How to avoid penalty when I decline a offer?

Bright0
Level 1
Cologne, Germany

How to avoid penalty when I decline a offer?

See, I got request that a person wants to book my room for than two months. I`m not interested to offer my room. So I want to decline his request. But Airbnb says that there is penalty charges for declining or for not reponding to a request. So now, how to avoid penalty charges because I don`t to accept this request. Please help me guys.

 

Thank you in advance

21 Replies 21
Susie5
Level 10
Boston, MA

@Isis14@Clare0 when do we EVER get notified of a change in policy?  In fact, when I think about it, about half of the discussion threads on this forum are about hosts being in the dark about changes in Airbnb policy!  We certainly get plenty of notification that we should lower our rates but I have NEVER gotten any information from Airbnb about any policy change, and that includes

  1. the "multiple guests-72 hours to hold up your booking while we decide" issue,
  2. the no photo until you accept the guest issue
  3. the penalty for declining an offer raised in this thread (a change from the previous policy whereby if you responding to the guest, and discussing, that was OK and would not trigger the sanction for non-response)
  4. the guest posting a review even if they never stayed in the unit (e.g. took one look and ran off) as opposed to the old way of no review if they cancel the booking
  5. and so many other issues! I'm sure everyone reading this can chip in with their favorite issue.

In addition, it seems often people are singled out for a "trial" of a new policy without being informed of a change in policy, which is another issue.

This is starting to drive me nuts!  Where are these policies all stated, in a clear and comprehensive way? and when will we be informed of changes in policy in a timely manner so that we can act accordingly and not get caught in the increasing number of traps being set for us?

@Susie5 Yeah, it can be confusing sometimes. I often find little "gifts" from Airbnb that are unexpected and sometimes makes me scratch my head! But, to answer some of your points: 

 

1. The 72 hours wait time refers to the Group Payments feature.  When Group Payments (where multiple guests can pay their part of a reservation) are offered, Airbnb allows 72 hours for all of the guests in the group to pay.  I already complained about this to Airbnb since 72 hours is a loooong time.

 

2. The no-photo issue is Airbnb's attempt to discourage discrimination. And, let's face it, many hosts decline based on what a guest looks like.  For me, I don't care what a guest looks like so long as my conversations with them seem to indicate they are ok and / or they have good reviews and have Verified ID. 

 

3. Actually there has been no change here.  With Inquiries, all you need to do is respond.  Airbnb encourages Pre-Approvals and Special Offers, but these are optional.  Reservation Requests, on the other hand, are different in that Airbnb places an authorization hold on the guest's payment method to be sure there is enough credit available to pay should the host accept the reservation. Since authorization holds have a time limit, Airbnb asks hosts to Accept or Decline within 24 hours.  See this link: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/28/what-do-i-do-after-i-receive-a-reservation-request

 

4. Yes, this is an odd change in policy.  However, it is not uncommon for a guest to arrive and find out that the space is in horrendous shape, has bugs, is missing amenities promised in the listing, the host wasn't there to give them the key, etc. etc.  My guess is that Airbnb wants to allow guests who face these situations to be able to leave a review about their experience.  Remember that hosts can always leave a public reply to these reviews. 

 

5. Well....all I can say is that Airbnb is always on the move as it has to compete with some big time competitors.  

 

These are my two cents, err, 4 cents.  Let's see what others have to say!

@Clare0, great summary. 

No 4, reviews for stays cancelled after arrival was imposed by consumer agencies or regulation authorities in England first, but the issue was raised elsewhere too. It’s a reaction to what you describe, the fact that very bad hosts never got reviews and could go on scam people with false promises. 

The fast technical solution, to set the window to arrival day or maybe24 hours before checkin time (not sure which) means some guest may cancel in advance or not show and leave a review. You can prevent this though, by calling the service immediately when you know it’s ano show. 

If you call before the review link is sent, the service can stop one of them or both. 

I had that with a guest sends me salacious sms through the night. The last thing I wanted was an review in the same style as invitation to others of the kind. The help desk person stopped one side of the review temporarily, Trust and Security checked the screenshots of the messages and confirmed the decision. I cojld review, he could not. 

It’s much easier to prevent a review then to grt one removed.  

@Helga0 Yes, I had forgotten about the consumer protection law in England.  You are correct!

Edwin57
Level 10
New York, United States

Very simple it all depends how you describe your listing long stay lets said 7days short stay 3 days pluse price, no phone call no text just through message board of Airbnb, and one more no discount be smart about it when you want to decline a guest, my answer to that don't let the guest do it 

I recently had to "decline" two requests to book rooms in my shared home - both the husband and wife sent a request for a room (different rooms!), and later both messaged me that they thought the price reflected the whole house and not a private room in a shared house (although this is CLEARLY stated at the top of my listing). I had to choose between not responding (and being penalized for not responding) or declining both (and being penalized for declining both). As I'm new to airbnb and don't have very many measurables yet, this affected my rating. Not impressed Airbnb.

@Gayle78, you can do something else:

you can answer immediately, say you believe they did not read the description, but from your side everything is fine and you will confirm within 12 hours. To avoid any inconvenience, please note that ..... and please read ....

if that’s not what you look for, please cancel the request now, your card will not be charged. 

And if it’s not the middle of the night, give them another message with a new delay at 12h. 

They all cancel.