Lawrence, below is what I just sent Airbnb about being flagged and losing the Instant Book feature.
Thanks again for all your help and insight into the issue!
Craig
That is what I sent to Airbnb:
"My listing has been flagged by Airbnb. The Instant Book feature on my listing does not work though it is on. It stopped working after my last encounter with Airbnb customer service representative.
A guest named Brianna used Instant Book to book my house. Though she agreed to all my rules when booking, her booking clearly indicated that she broke 3 of my house listing rules when she booked the house. When I saw that, I immediately called Airbnb customer service.
The Airbnb customer service guy who I spoke with initially verified the rules on my listing to make sure that Brianna indeed broke 3 of my rules. After he verified that Brianna broke 3 of my listing rules, he told me that he would contact Brianna and would cancel her reservation, will explain her that she broke 3 of my rules when she booked my house.
The next day, Brianna rebooked my house again. I called Airbnb again and this time spoke to James who told me that though, Brianna's reservation was cancelled by Airbnb on my behalf, Brianna has never received an explanation of why her reservation was cancelled. I was shocked when I realized that the previous Airbnb customer service guy just cancelled Brianna's reservation without ever informing her.
I told James that it was wrong to treat a guest that way. James told me that for him to cancel Brianna's reservation on my behalf, he will need from me a written explanation letting Brianna know why her reservation was cancelled.
Both Airbn customer service reps.(the 1st guy and James) assured me that I will not be penalized if they cancel this reservation on my behalf because it was Brianna who broke 3 of my listing rules when she booked the house.
On Sunday, when I spoke to the Airbnb manager I addressed the relation between Instant Book feature not working on my listing and Brianna's reservation being cancelled. The manager told me that he did not see why my Instant Book feature would not work because of this cancellation.
I honestly believe that I was penalized for Brianna's reservation being cancelled though, it was her who broke 3 of my house rules when she booked my house.
I can also feel that my listing has been flagged in the Airbnb system. On Sunday, November 18th, two customer service representatives (that I spoke with during two different phone calls) dropped my call in the middle of me talking to them about the Instant Book issue. Previously, when I called Airbnb, I was treated with respect, I have been thanked for being a superhost. When I called on Sunday, I was on hold for a while and when the customer rep. picked up the phone, there was not even mentioning that I was a superhost.
To sum it all up, I would like for someone to look into the Instant Book feature being turned off on my listing and not to penalize me for asking Airbnb to cancel a reservation in which, a guest breaks 3 of my house listing rules.
I go above and beyond to provide an outstanding customer service experience for my guests. I hosted 48 guests so far, and got 44 "5 star reviews". Only 4 out of 48 guests did not leave a review. It should be a good indication that I do provide excellent customer service, treat every guest with respect and care for each and every guest who either books my house or just sends an inquiry to book it.
I would like to ask you to re-install the Instant Book feature on my listing as soon as possible, so I could continue to provide a great guest experience.
Sincerely,
Craig