New hosts accepting instant bookings from guests with no ratings from hosts. Good idea or not??

[Kevin1322]

Hi, new hosts here. Probably a familiar story, probably falls into the category "its the new guests who do the new hosts the most harm without realising it".

Our first four reviews went swimmingly, 5 stars all the way on everything.

Then the booking from a chap "I'm new on Airbnb".

Firat a Location 4 stars despite saying it was  "Ideal" for exactly what it said about the listing in the title and listing details, and photos of the area, despite public review "great for coast path and local amenities"  Go figure!

Then marks  only3 for cleanliness.  I appreciate people don't all have he same standards, but sadly this wasn't the case, in fact it was because we had dogs.  Apparently the guest hadn't read the listing very thoroughly and was surprised to find dogs on the property in one common area.…. it didn't stop him and his friend booking a second night though.  

So anyway, this dropped us to a 4.8, and buried the previous "spotless" and "great location" tag lines as well, as it was only our fifth review.

Been in business 25 years, almost 20 selling online, so I don't take these things personally, but I'm wondering how much business we may lose if we restrict instant booking to guests who have had recommendations from hosts?

[Kevin1322]

Good point. Thank you, ONERüF.  I hadn't thought of that.

[Alice595]

@Kevin1322 Even if you require previous reviews, recommendations from other hosts, your listing is not going to be filtered out when guests who do not meet your requirements do searches. They still can send you a booking request or inquiries. The difference is that they will not be instantly accepted.

The guests who meet your requirements will be accepted instantly when they book your listing and you have Instant Booking turned on.

[Christina99]

I would say I haven't had an issue with no reviews until recently. ABB called me on Saturday to ask me to host a guest who had a recent cancelation, I said sure and they showed up 2 hrs and 15 minutes before check in. He then proceeded to have a steady stream of guests all day and night in the apartment. He extended the reservation and unknown to me he didn't have a valid CC#. I discovered I hadn't been paid when I contacted ABB on Tuesday because I never received the payout email. Their response was "we haven't been paid so we can't pay you" um no, it's not my fault your system has a glitch that allowed the booking to be extended without a credit card. He and his friends smoked a ton of weed (outside but it was so much it permeated the entire apartment), trashed the place and then left the door wide open when he left. It required four hours of cleaning by my cleaning person  (including steam cleaning the carpet) and I had to launder everything in the apartment. I've tightened up my house rules, including if you have more than two people in the unit and you don't have my approval they will be asked to leave. Don't drop your rates too low, low fees seem to be a license for poor behavior.

[Matt682]

@Kevin1322 

For me, allowing IB is essential in order to maintain high occupancy rates.

The ABB search result algorithm actively lowers your listing if you switch it off because research has shown that customers want to IB if they can, so it offers what it thinks the customer wants.

I would imagine that switching it off, and therefore lowering your placement, will have less of an impact in an area without many hosts, poor transport, and if your business is a discerning leisure guest. Areas with good travel links, more hosts, and business travellers are likely to be hurt significantly more.

if you are new host, you get an artificial bump up the listings whilst you have the “new” tag on your listing to help get you started, once that goes however, your listing will start to go further down the rankings and will be more reliant on IB to help it.

[Matt682]

I should add, my “problem guests” have been an even mix of new and seasoned travellers.

I require Govt ID to IB in order to deter crime & disorder, foster a feeling of trust & safety, and to help pacify neighbours, but I don’t require prior reviews.