Cannot block guests anymore?

[Hitomi3]

I usually block guests who are not welcome anymore to avoid their future bookings with me. Today, I noticed I cannot find blocking feature the way I used to.

How I used to do was:

- Click "Report" on the message screen with the guest

- Click "something else" for the reason of the report

- It prompts whether I want to block this user, I click "block"

Now, these are the screens that show up when I click "Report" on the message screen:

When I click "Give feedback", a text box open up where I can send a message to Airbnb, and it says "Thank you for feedback". That's it. I still cannot block the user.

Did Airbnb remove the blocking feature completely, or did it get moved to somewhere else?

[Susan151]

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@Hitomi3 wrote:

Did Airbnb remove the blocking feature completely, or did it get moved to somewhere else?

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Yes. "They" have removed this feature.

[Gillian19]

@Hitomi3 What we don't know is whether this was by accident or on purpose as their communication on changes they implement is so weak.

[Ria16]

Well that’s a shame then. The info is still available on how to block on the host safety section

https://www.airbnb.co.nz/help/article/2020/how-do-i-report-a-message-or-block-someone-on-airbnb

[Niel3]

I noticed this the other week when I tried to block someone, looks like the only way now is to cancel unwelcome guests bookings which comes with a big penalty.

We most definitely should have the option to prevent unwelcome people from booking to stay in our homes if we wish, I am surprised AirBNB seem to want to try and stop hosts from doing this, if anything else from a personal safety point of view.

[Hitomi3]

Thank for your comments, @Gillian19 @Niel3 @Ria16 @Susan151

Alas, so it is happening to other hosts as well. It's a big shame... With some bad experiences and extremely demanding/rude/rule-breaking guests, this felt like a feature that allows us to feel safe while hosting.

I don't see any good removing this feature serves. Non-discrimination policy, perhaps? If we are feeling uncomfortable enough to block someone, we would decline their requests either way. Removing this feature does not seem to solve anything.

[Ly14]

You should choose the first option which saying "I think they spaming or scaming me" like on your screenshot. After you report it when new option "Block guest" appears. Hope it will help.

[Hitomi3]

Oh wow, I didn't know! Thanks @Ly14! I will try that next time, although it feels bad to report someone as a spam account.

[Ly14]

You are welcome. If ABB wants it that way and you just need to block someone than you don't have to feel bad about it.

[Kyi1]

I think ABNB removed blocking feature. Because I wanted to block a guest who just cancelled second time. He doesn't have any review, and at the first time, he didn't even have decency to give us a reason. He only gave a reason for that when he made booking request second time in a month. He was literally begging me to accept his request. So I decided to give him a chance, but he cancelled on me again. I followed your steps but it never showed me Blocking option. It just sent feedback and that was it.

[Andrea1160]

Hello, this is my first time posting. There's no way to block guests anymore, no matter what options you choose. "Block guest" never appears which is not fair. Us, hosts should be able to do this.

[Fiona243]

I don't understand why the "block" user feature has been removed. I wanted to block a very unpleasant guest, so that she could not book again with me. The various "report" options do not cover the issues I had with this guest. If she makes another booking (I have Instant book turned on), then I will have no option but to cancel her booking as I do not want her in my family home, where she could threaten me and my family, or damage our possessions. I will be penalised for this cancellation, which I find unfair. I think that hosts should be allowed to stop troublesome guests from making further bookings with them.

[Letti0]

@Fiona243  If you report and click on Something Else it should work. It was not working for a few weeks a while ago, but seems to be working again now. Maybe they are playing with it again if it's not working for you. I have nobody I want to block at the moment to test it on though lol... 

[Maru16]

I tested it, it doesn't work. You can only give feedback, not block. 

I am furious at this! This presents a huge security issue for us hosts who kindly open our homes to strangers. If I start a petition, would folks sign it?? We have to do something because Airbnb doesn't care about our safety or success here and it's all about airbnb and guests rights!

[Letti0]

@Maru16  They have playing around with it for over a month now. The option to block comes and goes I had to try once a day for over a week and then it worked, but the very next day it did not work again. Seems to have beeen off this time for another week now. Hopefully they will bring it back. The other day the flags turned into little square boxes for a day. Just keep trying once a day is about all I can tell you. It's a real pain.