Has your Instant book stopped working?

[Sally221]

Scrolling through the posts  I have noticed a number people looking for a solution for why they are no longer have the ability to use instant book. It seems to start with the host cancelling a reservation for just cause, often through Airbnb. I have been sending emails to support but my questions about whether or not this is a system error or policy shift have not been answered or even acknowledged.  I have had friends who are qualified to instant book search my area and my listing does not show up when filtering for instant book. I would like to know how many others are experiencing this problem & what reasons/excuses  they may have gotten from Airbnb.  Sally in Berkely Ca.

[Cl4]

Hi I have the same problem with you , have you solve the problem ?

[Rowena29]

Hi @Sally221,

I know this is an old thread but I thought you might find it helpful.

I am currenlty experiencing the difficulties you mention.

I was unaware that my listing had moved from instant book to request to book ( I did have a few request comes through, but they didn't have government ID which is a requirment on my listing, so I didn't twig straight away).

  I am stronlgy thinking this is a system error, NOT a punitive measure or a new rule. I recenlty cancelled 2 instant books - both times through airbnb, and both times I was assured there would be no repercussions. One of the cancellations was because of yet another airbnb glitch - blocked out dates - christmas eve and boxing day - were suddenly made available ( and a for a ridiculously low price) adn I got an IB.  The trouble seems to have started from around this time.   So far 3 calls or messages to airbnb - the big concern is they seem to think they've fixed it, but they haven't. I have to keep telling them they haven't.  I'm sure I"ve lost a lot of bookings over this. Very frustrating.

Hope things were sorted your end.

Regards

[Nadia135]

Hello Sally and Rowena I’m wondering if and how long it took you to solve your issue as I’m having the same issue with the difference that I had not cancelled anyone but did respond to 3 non inquiries with pre approvals that expired. 

When I finally elevated this through 2 CS I received the following yesterday from the Airbnb customer service rep who was most helpful and tried his best. He was clearly chagrined at the following response that he received from his technical team. He said he was unable to send me their response in writing but he read it to me. In a nutshell they said they red flag accounts they consider high risk and the instant book feature is toggled off by Airbnb. It will be resumed once the host has more bookings. They do not reveal why the account has been flagged. One can surmise of course that accounts are flagged for declining too many reservations or poor response time. He read with me that I have neither. When I asked him if he could provide me clarity on what made my case high-risk he said the technical team would not divulge that information to him and in fact reprimanded him for giving me the impression that I would have an answer. He was an excellent customer service rep and clearly extremely frustrated at his inability to help as he too was completely mystified as to why my instant book has been toggled off.

This kind of behavior seems extremely suspicious by Airbnb. It makes me wonder if behind the scenes they are  promoting hosts who have shorter stays to increase service fees. Since I only host 31 days day stays,  I believe their overall service fee or an account such as mine might be lower. I can’t think of any other reason they would want to demote a listing such as mine that is not only an Airbnb plus but a super host and a five star review.

i’m wondering how to canvas other Airbnb hosts who are seeing the same thing happened to them. I did a quick search in my neighborhood and noticed one filtering for instant book versus not instant book a dramatic decrease in listings which leads me to believe this is happening to others. How do we promote this post or issue to gather more information across Airbnb hosts?