How is acceptance rate calculated?

[Kelly535]

I have been hosting for about a year now. I have two rooms listed. On one of the rooms, Airbnb suggested that need to work on my acceptance rate, which is 83% instead of the recommended 88%. The only inquiries that I have not accepted were really strange ones that did not meet my required criteria...verified government ID, phone, e-mail, prior reviews, and a clear profile pic. I have always communicated with the potential guests and given them the opportunity to correct that so I could book them. I did go ahead and book some of the guests who verified everything, provided a pic, and explained the reason for their trip, even if they were lacking reviews. New people have to start somewhere. But why is not accepting people who don't meet my requirements being used as a negative? I should be able to require those things for my own safety. Any ideas?

[Emiel1]

Hello @Kelly535 ,

I have 5 listings, all of them doing well related to reviews and "stars". But all of them Airbnb says "i have to work on them", which is only the acceptance rating. My "superhost" status recently was taken away just because of this (but you know what: i felt relieved ! )

I came at a point to ignore those stupid rating and warnings. By being very serious about acceptance (same as you mention above), i think i save myself (and Airbnb) a lot of trouble. Airbnb is not running my place, it's me ! And i receive guests also via other channels, including directly via private website.

So Airbnb: stop treating mature and experienced hosts as if they are snotty childs. Thank you.

[Sarah977]

@Emiel1   Yet there is a response by Lizzie today on the "How did I become a Superhost?" thread claiming that Acceptance rate isn't factored in to Superhost status. 

[Letti0]

@Kelly535  Change your cancellation policy to Strict. Accept the resevations with CONDITIONS. They must do XXX, YYY and ZZZ. If they do not agree to this they must cancel within 48 hours for the free cancellation. If they do not cancel the reservation your cancallation policy goes into effect and they will be charged based on it. 

[Kelly535]

Ok, I just set the cancellation policy to strict. So if I approve them, I communicate that there are conditions via message and that if they are not able to comply, they need to cancel to avoid being charged. That sounds reasonable. But what if they don't comply and don't cancel? How do I navigate that in a way that doesn't come back to bite me with Airbnb?

[Letti0]

@Kelly535  Eveyone cancels ASAP, but one I had to call AirBnB on this issue. They contacted the guest and then the guest cancel with 50% refund. It was a one day booking and she was a nut case we ending up blocking her number. She wanted her money back now. If she had done as I asked or asked for a refund politely instead of calling repeatedly for hours, yelling, demanding we return her calls to get yeled at more, text messages unending, calling us names I can't post here, etc. I would have refunded the small amount. When we blocked her number she used someone elses phone, blocked that one too. We lucked out with her not stayiing 😉