Stop Discriminating Against Hosts Who Do Not Use Instant Book

[Alina9]

In the city we live in guests tend to book last minute, and I have been checking to see where our listing appears in the search results and for the past little while ONLY Instant Book listings have been appearing. I searched for tomorrow and from 8 pages of results, EVERY SINGLE ONE was Instant Book. Our listing is available tomorrow but it did not appear, and only appeared once I zoomed in on the map. 

Airbnb claims to offer a unique experience since you stay in people's actual homes. There are those of us who actually live in the homes we rent out and for various reasons (scheduling, making sure the guests will respect our house rules, and that we can meet them to give them the keys when they arrive) we want to communicate with them before accepting them into our home. So why are we being discriminated against in the search results when we actually offer what Airbnb claims is the biggest differentiator between them and the competition? 

[Cathy65]

Well said, Alina. I am shocked and appalled to learn that they are doing this. As you suggest, it is actually favoring commercial-type listings over those of us who provide what is touted as "the Airbnb experience."

[Johnny22]

I've just checked 17 pages of listings - twice - in my area and mine does not come up at all, nor is there a blob marking us on the map. Does anyone know how to contact AirBnB, if so please tell me? This is all such a waste of time. No wonder we have had no enquiry since March. 

[Amanda88]

I have just turned off instant booking since having a rather unpleasant and worrying 1 nighter guest last night.  Now I'm worried I'll get no more bookings as my home won't appear on the listings.

The room, albeit massive and including a sitting and dining area, is part of my home, and the bathroom is shared to a small degree.

I also am female and live alone remotely, which finally was the reason for turning off instant book.

Now reading several similar posts to this one I am thinking that AirBnB was a mistake, as no one will see my listing !

[Pearse1]

Totally agree , anyone that will allow strangers to "instantly" book their property 

without checking their references and verification must be mad !

if airbnb is going down this line i will certainly be looking for alternative ways and other options to let my properties , i have also had problems with some of my listings not showing up on search engines ,

[Ken34]

Instant Booking should be entirely removed from the system.  No one in their right mind allows a total stranger to walk into their home without any chance to "vett" them.  It is a major security risk and invasion of pivacy to anyone who hosts.  This is THE SINGLE WORST FEATURE which AirBnb has incorporated in the system, for many reasons, including promoting "slum landlords" who hardly ever visit their commercialized listings, security and privacy failures, and more.

I see so many negative discussions about Instant Book here and elsewhere, ever since they added it, and especially since they started requiring it of new listings!  It makes me wonder if anyone from Air ever really reads these things and actually does something about it.

[Amanda88]

Thank you Pearse and Ken, I feel less isolated knowing I'm not so stupid in turning off instant book.

However, after having a full weekend for my first weekend of opening, and 3 days booked at the end of Sept while instant booking was still on, I have had ZERO bookings or enquires since I turned it off 😞

Have to wonder why ?

[Cathy65]

Instant book is a mechanism for the bad to drive out the good. As someone noted above, it encourages the absentee, commercial property type listing, while discouraging live-in hosts. Airbnb seems to be going for a model of volume over quality, 

[Cathy65]

Both Instant Book and the suggested prices (which are naively adopted by newbies and cute-rate hosts) have the effect of driving high-quality, go-the-extra-mile hosts away, in favor of cut-rate places which can only be of lower quality. 

[Amanda88]

I agree Cathy 😞

[Johnny22]

Cathy notes AirBnB are going for 'volume over quality'. Well of course they would wouldn't they, they earn more commission that way. Also suggesting ever lower pricing, without any real knowledge of the quality of the host's offering.

A model of high value, low volume saves a fortune in wear and tear, but earns them less. Ditto Instant Book: trap host and guest into irrevocable positions and hey presto, ting-ting commission earned. It's all a far cry from the soft soap sell at the beginning when they started to build this mutually dependant community.

I would love to know if they ever read this stuff and if they do, what are they doing about it.

[Sarah293]

I greatly appreciate all the comments regarding instant booking. I did not realize this was an issue that interfered with booking. I don't like the idea of instant booking at all. It does not feel safe. It also elimates the opportunity for communication with guests, which I find helpful and also meaningful when sharing my home.

I also find it incredibly frustrating that it is so difficult to communicate directly with anyone from Airbnb when I or my customers need assistance. I wonder if these comments are being read by Airbnb, not just 'the Community.' It does make me consider looking into another organization.

[Kittie-and-Chris0]

When we turned off our instant book feature a few weeks ago, because we were concerned, after having some experiences leading us to believe we had to approve each booking, we saw our inquiries fade away. We went from having constant inquiries to wondering what in the world happened ? If this is true, then our question has been answered. 

[Wei-and-Ting0]

I'll give a voice from the other side: I used to think like everyone on this thread and as I started to get good at screening people I thought instant book was for the inexperienced. But after about 18 months of "regular" hosting I notice all the best guest are the ones who simply request to book and you just hit accept to book them in, requiring minimum time and energy to negotiate. These "no-nonsense" type guests also tend to read through the listing and thus have a clear understanding of what they are getting. We are now instant book only and I really don't even want to bother with enquiries, as those people require tons of explaining and 80% of the time still fall through. If anything I wish there was an option to go instant book exclusive. That being said, instant book right now is still very half baked, and a minority of bad guests can ruin it for everyone else. That's why Airbnb needs to give hosts more targeted approaches to handling bad guests, such as blocking them or setup specific rules that only apply to certain guests.

[Melanie58]

Well said wei and ting - I use instant book and love it.  It is perfect for last minute guests.  I use the moderate settings which require previous positive reviews and verification.  I enjoy it very much.  As a traveler, I only use instant book because I don't like having long drawn out conversations, especially if I am booking last minute. This is especially important traveling through the mountain west where I often lack data services which are required for these back and forth conversations while traveling. I just want to know I have a place to stay.