Instant book - has something changed?

[Bridget2]

Hi,

I just cancelled a booking.  It was a party of four girls from a local private school in England who wanted to study during a break instead of returning to Hong Kong. It was for eight days. The house is small, two single beds and one double in two bedrooms.  I didnt feel the house had sufficient study space and I was worried that the group was too large and too young.  It is very much a family home with neighbours close by.

Questions:

Up until today, I have used Instant Book and been given the opportunity to turn guests down - which I have done if for example they have asked to bring babies.  (the house is not suitable).  But today, the reservation went through without this opportunity.  Did something on Instant Book change?

I made the cancellation within three hours. I couldnt tick the guests behaviour box because they hadnt done anything wrong yet - it was my decision.  My house rules do say no parties.  Because of the way I made the cancellation, the penalties are severe.  Is there anything I can do with Airbnb to ameliorate the penalties?

In future, is there anything I can do to prevent this happening again?  I dont want to say no single sex groups as I had a lovely group of twenty somethings recently.  Could I say no unaccompanied under 18's?

If anyone can offer any advice, I would be very pleased to hear it.  My experience so far with Airbnb guests has been very good and this is a rare occurance.

Thank you to anyone who can help me,

Bridget

[ZenHomes0]

Hi @Bridget2 was the group you cancelled under 18? If so, they have violated the Airbnb's terms and conditions as it states that to have an account, the user has to be 18 and older. You can inform Airbnb you cancelled on the basis that they're underaged as they're in a private local school, hopefully since it's not your fault there, Airbnb will remove those penalties. For instant book, guests can book with you immediately without seeking your approval first. You can set a stricter instant book setting by only allowing instant book to work for guests recommended by other hosts. In the future, before cancelling on a guest, it can be useful to let Airbnb know in advance why you plan to do so so that they're aware of the situation beforehand. 

[Bridget2]

Thanks Adam, I am very grateful for your reply.  

The girl who booked said the group  of four were aged 19-17 years. I didn't know the age of the girl booking and I am not sure how to be sure?

Your point about letting Airbnb know first is a really helpful one, but I am not sure how I would have done this?

Thanks, I have now changed my instant book settings.

I guess I just have to put it down to experience this time, but it does seem a bit unfair.

cheers,

Bridget

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

The perils of instant book - I can pretty much guarantee you that you will always have reservations about guests using instant book. You have no opportunity to engage with them and find out just the sort of information that you did. It's good for business for AirBnB as it means impulsive bookiings, but hosts have to manage the consequences. 

[Sarah282]

I had a different problem in that Air BnB wouldn't let me turn off instant booking
I finally managed to contact a real person by phone and then I was given a rreal email address so I could express my concerns and Lo and behold I was able to turn off instant booking

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

Hi @Sarah282, are you using the app? I had a similar experience with the app. Similar but opposite. The app decided "no one" could book. I found this out because my brother in law was going to stay at my place and insisted on paying through Airbnb but he couldn't find me or book. Then I realized that the app was blocking the possibility to receive bookings. It was like this for about two weeks. Since then I don't use the app.