Basic Host Requirements - Loophole or Error?

Danielle476
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

Basic Host Requirements - Loophole or Error?

Good day everyone,

 

Recently I logged into my account to see that '1 Host Requirement Needs Your Attention' under the Basic Requirements.  The target for accepted reservations is 88%, and I have recently fallen to 86%.  Seems fairly clear, correct?

 

I have my booking settings to Instant Book, with the caveat that all guests must be ID Verified.  For whatever reason, AirBNB still allows unverified guests to make booking requests - something I don't typically mind, as I will explain my requirements to the guest, walk them through the Verification process and eventually, 9/10 guests do end up adding their ID and booking with me anyway.  

 

The problem is this:  AirBNB requires that hosts 'Accept' or 'Decline' requests when they're made.  I always decline unverified guests, with a message outlining what I've explained above.  Once they're Verified, they Instant-Book.  I had no idea these 'Declines' were being held against me!  When I spoke with Customer Service, they explained I should instead be asking the guest to withdraw their request, submit their ID for Verification and then Instant Book once all is said and done.  This seems INCREDIBLY cumbersome for me to explain, and for the guest to adhere to.  I'm not an AirBNB IT professional, why should I have to jump through these hoops when the settings on my listing are clearly intended for Verified guests only?

To me, this is the equivalent of allowing a listing to say 'no dogs allowed', then penalizing them by saying 'you only allowed 86% of your guests to bring dogs instead of the required 88%.'  Don't let me select 'Verified Users Only' if you're going to turn around and penalize me for not accepting Unverified Users.  Ironically, this number isn't even accurate as most of the Unverified Users do become Verified and book with me after I've declined.

 

Any thoughts on this?  I'm being painted into a corner it seems.  Their algorithms don't appear very well thought-out at times.  I'm sure this is also damaging my listing's status in the search results.  Customer Service just suggested to send them a completed Feedback Form.  I asked if it would be better to simply not 'Decline' or 'Accept' but she said that would be worse.  Sigh.

71 Replies 71
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Kath9 @Emilia42  That link worked for me. You know what else is secret? A host just posted the other day about another dashboard other than the Hosting Dashboard. I found it by the link he posted, but I can't see any other way to access that dashboard from our account pages and neither could he, which is why he posted the question. And why are there 2 different dashboards?

That page Emilia posted is on that "secret" dashboard.

@Sarah977 

Was it a Pro dashboard, by any chance? 

@Sarah977  I don't even remember how I found it the first time but I have clicked on every single menu item on my hosting dashboard since then and can't find it. I don't know if it was once an option on the dashboard and then removed.

 

Each time I refer it to a host I have to access it by searching as @Emilia42 mentioned above. (I can never remember the link)

 

@Susan17 It is not the Pro dashboard. It's a separate mystery dashboard!

 

I remember WHY I found it though....It was early on before I had actually verified my own ID and I wanted to book a place. When I submitted my request it told me I must upload my ID first to even submit the request. I'd never encountered that before, and I thought, well I want MY guests to have to do that too!

Natalie725
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

I had this exact same thought and contacted Airbnb about it a couple of days ago. I have instant book on too, and I only accept guests with ID and previous good reviews. I have a guest arriving today and his average guest rating is only 2.0. He was marked 2 for both cleanliness and communication. I asked Airbnb why they let him instant book with me, when he clearly has a negative rating.. He told me that the ratings don't matter for guests, it's just what's written in the public review (not sure how the algorithm works for that, but I would recommend hosts leave their necessary feedback in public from now on).. My upcoming guest has nothing negative written in their reviews. So it seems guests can still instant book, even if they have bad ratings. However, having no ID and still being able to book - that's a more black and white situation that shouldn't be allowed to slip through the cracks. 

 

Also regarding accepted reservations. I've been lying on 68% for over a year now. It only went up by 1% recently, even though I've had instant book on for a couple of months. My theory, is that the percent goes up by one, every 10 stays. My actual ratings for my listing are at 4.94. It took me 10 different 5 star stays in a row to get me to go from 4.93 to 4.94 .... The struggle is real! It must just take a hell of a long time for our accepted reservations and general ratings to go up. Similar situation for my response rate. If I get it back to 100% again, it will take a few days to update on one of my devices. 

@Natalie725 Why are you given so many options to accept or decline if you are using instant book? Is it because you are declining requests that come through without a verified ID?

 

Click this link and check the box and then all guests will have to be verified to book with you.

https://www.airbnb.com/hosting/requirements

I have it set to instant book because I want to be high on the search list for places to stay in Dublin. That's honestly the only reason, as well as getting in more business. But I don't want to take anyone into my home who has negative words written by previous hosts. I just clicked all the settings that were available to me at the time of working through instant booking settings. 🙂 

@Natalie725   IB reservations don’t improve your “accepted” stat. It is very difficult for an IB host to improve that stat bc the only “requests” you will ever be asked to “approve” are the unqualified or question askers. 

also I have been told** by CS that it takes consistent 1* reviews for a guest to be considered ineligible for IB. 

 

**who knows if this is true. Just what (one) rep told me...

Amy-and-Brian0
Level 10
Orlando, FL

@Danielle476 We never accept or deny anyone who doesn't meet our requirements or just is making an inquiry. We just tell them what to do or answer their questions and then archive the message. So far, it doesn't seem to be held against us. So it would seem the best way to respond is to just message them and then do nothing. 

Not responding to an inquiry won't affect your ratings - not responding (accept or decline) to a booking request will!  😞

Ah ok, yes that's true. We've been lucky in that we don't feel compelled to reject a lot of folks (less than a 2 a year) and we always call AirBnB and make them remove that from our "record". So far, they have. 

Interesting...can you expand?  You simply called and asked that they remove the Declines?  

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Danielle476 my approach to this is to accept the request with the provision that they will verify their ID, letting them know they have 48 hours to cancel if they don't want to. So far, everyone has done it.

Axel82
Level 2
Franklin, NJ

This issue Is not only for ID verifications. I have in my booking settings that guests must book at least 48 hours in advance since the property management company needs that advance notice to coordinate cleaning crew availability. I have immediate booking setting in place. However, Airbnb still allows potential guests to request a booking on the very same day of requested arrival date, even when that short notice is against the listed booking requirements. I am forced to Decline since the house is usually not ready for immediate occupancy. I then get penalized by Airbnb for the declined request. I called Airbnb when I discovered this issue and they said I should not worry about it and there is nothing they can do about it. This is really frustrating!

@Axel82 You can change the setting to not allow guests to request to book on the same day. It's under your availability settings.

 

Go to LISTING - AVAILABILITY and then click "Edit" under "Reservation Preferences." You'll see the advance notice setting, which I assume you have set to 2 days? Immediately underneath that is a check box that says:

 

"For Instant Book hosts: Allow guests to send reservation requests without advance notice."

 

Simply uncheck that box and you will no longer receive requests.

@Suzanne302 Thank you for your reply, very valuable! I had not seen that option, but I unchecked the box now. This should eliminate the problem!