Declines at a cost of a 14% penalty

Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

Declines at a cost of a 14% penalty

So just made superhost and it will probably be revoked within a week.

Essentially this is the short form

I had a guest who wanted to book and also wanted a later check out . Declined and then he sent a new booking request and I declined that thinking it was an error, he knows he is declined as he has had a message. Wrong. So suddenly i have 2 declines so my rate goes from 100% to 86% despite the fact that it is the same guest .

Am told by airbnb that it is my fault as I should have blocked the calender and that is the penalty for 2 declines within 24 hours!!

So essentially  I cannot decline anyone this year at all or else i will be delisted.

I did ask for it to be sent to a manager but the response was that it was a manager replying

Any suggestions. I really don't know what to say about this. In a year I have not declined a single booking. This is the first one . Help or ideas please

How do I get another rep to look at this, or a manager.

Never mind the calender what if a guest wants to book but you don't want them in your home? Are we screwed then?

 

5 Replies 5
Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@Tif1 are you able to decline a guest but tell them you can not honor the extra requests? They then can cancel in 48 hour grace period if they do not want to stay. Guests often ask for extra things, I say no but they still book and happily stay. I think it is ok to ask

Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

@Inna22  that is exactly waht I did. Declined the guest and told them I could not honour the request. He then booked again straight away.

Now Airbnb have responded and said I should have closed the calender if i couldn't take the booking despite it being obvious it is the same guest

Their Q AND A quotes this

You can decline any booking inquiries or reservations that you can’t accommodate, but you should do so within 24 hours. Whether you accept or decline, the amount of time it takes you to respond to requests is factored into your response rate.

When you decline a reservation request, you can choose to keep the calendar dates blocked or make them available for someone else to book. Update your calendar regularly so you only receive reservation requests for when you're able to host.

If you change your mind and would like to accommodate a reservation you declined, ask the guest to send a new request, or send them a Special Offer or pre-approval.

 

So, I chose to keep mine open so another guest could book, but  airbnbs response was I am penalised by 14% because I double declined in 24 hours, and I should have closed my calender so he couldn't book. Talk about double standards!!

I really would appreciate anyone giving me advice as to how to take it from here as they are not responding to the above that I posted to them

@Inna22The other issue here is that we should be able to decline if we want to without penaly if we as hosts want to. This is basically telling me that I cannot decline anyone now if you see what I mean.

Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

@Tif1 

I'm going to let you into a little secret - Superhost status is utterly worthless, and is of no benefit whatsoever to you, or to anyone else

 

In a recent search I did of London, there were a grand total of 2 (yes, two) superhosts in the top 30 listings - and one of those was a guy with 22 homes, but only 61 reviews. And the top listing I was shown had a 4 star overall rating. 

 

Don't waste your time and energy stressing over a con-job. 

Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

@Tif1 what I am saying is that you should accept, not decline in this case. I have IB so I am not sure exactly how it works, but can you say happy to host but without the extras you asked for, let me know if I should accept? Or accept and say same thing? I know it is not helpful to you right now, but a thought going forward.

Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

@Inna22No that was not a possibility. I did not want to be in the position that they might do what they wanted anyway, despite me saying that it wasn't possible. Once you accept you accept and anything after that would then become a dispute.

@Susan17You are too right, but the only benefit really is that you have 10 plus outstanding reviews when you get it, so that essentially is the only thing. It is just a joke though isn't it to go a year, provide outstanding service and then get dinged like this , or others who get dinged down because one guest gives them a crappy review.

It isn't the superhost thing that pees me off as such, it is that i could be delisted for such a trivial thing and am now not listed at all. Ironic really . Superhost today, invisible tomorrow 😉

Really fed up with so many of these automated responses they send out,  it is a definite enthusiasm killer that is for sure