Bizarre message back to guest when trying to book my place

[Jennifer715]

Hi all,

So I had a potential guest with no reviews, so I assume I would be her first booking, message me stating that she tried twice to book my place for one night at the end of August and got back this reply:

"Choose another place to stay
Airbnb prevents reservations for entire homes when a pattern of factors (like location or reservation time) suggests the booking may be unsafe.
This restriction is not related to the coronavirus. For resources on coronavirus, see airbnb.com/covid.
Please try a private room or hotel room instead."

WTH? My booking might be unsafe?  I have never seen or heard anything like this before and what is strange is I had received a booking just 2 hours prior to her reaching out to me from someone else.  Do any of you know why she received this message?  I replied back to her asking how many in her party and she replied back just she and her partner, again just for one night.  Her place of residence is near where I live but we've booked folks from that town before recently. I pre-approved her but still she can not book.  I just got off the phone with Airbnb and someone is looking into it and will be calling me back but thought I would reach out to you folks.  Help!

Jennifer

ps. My listing is setup as a one night minimum

[Ann72]

@Jennifer715  Multiple posts on this topic - take a look below.  It started in the spring and was related to cracking down on parties:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Choose-another-place-to-stay-message/m-p/1265597

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Blocked-bookings-unrelated-to-Covid-19-message-to-potential...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Airbnb-Message-to-guest-trying-to-book/m-p/1272181

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/New-whole-House-Fraud-Feature-creates-Host-Challenge/m-p...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Choose-another-place-to-stay/m-p/1306510

[Jennifer715]

Thank you!

[Rebecca181]

I'm wondering if you have a check-out on the same day she was to check-in: Which would not meet the recommended 24 hour 'clearing' period suggested for Covid-19 containment. Which would then flag your listing as being 'unsafe'. 

[Emilia42]

@Rebecca181 The 24-hour block between guests is not enforced by Airbnb, only recommended. 

[Jennifer715]

No, I am not sure of her age but the booking was for the last weekend in August so not a short turnaround visit.  Check-in on Sunday and checkout on Monday.  That weekend is completely open so very strange. Will see what Airbnb says.  If it is to protect me I get it but I did ask the guest if she was planning on having any social gatherings (more than 4 people) and she said no. Just a stay-cation for she and her partner.  I will update Airbnb's response when I get it.

[Sarah977]

@Jennifer715  Check-in on Sunday and check-out on Monday is exactly a "short turnaround visit". What could be shorter than a one night booking?

[Jennifer715]

No I mean that the booking is for August 30th, nearly one month away for a single night versus a guest booking within say 48 hours of arrival date.  

[Emilia42]

@Jennifer715 

Is your guest under 25? Booking close to arrival date on a single Friday or Saturday night? Local to your area? Airbnb has set up a slew of algorithms that will flag potential party bookings in attempts to prevent such a scenario from happening.  

[Jennifer715]

I am not sure of her age but the booking is for 2 people for Sunday August 30th - basically a month away. Strange...

[Debra300]

@Jennifer715,

The alert message from Airbnb is horrible, and implies an inappropriate connotation of what they are trying to do.  Last Halloween there was a house party right up 24 from you in Orinda where five people were shot.  As a result Airbnb had an automatic filter for reservations that fit a particular patterns: https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/4/20948759/airbnb-brian-chesky-bans-party-houses-halloween-orinda-c....  I would think one night reservations for entire homes would be more prone to get flagged than an entire guest suite, because these types of dwellings are usually apart of a home, but maybe the algorithm blocks any booking that has some or all of these factors: local resident, one-night stay, entire space booked, and guest under age of 25.  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jennifer715 It is the booking that is potentially unsafe not your property. Rightly or wrongly Airbnb algorithms are trying to protect you. 

[Susan89]

Same thing happened to me today. I just wrote a whole story and it disappeared. Hosts should be the ones to decide, and not lose a reservation because of Airbnb's new rule or algorithm. I will be contacting them, even though it seems impossible to get a live person on the phone.

The guests sounded wonderful and one of them had three positive reviews. Why,  because someone is under 25 and books the day before? That's not right. I would call that discrimination.