Burden of declining guests who don't meet Airbnb's requirements and my house rules

Yan3
Level 10
Hong Kong

Burden of declining guests who don't meet Airbnb's requirements and my house rules

Hello fellow hosts,

 

I'm still relatively new to hosting.  So far, it's been a good learning experience, but occasionally, I get requests from guests who are not verified,  nor do they meet my house rules.  In such cases, I have to make up sensible reasons to decline their requests, and I have to worry that if I decline too much, my listing will get delisted.  So that's why I feel it's a burden.

 

I specifically checked off "Require guests to go through verification" and also selected "Guests who meet Airbnb's requirements and are recommended by other hosts" only, which means that the guest can book only if they meet the following criteria:

 

Confirmed email address
Introductory message
Confirmed phone number
Agree to your House Rules (Not child-friendly, no pets, etc.)
Profile photo
Payment information

 

Airbnb should automatically block unqualified guests from contacting me.  But still, I am getting requests from people who don't match the criteria.  How is it possible for these requests to come through?

 

What is your solution to this problem?

 

Thanks,

Yan

20 Replies 20
Danny9
Level 10
Palma, Spain

@Yan3

 

Airbnb is both a business and community thriving on technically speaking, inexpensive communication. Hence, every guest CAN contact every host and ask/request whatever he wants to. I fully agree that this is a burden, too. Since hosts cannot stop unqualified guests from asking many, many questions, and since none of the hosts wishes to be sort of delisted by Airbnb, consider producing FAQ templates. 

 

A guest is unverified but wants to book. Neither pre-approve nor decline. Send him (copy and paste) your pretty detailed explanation why you want him to be verified, etc. A guest who is genuinely interested in staying at your place will go through the verfication. The guys who wish to skip it will look elsewhere. 

 

Have a template for "please, tell me MORE about what to do in your town" question. Simply copy and paste, and there you go. 

 

I also have a template for the folks who are 'discount minded'. 

 

Briefly, in just a few months, with a few hours of work, you'll have your own collection of well-written templates that will give guests all the information they need WITHOUT taxing your time at all. 

 

If you find this information helpful, consider clicking the Thumbs-Up icon near lower right. Thanks!

 

Hi Yan

 

What is your templet for "discount minded guests"?  I get a lot of it with guests who want to stay seven days.  I have been explaining that for the quality of our home (which we stay in a lot also so it's totaly appointed) that the value each night is a bargain at it's current price.  I'd love to hear your suggestions.

 

Thank you

Donna

Hi @Donna40 I think your question was directed at @Danny9. He was the one who suggested the templates to Yan. I can't speak for Danny but we have a similar set of templates.

 

Ours is something like this.... " We take pride in our listing and work hard to price it fairly and competetively which is why we do not offer discounts"

Thanks very much.  Good response.  I'll use it.

 

All the Best!

Donna

@Brittany1

@Yan3

 

I agree. We all have our reasons for the pricing that we maintain. 

 

I started hosting via Airbnb last year, and priced my listing slightly below the market. I wanted to have a good, meaningful test run, receive a few good reviews, etc. 

 

High turnover caused a significant increase in wear and tear of the property. The maintaince folks were in and out at all the times. When all was said and done, I have had quite a few happy guests, and I have also underperformed financially. 

 

I am now pricing in the upper end of the market. Fewer guests, less work, and hardly any repairs needed whatsoever. Hence, a much better overall performance, so far. 

 

If you find this information helpful, consider clicking the Thumbs-Up icon near lower right. Thanks!

I really appreciated reading your letter on this subject.  I feel the same as you.  I do not want to work all the time or be constantly repairing and replacing my lovely towels and bedding. 

 

I have been hosting for several years now and have had many happy guests.  My price is a good price and I fear that if lowered for any reason, I will be less joyful, less welcoming and less caring.  It is not something I would do intentionally, but eventually.  If the market becomes saturated as it currently seems to be, lowering prices creates more work for less money for everyone. 

 

I enjoy welcoming guests to my home and making certain they are well looked after.  My rooms are on the lower end of the scale but are clean and well presented and well located.  Lowering the price would make me feel like "one step above a couch surfer".  I have no real problem with a guest asking for a discount, i can agree or not depending on the circumstances. 

 

Airbnb seems to be constantly suggesting I reduce my price.  This is done through their market pricing program.  Why would we reduce our prices? Do they have a glut of hosts?  If so, why am I always being asked to recomment hosts?  Nothing is making sense to me.  What is it that I do not know?  Anyone?   Thanks!

Sharon114
Level 10
Lincoln, United Kingdom

We do not offer discounted rates.  We believe that, after researching other listings in our area and comparing what we are offering, our rates are competitive.  There is a listing quite close to ours which is considerably cheaper and has very good reviews.  However, I calculated that even if they are booked every night for a month, we can earn up to £200 more with only half to two thirds of the bookings.  I am not going to run myself ragged with cheaper prices and more bookings for less money.  Where is the sense in that?

I am writing this from a guest's perspective. I think it is reasonable for the guests to expect and to ask the host for a discount for a long stay, if the host does not offer one. It is also reasonable for the host to decline the request, but don't complain if you do not get the business. It is good marketing to offer a small acount of discount for a long stay to generate businesses and everyone is happy. Just price it that way, so that there is no confusion. Sounded like the host is offended more by the requests than the profit itself. Lots of people use Airbnb to save money. So don't blame the guests for wanting to find bargins. I don't bargin myself. But discount for a log stay would be a nice feature to tip the balance.

 

I am reading this old post and finding that the hosts should think from guests' prespective as well. It is not so much about "lowing the pirce" as most of the hosts here said. It is about offering a "friendly gesture" to welcoming the guests. The discount amount does not need to be big. In the end, the hosts need to decide how they want to run their businesses and adjusting your requirements and business practice is necessary to make youself and your guests happy.

I agree. I dont give any further discount. If they want to find a special deal cheaper than what i'm offering then I tell them to go ahead and look elsewhere. They'll see that yours is a good deal. Good luck.

@Donna40,  My general answer to people asking for a discount is "I'm sure you'll find something within your price range, but you may have to settle for less.  I'm happy to host you if you wish to stay here."

If someones discount request is minmal or reasonable or rational and I want the comfort of knowing those dates are booked, then I'll often just accept it.

 

Anything more than 10% less than the published rate is insulting.   I also find it irritating when someone thinks a 5 day stay is a "long time" 

If you have weekly and monthly discounts you can also just tell the guest "weekly and monthly discounts are applied automatically, if you book for 7 or more days or 28 or more days you needn't ask and will automatically get a discounted rate."

I no longer offer discounts for weekly stays (but if someone asks for a small discount I usually will.   my personal threshold is around 8% which amounts to half day free on a week long booking) and I use an automated pricing tool so there's a sort of discount built in automatically.   Weekends will be more expensive and weekdays less and certain days more or less than certain others.. so if they look to book for one week against a different one they may be different pricing..  In my mind this is how they can achieve a discount... if June 1-7 is too expensive, try June 7-13 and you can save some money and get the same room, for example.

 

Keith

Hi @Donna40,  I don't have any templates.  I just tell them that there's no discount for the period they selected.  It's so difficult to make up excuses, so I just keep it simple.

agree!

Ed-and-Hugh0
Level 10
Miami, FL

@Yan3 Non-verified guests cannot make a reservation request if you have this requirement turned on in your settings, so you should never have to decline a reservation simply because they are not verified. Guests can sill make inquiries, and you simply need to respond within 24 hours. You do not have to decline an inquiry.

@Ed-and-Hugh0, I recently had an unknown guest blocking my calendar as "Pending", even though I have the setting turned on.  So un-verified guests can in fact make a reservation.  I had to go to the help center to see the person's name, and I had to reach out to Airbnb to resolve the issue by making Airbnb cancel the unverified reservation.