Booking request declined by a host

[Mike1034]

Dear Hosts,

Recently I booked a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim. I booked the townhouse which is very close to Disneyland theme park. The booking is for four nights starting from Friday. The nightly rate is $325. The host does not have instant booking turned on.

When I made the booking request, I saw that the dates are open from Friday. My travel plan has already set up between Saturday and Wed. I booked from Saturday to Wed. But the the host declined my request because Friday would have been left open if he had accepted my request. He has a minimum length of three nights stay.

Just a question for hosts, do you think that it is reasonable to decline a request like this? And do you think that this host is greedy? As a host myself, I have never declined a booking request because a request will leave me with one or two days which could not be booked. I have Instant Booking on by the way.

[Mike1034]

@Lisa723

 I just copy the response I just wrote to Mark. It answers you question.

Purely from a host and business perspective, you are correct. But thinking from a guest perspective, a guest spent time to do research and find a good fit. Unfortunately the decline was just because of a one day gap, which the host may or may not get filled. And then the guest has to spend more time to do research in order to find the alternative.

[Lisa723]

@Mike1034 yep, that's how it is when you select properties that require booking requests. The host can turn you down for any reason not disallowed by law or Airbnb's terms of service, so that's the risk you're choosing to take.

[Anonymous]

@Mike1034  Did you know that it is possible to withdraw your Reservation Request, without penalty, if you feel it is taking the host too long to act on it? There's never any need to badger the host about it. And in fact, if I sensed this kind of attitude from a prospective guest, I'd also prefer not to accept the booking.

[Mike1034]

@Anonymous Did you mean that you don't respond your guest's booking request promptly?

In the booking message, I just stated the purpose of my trip. And I have complete profile information which the host could see. But I waited for 12 hours and asked the host if there were anything needed before she could accept my request. Then I got the host's response and told me that it would have left one day gap. And after that, I got the decline notice.

If you were thinking to reject such a reasonable request, I would not think that you could be a good host. Firstly, you ignore a booking request from a guest by not responding assuming that you had time to read it. Secondly, a reasonable request is rejected just because the request was from a host. Third, many other host would be ok with one day or two day gaps because many hosts want to leave one day before next booking to clean up and do preparation.

[Anonymous]

@Mike1034  Are you being willfully obtuse?

Whenever possible (i.e. not getting a request from overseas while I'm sleeping) I respond within half an hour. But hosting on Airbnb is not standardized. I've worked in various sectors of hospitality for over 20 years, whereas plenty of hosts come from different fields and perspectives, and are just trying to rent out their space. If my needs required the same degree of professionalism that I'd expect from my own employees, I would choose a hotel or "industrial" host. 

I'll tell you Mike, I've been declined as a guest countless times - primarily by hosts who don't really seem to know how to use Airbnb features, but in some cases almost certainly a matter of pure discrimination. And I do understand how frustrating it can be. But it's also a risk I accept when I choose to interface with a peer-to-peer business model. As a host, it's rare for me to decline a booking, but I wouldn't choose to use Airbnb if it weren't an option. I share space with my guests, and it's imperative that I don't find myself stuck with people who are as rude, pushy, and insistent about how "reasonable" they think they are as you portray yourself to be here. (My apologies if I've misunderstood your attitude as a result of the deficiencies of the written format, but please realize - the degree to which you seem hyper-emotional about this one single decline makes you seem on paper like a nightmare guest).

[Mike1034]

@Anonymous This incidence occurred back more than one month ago. If I got mad or felt miserable, I would have been posted on the date when my booking was rejected, which was about two month ago.

Sorry about my description in the orginal post which did not have a lot details. That might have caused misunderstanding from you and some other hosts who strongly support hosts having their independent rights in making decisions. I as a host am also frustrated when Airbnb tries to force their approaches to hosts. One example is that a host has to blindly accept booking requests without seeing a guest's profile information such as photo, full name, residence city/country, sex, age etc.

This post and the other post I created are to get feedback about hosts' perspective on declining booking requests. I hope that I and other hosts who read them can be benefited when they make their decisions.

[Susan151]

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@Mike1034 wrote:

@Anonymous 

This post and the other post I created are to get feedback about hosts' perspective on declining booking requests. I hope that I and other hosts who read them can be benefited when they make their decisions.

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I rarely get requests, but I don't believe I have ever rejected anyone who was fully verified as required by my Instant Book settings. Oh, there were two groups that wanted to bring more people than my listing holds. They didn't ask nicely. 

I have actually accepted three groups that had too many people since they gave me a compelling story and the fourth person would not be staying the full time. [I have a weakness for college bound, academically gifted young people and their families.]

[Mike1034]

@Anonymous Yes, I know that I could withdraw my reservation request. But for me probably many other people as well, we already love the first one we choose. That is why I would rather waited and wishfully thought that I did not get response because the host might be busy or had no access to read Airbnb messages.

After the decline, I had to weigh those listings which were not on my top of the lists, and change my scope of searching to find some new favorites.

Maybe I have less travel experience as you have. That could cause me a little more disappointed when I could not get the first choice.

[Brian25]

You wrote:

A host's acceptance rate doesn't directly impact his eligibility for Superhost

did you know airbnb will UNLIST your listing’s if you decline 15 reservation requests?

[Susan17]

There's a common perception that hosts (and superhosts in particular) make the very worst guests - critical, nit-picky, demanding, entitled, always offering unsolicited "advice" etc - and many hosts simply won't accept bookings from other hosts. Did you happen to mention your superhost status in your communication, @Mike1034? 

[Mike1034]

@Susan17  No, I did not mention my Superhost status. Based on my Airbnb exchange with her, she declined because my booking would have left one day gap between my booking and the other confirmed booking. I also check the calendar. That was the case. I don’t think that she tried to hide any other reasons.

After I read your comments, I started to understand why I was accused by a host here for being “harsh greedy”. Would I have to book one extra night which I don’t stay in order not to receive the accusation?

[Susan17]

Well, only the host in question could give you a definitive answer as to the real reason your request was declined, @Mike1034, but it's every host's right to take whatever bookings they feel would be a good fit for their home, and turn down the ones they don't feel comfortable with - for whatever reason. 

It's a bit pointless speculating what the real reasons may or may not have been. Either way, it's the host's prerogative to decide. 

Is there any possibility you might have made a mistake and responded to them under your @Alice595 profile, as you did here earlier, after sending the reservation request from your @Mike1034 profile? If so, that definitely could have caused confusion and raised the host's suspicions as to the validity of your account. 

[Mike1034]

@Susan17 By reading the posts in this forum, I have seen hosts helping hosts. I thought the other way around. Hosts may make great guests because they understand how much effort, time, and passion are invested in managing their Airbnb properties.

But I could be wrong. 

[Alexandra316]

@Mike1034 You would think that hosting would make guests more sympathetic, but unfortunately in my experience that hasn't been the case.  I'm one of the hosts who's had bad experiences hosting other hosts. I use Airbnb as a guest myself, and I am always a good guest. I read the listings fully, follow the rules, and review fairly: I've never given less than 5 stars. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my experience with hosting other hosts. I have also had the hosts who want to give unsolicited advice and give a lower rating. I still host other hosts - I don't discriminate - but I'm always worried about it.  

[Mike1034]

@Alexandra316 I have not had the chance to host many other hosts because mostly young college students or interns request to book three of my listings in Mountain View.

I don't understand why it is like what you have experienced. But a friend of mine did have one worst guest who was a host as well. She booked my friend place for three nights on the same day of checkin. And stayed for two hours and claimed that two guests in the other Airbnb room were fighting. My friend called 911 and police went to the property and saw nothing happened. That guest was not there either and she victiously asked my friend to refund all her money, which my friend did. 

Not sure why she lied. But definitely she regretted her booking for some reason and used this bad way to get a full refund.