Basic Requirements/Accepted Reservations

[Edie9]

As a Superhost for a LONG time, I  was surprised to see that I needed to "work on" Basic Requirements/Accepted Reservations. It seems that legitimate reasons for declining a reservation are not taken into account. Some I have encountered with guest reservations were:

- not having a profile, no recommendations or reviews and not responding to questions 

-asking to accommodate more people then listed and not pay the additional charge

-wanting to bring a pet even though the listing specifically states "no pets"

-wanting to bring young children when, for safety reasons, the listing specifically states "no children"

As more and more "first time" guests use Airbnb incorrectly.....some deliberately....hosts should not be penalized for declining a reservation.

[Jane267]

It is to late... they've made changes (Airbnb) and have hidden the results from you.  They have made changes to the plateform that just benefit themselves.  They have treated guests with poor service and are not transparent making them look dishonest.  You have lost guest because of this and are all asking "why"?  Why? Why??? 

[Jane267]

It is to late... they've made changes (Airbnb) and have hidden the results from you. They have made changes to the plateform that just benefit themselves. They have treated guests with poor service and are not transparent making them look dishonest. You have lost guest because of this and are all asking "why"? Why? Why???

[Tina237]

I am receiving more and more bookings from guests new to Airbnb who have no profile picture and inadequate information about their location. I may have to reconsider allowing instant booking.

[Edie9]

I am getting the impression from the Airbnb emails that they care less and less about the hosts and more and more about the $ we generate for them. I consider emails like....if you don't accept or decline within 12 hours the dates will automatically be blocked.....or if your acceptance rate is lower, then your listing can be changed so you have a lower profile and receive fewer offers.....threatening! So the Airbnb administration, in my mind, don't even have the guests in mind when arranging a successful stay. It seems more and more to me that they want hosts to approve any guest as fast as possible and get their money no matter what.

[Abel24]

Just saw this flag come up on my page, as a superhost, i do not think it's appropriate that our rating be "penalised" when guests book different dates then they actually want, sometimes knowing that its already booked as the calendar is blocked, or change their minds, or make bookings without reading the house rules, or are not willing to pay costs for additinal guests.....and the list goes on on why people don't or wont be allowed to follow through on a booking....and then they leave their booking "open" when they decide not to book or have booked a wrong date....or their party is too large etc..

I don't think AirBnB has put enough thought into this new requirement.

[Edie9]

I am sure that the hosts could come up with many, many, many reasons that are totally reasonable and justified why guests are declined and hosts should not be judged and penalized through this new evaluation....Basic Requirements/Accepted Reservations. The question is ..... does Airbnb value me as a host to change this? Right now I am insulted by their disregard.

[Kurt-and-Kim0]

Just saw this "Accepted reservations" percentage today. What a shocker! And I'm frankly surprised by the complete lack of transparency around this new grading metric for Hosts. When do we get dinked for this? Has anyone seen any documentation/help on this? I'm guessing that this metric is the # of (Accepts + Instant Books 'Accepted') / (Number of Inquiries + Instant Books)??? If that is the case we are getting "dinked" when: 1. Someone under age tries to rent our home and have a prom party? We get about 5 of those every Spring. 2. Someone wants to rent our home "tonight - we're at a wedding in town". Then get 2 more drunk messages after we politely decline their "offer" to crash at/ruin our home. These inquiries come through even though we have rules configured that require 7 day advance notice. 3. They have a "Go Cubs!" picture but are verified only by a phone number (drop phone) and want to bring 15+ guests (12 is our MAX) - Even though we won't let someone Instant Book unless they meet much higher ID/review requirements? I fully understand what they are trying to "accomplish" however the means and complete lack of information leaves me scratching my AirHead...

[Edie9]

Listening to you and other hosts, I could compile a NEVER ENDING list of legitimate reasons why guests are not accepted. But I don't think Airbnb really cares. It seems they want all guests accepted regardless so that they can get their cut. It seems that Airbnb started out as a family business and have changed to be a corporation.

[Kurt-and-Kim0]

Totally agree Edie, I contacted Support on above, in case you are wondering how it works here's what they said. 1. The declining and accepting of request and inquiries you are only rated on actual denials of a request to book not the message inquiries. 2. There's no way for them to reverse, even the most legitimate, decline. We were asked by a Guest to cancel the reservation and did so. Now we know never to do that again. 3. Under Reservation Preferences turn off "For Instant Book hosts: Allow guests to send reservation requests without advance notice." Even if you have a 7 day prep time, someone can insta book at any time for any date (we had a same day request which we got dinked on). I would strongly suggest wer all provide feedback on this here -> https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback Not sure if they'll listen, but you never know. Hope this helps someone else.

[Edie9]

Yes, if you cancel the reservation, it definitely affects you negatively. A guest is allowed 3 cancellations per year...hosts none! That says it all right there. I refuse to do instant bookings no matter how many times Airbnb sends me a notice to do so. That will be the next thing to be evaluated on!!LOL!

I have provided feedback on many occasions but the they want is feedback on the website itself. There is no mechanism that I can find to provide feedback to the administration responsible for evaluations. They don't want feedback! As more and more people, who are going to be faced with changes to rules of buildings they live in....Airbnb not allowed....have to cancel their offer, Airbnb are going to find themselves short of hosts. Already, I am being offered up to $300 CDN to register another host with them. I think that was why they added experiences.