarity on this blocked booking practice that Airbnb is implementing? 

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Joleen0  After the shootings in Orinda, Calif. and at a party at an Airbnb in Toronto, Airbnb created an algorithm that supposedly identifies the factors in a guest's profile and the booking itself most prevalent in these unauthorized party scenarios. Guest is under 25, books for 1 night, a day or two before check-in, entire house listing. New accounts may factor in.

It's absurd that Airbnb is so totally cagey about the reason, instead of simply informing hosts that this is what it's about. And why the wording would say to the guest that it's unsafe is bizarre, when in fact they are indicating to the host that it would be unsafe to accept the booking.

However, some hosts have reported getting these when all those factors weren't in play- the guest was under 25, but booked for 5 days and had a couple of good reviews. So their algorithm is glitchy.

[Chris2050]

I got an inquiry from a potential guest, "...we are prompted with a message that says the booking cannot be placed due to “unsafe booking patterns.”" I tried to recreate the problem, but wasn't able to. Did you ever get an explanation about this?

[Joleen0]

Chris, 

Here is a copy of the feedback I sent to an Airbnb supervisor when I encountered the same issue and escalated it so I could get a response. By the time the supervisor got back to me a fellow host had provided me with an explanation through the Community Centre. It is included below.

"Thanks so much for the follow up. Since making the request to speak with a supervisor and escalate the issue I was having regarding a blocked booking... I have since discovered the answer to what was going on. I didn't feel I was getting a satisfactory answer or straight forward explanation from the customer service reps I spoke with. It all felt very veiled and deceptive.

A fellow host responded to my post about blocked bookings on the community center forum (or whatever it's official name is). She told me all about the algorithm that Airbnb has begun using to help screen out potentially risky guests. I could not get that precise information from any Airbnb rep.

It’s just that when I got to read the content of the message my potential guest had received regarding being blocked from booking, I was bewildered and disturbed. I didn’t understand why Airbnb would prevent my potential guest from booking with me.

The wording in the blocked booking messaging is done in such a way as to convey that my booking/listing “may be unsafe” and that the guest should choose another place to stay. It then recommends they try a hotel room instead. This gives the impression that there is something very wrong with my listing/booking and a guest should NOT book it, nor will they be able to book it.

I was aware of the shootings and drop-in parties at several Airbnb listings through the news. But I just didn't put it all together. It wasn’t apparent at first reading what was going on. Now I see that this, my first blocked booking, was due to Airbnb's new implementation of these new practices -- precautionary measures to help guard against risky bookings.

I’m sure it is difficult to balance protecting both guests and hosts simultaneously, not offend potential guests, and yet attempt to allow the freedom of choice in bookings, including all the various factors of timing, setting, number of guests, etc.

However, the language really does appear to make the host’s listing appear “unsafe” which really alarmed me.

I see that with this new algorithm in place there will obviously be situations where a potential guest will be blocked that may actually still be a decent, law abiding, respectful citizen/guest that just happens to meet the high risk criteria of the algorithm. In an effort to try to create safer bookings with less chance of risky situations developing, the screening process will inevitably block some legitimate and there is probably no way around that."

[Susan89]

Same thing happened to me today. Hosts should be the ones to decide, and not lose a reservation because of Airbnb's new rule or algorithm. I will be contacting them, even though it seems impossible to get a live person on the phone.

The guests sounded wonderful and one of them had three positive reviews. Why,  because someone is under 25 and books the day before? That's not right. I would call that discrimination.