Instant book enabled against my wish. Can not be disabled?

[Aline21]

I just put my apartment on AirBnb, put in the dates it's available for and thought everything was good.

A moment later, I however noticed that the instant book feautre was enabled, even though I hadn't given my consent.

I googled on how to remove instant booking and found this:

https://www.quora.com/Airbnb-How-can-a-host-disable-the-Instant-Booking-feature

...but there is no such option on my "manage my bookings" page. It almost seems to be a bug/error on the page? I have tried on a different computer, different reader, but nothing works.

What do I do?

There is no help to be found from AirBnb either, where do I write?

I want to be able to choose who stays at my apartment but can't do it at the moment.. 😞

Any help would be much appreciated.

//Aline

[Dawn33]

If you go to your listing, press 'edit' at the top right. Scroll to booking. Instant booking is a slide toggle.

I just turned mine off. It is easy on an iPhone.

[Aline21]

Thank you Dawn for your quick answer, but sadly they don't give us new users that option it seems... 😞 There is not slide toggle, no nothing..

[Sandra126]

@Aline21, This is a really common question on the forum. New hosts have not been given the option to disable instant book. Air is running a trial (which I hope they will give up soon) where anyone who joins now has no option to choose.

If you don't want IB, I suggest putting the finished listing on snooze (bottom left on the Manage Listing page) and letting Air know that you are willing to start hosting the minute they let you have the option for not using IB. I think that maybe if they see how many hosts they are missing out on because of it they might reconsider.

Or you might like to do it even with IB, but hosts are having issues with unwanted guests that way as there is little control over who stays.

Good luck

Sandra

[Dawn33]

I did not know this! I joined in May and must have made the cutoff.

I just turned my instant booking off earlier due to a bad experience.

This has to be a choice!

[Emma61]

new hosts have no choice over IB? that's outrageous.  people are putting their houses and lives 'out there' for all and sundry around the world to visit so i sure as hell wouldn't want to have IB, especially if i was a new host. all manner of things could go wrong and put off new hosts. if i was new i would want to build up some trust first and message people etc to get a feel for what the whole process is like. that's ridiculous. 

[Sandra126]

@Emma61 @Aline21 @Dawn33, I think they want everyone across the site to have it eventually, but hosts will drop off if they do. They are easing it in by having some, not all, new hosts unwittingly take part in this trial. What it is leading to is a load of cancellations and unhappy hosts and guests. Some hosts get a booking the minute they go live, completely unprepared for the speed, and so they cancel which is a bad thing to do as we all know. Or they have a bad experience and close the listing. This is why I recommend that if you are in the unfortunate bracket of new host with IB and don't want to risk it, snooze the listing and let Air know you are happy to go live if/when they change it back. I also think that we will get used to it if there's no choice, but I doubt that hosts want guests in their home that they have little control over.

All the best

Sandra

[Jon-and-Christine0]

I agree with the comments about having control over bookings and who/when hosts accept guests. There is one thing to consider regarding all the bad press Airbnb has received regarding discrimination by hosts.  One way to eliminate discrimination is by not allowing the host to approve/not approve a booking request.  Hosts should be able to set their criteria regarding bookings...for example: guests need to have a verified profile; guests need to have positive reviews by 3 other Airbnb hosts; guests cannot book within "X" days of arrival; etc.  All these requirements avoid the criteria for which anti-discrimination laws were passed.  I personally have a friend who has had several reservations cancelled on him or requests denied for what appears to be racial reasons. I believe if a request is denied for a person that meets non-discrimatory criteria, the hosts calendar should have those dates blocked from being eligible for request from other guests.  Likewise, an "instant book" reservation that is cancelled by a host should also have those dates blocked out and unavailable on their calendar.  Just my two cents.

[Evan1]

SKIP the instant book. UNcheck that box...we feel that this is risky on many levels. ALWAYS look at guest reviews and credentials before confirming them.

Safe is better than sorry.

@Aline21

ee @the ocd

[Jude7]

As a new host (May) I am so glad I was not forced to use Instant Book! I certainly hope Airbnb staff is reading all these frustrated threads.  As a new host, I read all the many ways Airbnb suggest you protect yourself - and one of them is to make sure you feel comfortable with the guest by way of communication and reviews.

To not have a choice about whether or not to allow a particular guest into your HOME. Ridiculous! 

And there are many reasons why one might want to decline a guest.  Just this morning I was involved in a lengthy exchange with a guest who had made an inquiry, due to some logistical things that needed to be worked out.  Just as we had it all figured out, another request came in, which I was able to decline (and explained why) to allow the first inquiry to book. Had I had IB turned on, the second guest would have been able to book, eliminating the ability for the first guest, who was a better match, to book.

TO AIRBNB - I WILL REMOVE MY LISTING IF IB BECOMES FORCED UPON ME.  

Is is anyone listening?

Jude

[Aline21]

Thank you all for showing support!

I think it's crazy to force instant booking on new hosts, or any host for that matter. Also, when there is a possible cancellation fee on $100 if you don't "manage your bookings well" and cancel on guests.

I'm putting my listing on snooze for now, and let's hope that someone from AirBnb notices this thread and follows up.

Thank you once again! 🙂

//Aline