LOSING YOUR SUPERHOST STATUS DUE TO GUEST NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH ON RESERVATION REQUEST!

[Sean409]

URGENT TO ALL HOSTS!

I'm new to this community platform, but wanted to get this news out to all Hosts and Superhosts with properties on Airbnb.

Today, I was going through the listing statistics on the Airbnb dashboard for both of my vacation homes. I noticed that on both of my properties there were "things to work on" with an explanation point next to it. So, my curiosity made me click on the link and read about what Airbnb was requesting that I work on. After going down the list, it seemed that the only remarks that Airbnb had a remark about was the field that states this; "Accepted reservations _ Make guests feel welcome by accepting requests whenever you’re available". I'll start by saying that I do not allow Instant Booking for my properties.

I do require that each guest first be accepted by myself or my wife. We may have questions for the potential guests, so we don't like the Instant Booking. The problem is the common public doesn't just know how to ask a question on the Airbnb travel platform that they've been provided. Rather than just inquiring about the patio furniture, size of TV, cookware, garage size, etc ... They have a habit of actually making a full request for a reservation with specific dates. The potential guest then uses the reservation request to ask me a question. That's a problem for ALL Hosts and especially Superhosts.

The reason for this being a problem is simple.

In the event that the answer you've provided to the potential guest's question is not what they were hoping for, then you won't be booking them. Therefore, the days they've requested (but won't be booking) are held up for 24 hours. The dates are not able to be requested by any other potential guests for that property for 24 hours. ALSO, (this is the big issue), due to the fact that you won't be booking this mere inquiry, Airbnb considers this a denial by the Host. Making your percentage of "Accepted" reservation go down. You as a Host have done nothing wrong.

However, as your percentage decreases, so does your placement of your property on the Airbnb site. ALSO, you have the possibility of losing your Superhost status. I spoke to Airbnb and went up the chain of management. They admitted that this is an issue for any Host, and especially a Superhost. Their only solution was to have the Host ask the inquiring guest to cancel their own reservation request, prior to the 24 hour window provided. As we all know, most Airbnb travelers are rookies on their vacation site shopping. We love all our guests, but most are not tech savvy at all. That's why they made this mistake to begin with.

I don't see asking the inquiring guest to cancel their own reservation request as a logical remedy to the problem. It's a software issue that Airbnb isn't willing to work on unless we as Hosts make such a demand as a community. One of my properties is really new. Less thna 2 months on the Airbnb site. It's near a baseball spring training stadium. I've had lots of "inquiries". Some have been inquiries like I just spoke about. Not accepting such a reservation request, because it was ONLY an inquiry, has caused my "Acceptance" percentage on this new property to go below 60%. I've been told that my Superhost status, stated on both properties, is now at risk. This is a huge issue for all Superhosts. Let's band together and get Airbnb to correct this software statistic glitch that only Airbnb can solve!

Best Regards,

~ Sean

[Sean409]

@Sarah977I agree with your response. However, if all people had to inquire before there was any other option provided to them, it might work. Basically, they must inquire first, then you could pre-approve them after your conversation (if you wish to). Otherwise, you could politely tell them in your conversation that they are not the best fit for your home. This would allow them to move on without any harm to your reputation as a good home and good host. Also, would alleviate this wothless statistic that Airbnb grades us on. We should be graded on Response Time, and how our accepted guests enjoyed their stay (1-5 Stars).

[Sarah977]

@Sean409 That would be fine with me, but I doubt Airbnb would ever even consider it. They prefer to kowtow to the guests- the majority, it seems, who prefer Instant Book over having to communicate at all.

I've been fortunate to get pretty savvy guests- I don't think I've ever gotten a Booking Request that was just full of questions. Maybe one question, but not something that would be a deal breaker for them, they're already pretty sure they want to stay here, just want clarification on some point. I've never gotten anyone who starts out by requesting that I break rules for them (I have almost no rules anyway- I live here- it's not like they can sneak people in or have a party) or accomodate some crazy check-in time. If they have questions, they send an Inquiry. One had a list of 20 questions, followed by another 10 questions, that was fun 🙂 At least she booked, so I didn't waste my time.

[Cheryl-and-Tom0]

I totally agree Sarah. We know that most guests are clueless as to what the consequences can be for us hosting. Airbnb is thinking way too much about ratings, etc. and why? 

 Must be they have too much time on their hands and have to keep “thinking” of ways to make things more complicated, this is so they can keep their jobs? 

[Sarah977]

@Cheryl-and-Tom0  Exactly what I assume, also. The "idea" people get brownie points or promotions or raises for coming up with all this stuff, whether it makes any sense or not.  Someone posted a link here to a blog they found about a year ago- a blog where airbnb employees talk to each other. Sounded like they are just as frustrated with the way they are dealt with, what is expected of them, and the atmosphere they are working in, as hosts are. The fish stinks from the head on down, as they say.

[Mark-TP0]

I agree.

My property is MY house which I chose to rent and not a block thrown up by a faceless corporate 3000 miles away.  As such I demand to have  the final say who stays there - providng I dont break race, creed, religious, etc rules.

ABB started as students letting their spare room and not as a hotel.  ABB destinguishes itself (or should  do)from Booking.com as NOT being a hotel. 

[Sean409]

By the way, these ideas are great! These are the ideas I was looking for when I joined this discussion. I'm going to make my way up to through the management chain at Airbnb, and find a resolution for us as Hosts. Keep bringing the ideas to this discussion. I will utilize all the logical ones I can offer Airbnb as resolutions. Thnaks so much in advance. It's  battle worth fighting.

[Mark-TP0]

We are behind you in support - rather than with knives drawn to stab you in the back - as you go to battle for right thinking hosts.

[Tif1]

@Sean409Thank you! I have sent them a mail but not had any reply and it has been 24 hours. Shame we can't penalise airbnb for response rate. I need them to correct this on my listing too as I don't show up in searches now and I also want clarification as to how they work out the period that it applies to. So bloody frustrating all these petty rules geared to the guest. It really does dent the enthusiasm I have to say . I officially decline 1 booking the first in a year and get penalised because my enquires are marked down as declined! I did actually decline 2 enquiries when I very first started because Airbnb prompted me to reply by sending countless emails asking me to pre approve or decline . You can't win. (They families of 4 wanting to stay in a one bed property. Chancers really, all had read it was for 2 guests only and one who said they had read it was one bedroom but they could bring a blow up bed as the flat was so big!! )

[Mark-TP0]

Tif,

I don't know how long you have been with ABB but you have figured out that hosts don't count for much - it is repressive.  The relentless emails demanding response improvement, 24hour access etc etc. associated with threats for low performance yet hosts can have have better resopnse rates and higher satidfaction than the  high levels of super 10s

[Deborah30]

Absolutely this needs to be addressed by AirBnb immediately.    I also do not use instant book, and I get inquiries all the time from people with requests for dates they don't acutally want, but it's the only way they can ask their questions.   Questions like - can I bring my 1 year old when the listing clearly states not children.

[Sarah977]

@Deborah30  Well, you're always going to get guests who ask dumb questions or ask if you'll break your rules for them. Aside from being annoying and a waste of time,  it isn't a problem if they send it as an Inquiry, because a simple response to an Inquiry doesn't ding us. The problem is when they send questions and rule-bending demands as a Booking Request, because then we get penalized for Declining or taking longer than 24 hours to approve because we haven't worked things out with the guest yet.

[Mark-TP0]

Questions like "can I bring two dogs?" when the listing says only one....

[Christine615]

This is definitely a problem. I had a young lady request to book my place because she wanted to ask if I would hire her as a cleaner. i told her that her request (and methodology) was inappropriate. I would hate to think that such a mindless issue would result in my looking like I had not accepted a (bogus) reservation.

[Huma0]

I agree that the 88% Acceptance Rate criteria is really unfair to hosts, puts unnecessary stress on us, and should go.

For example, last week I got a request from a guest who then didn't respond to any basic questions even though I sent her a couple of reminders that there was a time limit in which I could accept or decline. I left it absolutely to the last minute, but then had to hit decline. Minutes later, she sent a new request. So, obviously she was checking her messages, just didn't both to respond to anything until she realised she could lose the chance to book (the same thing has happened to me a few times). So, my acceptance rate goes down for no good reason. It's also really time consuming having to keep chasing the guest as the clock is ticking.

However @Sean409 I'm pretty certain this is not a technical error. Airbnb brought in the 88% acceptance rate intentionally because they want hosts to accept as many bookings as possible and this is a way to pressurise us into doing so.

This used to really stress me out at the beginning, until I realised that you do not get delisted for falling below 88%. It's just an empty threat and a scare tactic. Furthermore, Acceptance Rate is not part of the Superhost criteria so you're not going to lose it just because you declined a few reservations.

I refuse to be bullied into accepting guests into my own home when they haven't even provided me with some basic info. So, I will continue to decline if I need to and if Airbnb ever threatens to delist me, they had better put up a good argument as to why I should have accepted the non-responsive guests or the ones who had clearly not read my listing and were asking from the outset to break my house rules.

[Sandra126]

That's right, @Huma0, one of my listings is at 17% and not de-listed (but warned). The bad thing is that you slide down in search for every decline.