Instant Book suddenly dropped off

Wende2
Level 10
Church Creek, MD

Instant Book suddenly dropped off

Hi all....I was wondering if anyone's bookings slowed, or dropped after leaving an HONEST review for someone.  I didn't really think about connecting the dots til I read a comment on a post here.  I haven't had a problem being booked until I left that review a few weeks, today after reading her comment, it dawned on me that's about the time the bookings dropped off.  I have IB set up an the last booking I did get I was asked to Accept or Decline.  I just looked at the Preview for my listing an see it says Reserve under the calendar.  To be honest I myself haven't had the money to go anywhere, so I don't really know what an IB listing would look like.  I asked a friend to go an check my listing an she said she didn't IB anywhere as a choice.  Just thought I'd ask if someone has noticed the same after an HONEST review, and the first one I've given since starting the first week of last Aug.  It just seems strange to me, I still have no bookings for Nov as of today, an last yr I did really well, as I was afraid starting in Aug would leave broke til spring, I was Pleasantly surprised.

7 Replies 7

When guests book a listing, they don't have the option to choose whether they want to book the listing as instant book or request to book. This is set up by the host only. Whatever the option the host chooses on how the guest will book their listing, is what the guest will follow. 

 

On the website, their is really telling the if the listing is instant book or not, unless the guest either use the instant book filter or on the final page of the booking process where guests pay and confirm. Instant book will show as reserve, while the other option will show as request.

 

Now, reviews can definitely affect bookings for both guests and hosts alike. But, guests can only see the reviews of other guests for your listing, and vice versa. Guests will not see the review you left for a guest as a host, only other hosts can see that.

Sandra856
Level 10
Copenhagen, Denmark

Hi @Wende2 🙂

A new host always get a boost in order be seen when guests search. I got instant book as well but I got requirements ticked so guests that uses instant book needs to be "recommended" by previous hosts - meaning it can't be new guest they need to have at least one booking and a recommendation from the host. The also have to have a profile picture and they have to be validated. You can tick those boxes under settings. 

A guest can contact you in 2 way - they can send you a request to book if they have already decided they want to stay OR they can contact you by using the "contact host" link on your page. If they do that it will say inquiry instead of request. If you receive an inquiry all you need to do is to reply - just ignore accept and the decline button. Declining is never good for your search ranking. 

Also I believe that leaving a bad review /bad star rating for a guest maybe got an influence on the algoritm. No one from airbnb would tell you that - but I personally believe that every move we make has an impact - it doesn't keep me from leaving a bad review though 🙂

Also it is possible for guests to read a review a host has left for a guest when using the Web version of airbnb - just press on the guests profile. Otherwise I'm not sure what @David5641 mean?

I don't know how busy your area is in general? In Copenhagen May - Sep is very busy - it really slows down in October - and it feels extra tough compared to the busy Summer. So maybe it is a slower season and you no longer got that newbie boost from airbnb? I don't think one bad review got such a big influence on your bookings. 

Wende2
Level 10
Church Creek, MD

@Sandra856  @David5641  Thanks for the answers.  I live very close to a Wildlife Rufuge and the Harriett Tubman Museum, which both draw visitors all yr., altho I'm sure it does slow down, guess I had greater expectations since last winter, my first was surprisingly fabulous.  Sandra, I too think the bad in a review has an effect on the host, unfortunately I was so pissed off with these people I totally forgot about that, gave them 3*'s for cleanliness an made suggestions in the review, which I might add I left more suggestions in the private message should they book someone's property again in the future. 

@Wende2 I really hope you keep writing honest reviews. It is incredibly important in my opinion.

Best, Sandra 

@Sandra856Hi......yes I will do indeed , I did see in a comment that you can see what a host said in private about a guest, I'd like to know more about that since I've been wanting a way to do that.  I did finally get 1 booking for Nov., hoping that isn't the only one.  I did also see in the help section someone with a similar question got an answer from a former ABB employee who said yes they do indeed hold it against the host for levaing a bad review, no way to know if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Hi @Wende2  🙂

Unfortunately, It is not possible to see anything but the written review of a guest and if you have instant book the star ratings previous host's has left the guest. What I was talking about was that @David5641  wrote that it wasn't possible for a guest to read reviews you as a host has left for previous guests. That is not the case. They can read all the reviews by visiting the guest's profile. But I wasn't quite sure if that was what he actually meant?

I also look at what kind of reviews upcoming guests has left for earlier stays 🙂

Wende2
Level 10
Church Creek, MD

@Sandra856  Hi......Yes I know they can look at others reviews, and good idea to look at the earlier reviews, somewhat of a small window to get an idea of what to expect from that guest, will keep this in mind.  Thanks.