Stop penalizing hosts who decline inappropriate requests

Stop penalizing hosts who decline inappropriate requests

I'm really disappointed that the "Basic Requirements" update to the Dashboard essentially attempts to bully hosts into accepting an arbitrary percentage of their requests.

 

I can appreciate that Airbnb wants to cut down on preventable disappointments and practices that appear to be discrimination. I know how frustrating it is to be a guest (especially as a visible minority) and receive multiple declines with no good explanation. But setting a minimum percentage of accepted reservations is an absolutely wrongheaded way to go about solving this. No matter how much people might prefer Instant Book, experienced hosts know that Airbnb's porous verification system and unreliable Host Guarantee are no substitute for our judgment when the nature of a request is inappropriate to what we're offering. In no way do I condone discrimination against guests based on anything such as age, race, gender identity, etc, and I respect the importance of keeping an updated calendar, but there are many legitimate reasons that a decline can be the best decision. Hosts with certain kinds of listings, or in certain locations, are going to get inappropriate requests more than others, too, so those averages are completely irrelevant.

 

Some examples from my own experience:

 

- the guest has clearly not read the listing and believes it is a different kind of property (e.g. Entire Home instead of private room)

- the guest requires different dates or has a larger party size than has been manually entered

- the guest insists upon special accommodations beyond what is advertised

- the guest has been negatively reviewed by previous hosts

- the guest does not answer follow-up question within the 24 hour accept/decline window

- the request is for something other than accommodation, such as a partyor film shoot

- the host has a prior unpleasant experience with a member of the guest party

- the guest asks for exceptions to the House Rules, and therefore...

- the communication leaves the host feeling unsafe with the guest in their home

 

 

In all of these situations, the host's only reasonable option is to Decline. I don't mind being asked to justify the choice so that nobody feels treated unfairly. But I've been hosting and since many of Airbnb's tech crew were still in high school, and I do not appreciate seeing a warning message on my screen because the algorithm decided I need to accept a higher percentage of requests. Airbnb, please accept that humans often need to excercise judgment that computers can't.

 

 

14 Comments
Marie82
Level 10
Myself i decline many request to book as most of the time - My listing said no kids = they still want to bring kids - my listing said up to max guests, they still want to bring more - Guests asking for very early check in and very late check out free of charge - The tone of some request - A the discount type - Or the guests may not fit such a location after reading previous review and i honestly think we should not be penalised as many time he has nothing to do with discrimination
Lisa-Hurt-0
Level 1
We have had an issue that doesn't seem to be mentioned here. We had a guest book one night, but she asked to check in extra extra early.... like 11AM. We allowed it since there was no guest in the space the evening prior. She checked in and made it VERY CLEAR she wanted NO contact with us. Subsequently she said there would be two vehicles and did we have space for the parking. We said yes. The other "guest" showed up a couple hours later. They were gone by 4:30 PM and never returned. Suffice it to say that from the condition of the apartment (what was in the trash) they used our space to "crash" and party and seemingly were either in an affair or some sort of "paid" encounter. It was truly an uncomfortable feeling when we cleaned the space and realized their purpose for the rental. All of this said... I truly don't care if people want to have affairs or mid-afternoon meetups or whatever... but I do NOT want them in my space. We gave her an "OK" review as she didn't damage anything... just left a lot of trash and the bed was pretty trashed. NOW... she's requested to stay again... twice. The first time was a simple no since she requested late and we told her the space wasn't prepped for guests. Today we got another request.... and another request to change our check-in/check-out time. We declined and said we weren't allowing changes in check in / check out times... but I'm concerned that she'll just ask yet AGAIN.... and agree to the times. I do NOT want this person in my space again. Again... if she wishes to engage in this behavior I have no issue with that - the issue is that I don't want my space used in this way. Anyone have ideas or solutions? I continue to turn her down in AirBNB, but clearly have no evidence of any illegal behavior - only behavior I'm not comfortable with. I don't want to lose my superhost status because I continue to turn this person down. I'm open to suggestions here....
Stephanie365
Level 10

So the AirBNB "no penalty for declining someone you don't feel comfortable hosting" is bull doo doo?


 

Anonymous

@Lisa-Hurt-0 the decline rate is currently appearing in the "Basic Requirements" column, but it isn't listed among the Superhost criteria. 

 

Since one decline is better than four or five, it's probably best to get across to your guest that you will not be hosting her again. It's a delicate matter so it's worth taking time to choose words carefully. If you want to avoid more scenarios like this in the future you can also consider lengthening your Minimum Stay.