Don't penalize hosts for declining illegitimate reservation requests

Don't penalize hosts for declining illegitimate reservation requests

Guests occasionally request stays for dates they don't actually want in order to reach me about blocked/reserved dates.  When I decline them, my search rank drops about 20 places.  

 

Just today, I had a guest request a reservation for a night that he didn't actually want, hoping I could free up a blocked date for him.  I couldn't, so I declined his reservation request, then got an admonishing message from Airbnb to keep my calendar up to date. 

 

Even if I were willing to unblock the night for him, he had zero reviews and only an email verification. That's too flimsy for me.

 

This seems unfair. My calendar was in fact up to date, and I use "instant book" for guests with two reviews and some verifications. I shouldn't be penalized for declining a guest who tries to work around your booking system, who I can't ultimately accommodate.

12 Comments
JB6
Level 4

Interesting comments.  I have a calculation on my spreadsheet that identifies folks as either old hands, who have been on AirBnB before and have reviews, versus Rookies, who are new to this process.  Rookies often have to be led by the hand through the booking process, explained why the price they saw is not the price they booked at, why one listing can be priced differently depending on the day, and why it is a bad idea to book dates just to ask questions about another date they booked.   I have only had to decline a Rookie once, when they tied up too many dates.  Otherwise, I've  tried working with them through the Messaging function to lead them through the process.

Andrea1063
Level 10

I understand that direct messaging is something that ABB does not want.  They think that we can make side-deals with guests.  However, there needs to be some measure that weeds out people that are merely inquiring vs those that are truly interested in those dates.  Like someone else said, an algorithm is a machine and not a real person with whom you can deal with things.  

 

I like the idea of reporting such a request so its flagged and you have a fall-back position if you need one.  

Or, there needs to be another option and not just 'accept' or 'decline' - or maybe as simple as an 'inquiry' button for the guest within the ABB system with which you can start the converstation with the guest and 'accept' or 'decline' based on needs, dates etc.