Instant Booking CANNOT be TURNED OFF for some New Hosts-Terrible Idea

[Adam41]

I'm a brand new host (actually hosting my first guest this weekend). Air BnB is doing some sort of misguided experiment wherby a portion of new hosts are not able to TURN INSTANT BOOKING OFF. I have called them twice and both representatives say that there has been a ton of negative feedback about this new policy. Just because a guest verifies his/her identity to Air BnB it says absolutely nothing about their character. I much prefer being able to exchange a message or two wth the guest to get a better idea of their personality before hosting them. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH AIR BNB's NEW INSTANT BOOKING ON POLICY. To be forced to allow guests that Air BnB, NOT THE HOST, deems as "trustworthy" to sleep in my bed is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.  It needs to end now or I will cancel my hosting listing and advise the 4 new hosts I know to do the same. They're already about to do it. TERRIBLE IDEA. TOTALLY MISGUIDED. 

[Daniel33]

if forced to IB without the possibility to switch it off, I'd be gone here. Immediately. For hotels there are other platforms, I am not a hotel.

[Raymond-and-Elaine0]

@Daniel33@Adam41@Helen56@Clare0@Susan151.  Let's not forget the Hosting Standards either : " Travelers looking for a place to stay tell us that getting rejected can be discouraging, so if you decline an excess number of reservation requests, your listing may be temporarily deactivated." What ?? Decline too often and risk deactivation.

[Daniel33]

@Raymond0& Elaine
sure! airbnb wants to sell, and beneath the label of comunnity, solidarity, and what else of blabla comes to their mind, they try to put pressure. But, in turning the quote, I'd say:

Let's not forget the human standars either : "Hosts looking for the experience of having nice guests in their private homes tell us that having unpleasant and unwanted guests is extremely discouraging, so if you have to host an excess number of guests causing bad experiences, many listing may deactivate themselves and search for other, better possibilities."

We are the ones that make the money for airbnb. Without us airbnb is nothing, absolutely nothing. We are not their emplyess, not their slaves and we do not have any duty to list our spaces here. It is our homes and we put the rules about who comes in, nobody else.

If airbnb thinks a host must accept each and any request then they are free to accomodate them at their own personal homes. Not in mine. Here it's me who decides. Only me.

[Ian52]

This week I tried to list two spaces on Airbnb and when setting up the listings I was given no option other than to have Instant Book. There was no option to choose anything at all. There is also no mechanism for turning off Instant Book and the instruction in the FAQs don't work for me (the options are not available).

I contacted Airbnb and I got this response:

"When you sign up for Airbnb and activate your listing, guests will be able to book your space without needing to request approval. This feature can’t be turned off, but you have the option to require all guests to meet additional requirements before they’re able to instantly book your space. This gives you more control over who can stay in your listing." (Not sure that I agree that Instant Book give me MORE control than being able to accept or decline guests, but anyway...)

Not happy with the response I sent the following:

"It is not correct to say that "this feature can't be turned off" - your website and all of the help documentation makes it clear that it can. I do not want instant booking activated at this stage. Please therefore turn it off."

And I received the following response:

"I am sorry that you are frustrated by the instant booking not being able to be turned off. At this time not being able to turn off instant booking is an issue within our system. The Airbnb team is working on this issue. If you would receive a reservation that you weren't comfortable with you do have a way to cancel that reservation without any penalties. When you would potentially go to cancel a reservation at the bottom of the cancellation page it says I'm uncomfortable with the guest's behavior.

If you could take the time and respond to this email and let me know what you think about the instant booking feature. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated."

Having read this discussion, and being asked to respond, I sent the following feedback:

"Thank you [name]. It appears from your response that this is a bug and that it will be fixed. Is that correct? Can you also let me have an approximate timescale as to when it will be fixed and when I will be able to opt out of the instant booking system, please?
It appears from the Airbnb community forums that not everyone is being told the same thing. Some people are suggesting that they have been told that forcing new hosts to use instant booking is an 'experiment' by Airbnb, whereas you are clearly suggesting that this is a bug and that the team at Airbnb are working to fix it. I just want to clarify the position, as obviously you will appreciate that where a community is built on, and relies so heavily on trust as much as the Airbnb community does, that it is crucial that the users, both hosts and guests are able to trust what we are being told by Airbnb itself."

I received an automated message from Airbnb about "high volumes of email" and telling me that it may take up to 48 hours to respond. Then two hours later I got another email saying "Thank you for reaching out and submitting feedback." over 48 hours later I have received nothing further.

Last night my girlfriend listed a room in her house on Airbnb - and was given the option to "read and approve every request within 24 hours"!

I don't know about everyone else, but I don't like being lied to, and I don't like being treated like an idiot. Particularly given that the whole Airbnb thing is supposedly built on trust and respect. My spaces remain unlisted.

[Lasse0]

Same problem. Listed my place a few days ago, and didn't get options to uncheck "Instant Booking". Hope they'll fix the bug or whatever they call it. I wanna be in, at least some control of who's staying at my place. 

[Victoria57]

Fortunately we joined AirBnB early last year and so didn't have Instant Book forced on us. We have tried it and not had any problems. But the decision on whether to use IB has to be the host's, not AirBnB's. Their experiment with this is a rotten policy and I hope they listen to the hosting community who provide their income.

I also really really hate their constant tinkering and experiments that AirBnB do with features and the website. they should do proper testing and announce properly the features to be introduced or changed.

[Vini0]

Hi ,

I totally agree with all of you.I feel like , I dont have contral over my house and my room. Now My room is booked by a couple who dont speak english and i am shocked and dont know how to communicate with them. I have send them numbers of mail asking for details but no reply. I strongle advocate against this idea.

[Sean34]

This is a real bummer. As a brand new host it appears I'm prevented from removing INSTANT BOOKING from either the mobile or website platform as well. AirBnB told me it was a technical glitch they're going through at the moment, but I couldn't get a certain answer. For now, I'll just open my calendar for two weeks at a time until AirBnB creates this necessary opt-out.

AirBnB management: please keep in mind that without homeowners, you have no inventory. Please end this mandated, risky feature.

[Charles44]

I am a new host.

I WANT to turn off INSTANT BOOKING and will delist next week and cancel existing bookings if I have to.

My first bnb was this weekend - an INSTANT BOOKING -  a $#^%!^% disaster.

Airbnb  -  fix this now !!  I have a SUPER HOST friend who cant believe this new policy  - 

Charlie

[Clare0]

Hi @Charles44 You can provide feedback directly to Airbnb by clicking on the link below.  They don't respond to each message but at least you can have your voice heard. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

[Susan151]

This is not a bug. This is a choice that AirBNB has made for a selected number of hosts. And, to add insult to injury, the "Recommended by another Host" preference has been taken away as well. We are all dead in the water here. I have blocked most of my open dates until this can be addressed by AirBNB. I feel very vulnerable, here in my safe house.

[Sue75]

Airbnb do not care about hosts. That is clear. They only want now to make as much money as possible to make them a good prospect for a sell off on the stockmarket, making Billions probably for the original starters. That is business I'm afraid in this day and age. No matter that this was, a great concept at the start....now it sucks!

As a host I will not turn on IB. I want to know who is coming to my home. I am not offering faceless hotel services. 

I have provided feedback I do not believe it will be taken into any account.

So my search now begins for another platform to sell my goods. Those platforms are shrinking all OTA's are now offering a similar package. Our own web sites have been driven down the search engine markets because we have no way to compete. 

A rock and a gard place now guys. Pull your ads off the OTA's, show them who really runs things................don't pay any bills or eat as a result!! Great!! Unless we stand together on this we are sunk.

[Lisa166]

I agree, and I have weighed in on this before, written airbnb and called them as well.  From the lastest info I have seen, the decision to mandate the instant book experiment was made to offset potential charges of discrimination.  If anyone can book, then there is no discrimination, right?

But this means that we are just a hotel, and CANNOT PROMOTE AIRBNB within our communities as we cannot make a case for being safe, responsible, and often a cultural exchange.  We cannot claim no "stranger danger" if we cannot have a voice in advance with who stays in our homes.

I have tried Instant Book and have had a 50-50 experience.  That means half the guests worked out well, and the other half treated us like a cheap hotel, including treating shared spaces like their own private areas, ie the shared living room behaviour was more suited to a bedroom. Instant book guests have also assumed they could arrive at 2 am, assumed they could bring a friend, assumed they had a private entrance, assumed the bath was private, and so forth.  We just have not had those problems outside of instant book.

This is because guests often hit INSTANT BOOK without reading the listing.  This puts the onus on the host to explain everything or to "verify understanding" after booking or after arrival, rather than through an email process in advance of accepting the booking. 

For us the downsides outweighed any bookings we might have received.

Add to that all of the other problems.  Sure, have INSTANT BOOK. No problem.  It works for some.  But the choice ABSOLUTELY MUST belong to the host.  I hope Airbnb does stop the mandatory new host trial. And I have some ideas on a win-win solution. 

Airbnb wants to have more listings with Instant Book?  Make it voluntary--and provide incentives.  Cut the host rate from 3% down to 2% for Instant Book Hosts.  That will increase hosts willing to try it.  And set the stage for host success with Instant book. Do not let any new hosts try it until they have hosted for 3 months or 10 guests.   New hosts need to get a feel for how Airbnb works, and they need to practice email communication with guests, and to get the rules they need in place before attempting Instant Book.  All of that takes experience.

My remaining question here is to Airbnb:  We are not seeing hosts jump for joy with mandatory Instant Book.  I have yet to read any host comments that this is a good idea.  All of the host comments I have read on MANDATORY Instant Book have been profoundly negative.  The hosts detest it, and because our voices have not been heard on this, we are losing those Airbnb warm fuzzies we used to have.   So why do we still have this going on?

Lisa

Almost 3 years as an Airbnb host and

SuperHost