Instant Booking Rules

[Priscilla150]

I have discovered that 95%  of the people that have booked with me since I opened and who are from my city or a neighboring city have mental or emotional issues.  Those issues are serious enough that I am not equipped to handle them and quite frankly I have been very uncomfortable several times. Because of that, I wanted to scene my guest and ask questions prior to their booking.  When I went to turn off Instant Book, there are a series of questions Airbnb asks.  Then just before you click your another approval, you get these statements below that you must check to ensure you understand:

* Your listing won’t be highlighted in search, so you may get fewer reservations

* You’ll only have 24 hours to respond to requests without penalty

* You’ll lose Instant Book controls like penalty-free cancellations or requiring positive reviews

It seems to me that if I wish to have more control over those that book, especially from  my own city for my own personal safety, then I shouldn't be faced with losing my position or not having my listing highlighted or possible penalties.    Airbnb frequently states they are here to back us up, but this doesn't feel like I am being backed up.

Perhaps it is because I have had some very uncomfortable people book from my city that might cause me to look at this all wrong.  Thus I ask, am I looking at this wrong.  If so, how should I look at this?

Thank you.

[Emilia42]

@Priscilla150, many will disagree but I personally like instant booking and do feel that I have a lot of control when using it. Some ways that you can try to prevent unstable people from booking with you is to require a government ID and previous reviews. Also, you should adjust your settings to not accept last minute bookings. Try at least 2 or 3 days advance notice. What about setting a maximum night stay of only 3 or 4 days? That way the people who book with you will likely be stable enough to go through the process of uploading an ID (let alone have one) and will have used Airbnb before. You also won't get people booking at last minute who are trying to flea a situation and plan on staying for a long period of time. Do you already do these things?

[Priscilla150]

Thanks Emilia, 

No I don't do all of those things.  I do try to screen my guests prior to their arrival.  If they Instant Book, I will ask them questions.  One of the new questions I will be asking is if they read the House Rules.  I have had 2 cancel on me this week, because they didn't read my house rules or listing completely, if at all.  One thought they could bring whomever they wanted without booking them as well.  My rules clearly state that my current guest room is for one person only.  Another wanted to sleep two on my airbeds, which are twin size.  So I will be upping my game in the question department and if I get more cancellations, I sure hope that won't hurt my ratings.  Because I am close enough to the Freeway, I get a lot of people traveling through that just need a place to sleep before they continue on their journey.  That is the main reason I don't require 2-3 days notices.  Those people, however, have proved to be very nice, interesting and safe.

[Emily487]

@Priscilla150 

We have instant book enabled but at the top of our listing we state "We do not host local guests". This has given us an out when locals still try to book. This might be something you could try. 

[Priscilla150]

Great idea.  I never thought of that.  I believe I will try that as well.

[Sarah977]

@Priscilla150  I'm sorry you've had to deal with these types of guests.

I've never, ever used Instant Book since I started hosting. The only disadvantage I can see is that Instant Book listings have higher placement in search. Airbnb wants guests to book as fast and furiously as possible, so Instant Book is great for the corporate bank account. The comfort level of their hosts isn't their concern, at all.

As for the other 2 "disdavantages" Airbnb warns you about- I've never found it an issue to respond to my guest's Inquiries or Booking Requests within 24 hours. And I like communicating with a prospective guest before accepting them to stay in my home. Although hosts like @Emilia42 say they like using Instant Book and it works well for them, I've also read a lot of posts here from hosts who turned it off for the same type of reasons you wish to- they were getting undesirable guests. Some of that may be due to a host's inability to properly screen guests, but I also believe that guests who like to Instant Book can be more problematic. I host a lot of single women, or at least they are traveling alone. Many have told me they would never Instant Book- they want to exchange a message or two with the host to feel it out before committing to a booking. Those are the kind of guests I want.

As far as "losing Instant Book controls"- I've accepted lots of guests with no reviews- I can get a good sense of who they are by the way they communicate. Not all hosts leave honest reviews for bad guests anyway, so just because a guest has 2 or 3 good reviews doesn't mean much to me. I actually have to read those reviews myself to determine if I believe them or they are pertinent to my listing. A host who is off-site and rents an entire home and has self-check-in may never even meet the guests. As long as they didn't trash the place, the host gives them a good review. But those same guests may not be at all suited to a home share situation like mine. And in 3 years of hosting, I've never had the need to cancel a reservation, because I control who I accept, and who I manage to discourage from booking. So that has resulted in lovely guests for almost 3 years of hosting, not a bad egg in the bunch.

If I get fewer bookings because I'm lower in search rankings, I don't care- I'm interested in quality, not quantity and I don't need stress in my life.  Right now I'm at #55 out of 155 listings in my category. Sometimes I'm halfway down the list. And I still get booked.

Don't let Airbnb intimidate you. Run your listing in the way it works for you.

[Priscilla150]

Thank you so much Sarah,

I really appreciate all that you told me.  It is good to hear your opinion on this issue.

Thank you again.