Can I opt out of group booking?

[Tina176]

I do not like the idea of my calendar being blocked out for 4 days whilst the last member of a group gets around to paying their share of th deposit, with no compensation for possible lost bookings & my cancellation policy doesn't apply! Which eejit thought this up? Can I opt out?

[Marzena4]

There have been a few discussions about this new method of payment, @Tina176, and you're not the only one who doesn't like it. But Airbnb has not given us a possibility to opt out, unfortunately.

[Tina176]

Holiday Lettings used to block calendar dates off when a guest enquires. This meant no one else could book, and if the guest has enquires with multiple owners all their calendars were blocked! It took a concerted  effort of complaining before they saw the error of their ways. 

[Susie5]

@Tina176, @Marzena4, this is probably the most unpopular of all of Airbnb's recent "innovations".  It is really unfair and I hope they give it up in time for the high season. It really penalizes guests who have larger spaces which can cater for bigger groups.  Hosts with just one or two beds probably escape this, but if you have a bigger house you are likely to fall into this trap sooner or later, and possibly more than once!  

It probably also penalizes hosts with instant booking (IB) turned on....one reason why I don't use IB.

The only thing I can think is to turn off IB (if you have it on) and when a guest enquires, ask questions about how many guests are coming, whether you are a party of friends or a family, etc. and if you don't like the answers, decline the booking.  You could also put on some house rules which discourage non-related groups, like "no parties", "lights out / no noise after 10 pm", etc.  Get a "party squasher" to detect when large groups are gathering, and tell them you use party squasher at your premises.

Here is the description of party squasher from Amazon: "The first smart counter for homes, Party Squasher counts the number of mobile devices within your detection range and alerts you if the number goes above your limit."  So you set the limit to 4 and if a 5th cellphone is detected, you know there are extra guests on the premises.

Make sure they read the house rules before you continue with the booking - embed a code word which they have to find and reply with to get approved. Sad but safer...

If enough people turn off IB because of this rule, Air may finally begin to pay attention....

Susie

[Marzena4]

@Susie5 You wrote, "It really penalizes guests who have larger spaces which can cater for bigger groups."

Didn't you mean, "penalizes hosts"? 😉

[Susie35]

@Marzena4, yes indeed! Good catch. I'll correct it if I can! Thanks! 

[Tina176]

I don’t do IB on any site, I want to know who is staying in my house! But if you decline you might get penalised by ABB 

[Annria0]

Susie, I just got caught in the "Group" booking for a room and only two people in it. I called Airbnb, no way to cancel and not be penilized. They did however say, if I say in my listing I don't accept group bookings, they would honor it. I also have IB off. So already put it in my listing that I don't accept Group bookings and I will also state it clearly in my messages with prospective guests. 

Hopefully this will help someone else!

Annria

[David126]

I have never had one but I rent by the room.

I would imagine more of an issue if say your listing would attract groups/families.

You could put it in your listing, AirBnB probably would not support you but prospective Guests may not know that.

[Jann3]

I would LOVE to be able to opt out of Group Bookings/Payments!

I hate the idea of my calendar being blocked like this.

[Marzena4]

The complexity of this problem (group booking) is as follows it seems:

1. Bigger properties are more difficult to rent to guests (lower chances);
2. Bigger groups need more organisational struggle;

So each blocking of the calendar lowers chances of other bookings. At the same time, Airbnb wants to attract more bookers by this option. It's indeed a sensitive issue. Plus there might be local variations, which might not be known to Airbnb. Imho, hosts should be given the final word. 

[Tina176]

Exactly. Owners should have the choice to opt out if it doesn’t suit their model. 

[Marzena4]

@Tina176 But then, it would be necessary to start a topic in Host Voice with a plea to Airbnb to make this option optional (;)) for hosts and have hosts vote over the idea.

[Cathy338]

I just got my first one.  They need to give us choice, guest is now requesting more time after holding house off market for 4 days. Group should have 24 hours to get it together, or have a tentative hold on the house...that is not finalized until full payment.  If they don't make this an option, I will have to look at only offering my houses when business is slow and I am not holding valuable inventory off market for 4 days.

[Christine1177]

I have just experienced for the first time a group payment rubbish

I had to look up in the community about thos as this was a complete shock to me

come on you want every thing from us in 24 hours then you expect us to wait for 72 hours for a group booking to be paid and its only a maybe and in the meantime you block our calendar.

YOU MUST BE JOKING
I AM ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED AS YOU CAN SEE
THIS IS UNFAIR

PLEASE RETHINK THIS POLICY IT IS WRONG WRONG WRONG

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LOOK THIS UP IN THE COMMUNITY TO SEE HOW MANY OF US DO NOT AGREE

happy if you want to copy and paste what i sent to airbnb on their feedback page

we must not accept this ridiculous format

no no no 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback