Booking without approval

[Dale60]

I just received a message that someone had booked my unit.  There was no communication up front and Airbnb was nowhere in the text message I got for the booking.  I do not have auto-booking on either

How does this happen?  Have I been hacked?  

Any insight would greatly appreciated.

Dale

[Emiel1]

hello @Dale60 , 

I noticed you have not "Instant  Book" turned on at this moment. So better contact Airbnb: Contact Airbnb - A Community Help Guide [UPDATED] 

Best, Emiel

[Matthew285]

@Dale60, I know that @Emiel1 mentioned that Instant Book was not an option for him.

However, I *can* Instant Book, so you might want to double-check your settings.

If someone else has Instant Booked, and I can Instant Book, maybe Instant Book is on after all?

Do you need guidance as to how to set/check your Instant Book setting?

[Dale60]

I did not turn it on. How did it get turned on?  I do not do instant book 

[Matthew285]

@Dale60 for some hosts, Instant Book is on by default when you create your listing. You have to turn it off.

[Matthew285]

@Dale60, if having Instant Book on is a problem, you should really just turn it off.

(I just checked, and your listing still has Instant Book on.)

Don't worry right now about how / why it was on. Just turn it off.

[Emiel1]

Hi @Matthew285 ,

I noticed the listing disappears when search filter "Instant Book" was set to "on". That's the way i useally check if a listing can be booked instantly. It seems not reliable, as you state IB here is turned "on".

Just curious now what can be trusted and what not. So what do you see here happening (Dale's listing):  https://www.airbnb.com/s/homes?host_id=67052431 , when you turn on filter "Instant book" ?

(When IB = off, i see the listing. When IB = on, it disappears). Or do i not understand the filter ? 

And what was YOUR approach here on Dale's listing to check if IB was "on" ?

Best regards, Emiel

[Matthew285]

@Emiel1, thank you for mentioning that!

I remember someone complaining because of the very issue you are pointing out.

(BTW, I checked to see if IB is "on" by choosing some dates and verifying whether the button said "Book" or "Request to Book".)

The other host said that the expected behavior for IB should be this:

1. When a guest qualifies for IB, the listing should appear in the search results, and be available for IB.
2. When a guest does NOT qualify for IB, the listing should still appear in the search results, but the button should say "Request to Book".

Instead, he says just what you say: if the listing has IB on, and the guest does not meet the listing's IB qualifications, the listing *does not appear in the search results*.

I think this is a BIG error on the part of AirBnB search (just like the 28 days minimum search problem). It is good of you to notice this is happening!

I did not comment on the earlier discussion thread because I was unsure if it was actually happening. Now you (a very reliable host) *have* noticed it for sure.

This is very interesting, and somewhat disturbing

[Lawrene0]

 @Emiel1, you likely could not see it as "Instant Book" because you have no reviews as a guest. (Your hosting reviews don't count for this.) @Dale60's inadvertant IB must require the recommendation of another host, so that is why @Matthew285 could see it and you could not. 

[Emiel1]

 Hello @Matthew285 , @Lawrene0 ,

Thank you, it is totally clear now for me !

I never have been a Airnbnb guest, so indeed no reviews for this.

I logged out form Airbnb, did the same test on the link i posted above, and (as expected) with the same result. As Airbnb seems to set IB "on" by default on new listings (what i read from several postings here), it is clear to me now these listings will only show up in search results, with filter IB = "on" , when the searcher is qualified for IB as a guest. So that's why they disappear for me, but not for  @Matthew285. (I hope Airbnb will not set the IB filter in search "on" by default !)

Best regards, Emiel

[Matthew285]

@Emiel1, @Lawrene0 it is possible that the IB search problem doesn't happen for ALL IB qualifiers.

I wonder if you can still see the IB listings in the search if the only requirement is verified government ID. I have had guests request bookings that do not have verified ID, so I figure they must be able to see my listing (which does have IB on).

I wonder if the "disappearing" IB listing only happens when you require a recommendation from another host.

We should test this. There are really only 2 settings you can choose for IB requirements: "Verified ID" and "Recommendation from other hosts" and we are now pretty sure the "Recommendation from other hosts" requirement causes this problem.

[Lawrene0]

I tested it from every angle a year ago, @Matthew285, and found that the IB filter was the default (at that time), and that if the user could not IB a place because he didn't meet the requirements, he just didn't see it. It did not appear on the map. If you wish to be seen by a new user when the sometimes-default, always-touted IB filter is on, you need choose the low-requirement option. 

I needed to. I wanted guests like @Emiel1 🙂

[Matthew285]

@Lawrene0, thanks for the report on your testing.

I do not require a host recommendation, but I do require a verified ID.

I sometimes receive Inquiries from guests without verified IDs. 

Do you think the problem only manifests itself with regard to the host recommendation setting?

In theory, I should not be getting Inquiries from non-ID-verified people if I am invisible in search...

[Lawrene0]

You are not invisible in a search that is done without the IB filter, though, @Matthew285. That is how those John Does get through - they haven't clicked on the "Wouldn't you rather book with an IB host? Really, though, wouldn't you?" popups. 

I don't know that the IB filter is the default at present. It was a year ago, but you are right: Even the lowest setting requires some sort of ID and just now I am getting more than the usual number of inquiries from no-photo-no-name users who can't book but who can ask things. 

When the IB filter is off, they can see the listing but not the Instant Book button. When the IB filter is on, they cannot see the listing. 

[Matthew285]

@Lawrene0, that makes perfect sense.

And of course a guest who has no verification and no host recommendations would search with the IB filter off.