Soooo... Where are we on being able to block guests?

[Alexandra316]

I just got a booking request, which I turned down. I do accept instant bookings, but they have to be recommended by another host: unfortunately,  I believe the guest in question was recommended by his first host. Luckily, he tried to book for today, which means he had to send a booking request.  I chose the reason for declining option that I wasn't comfortable with the guest, because they had signed up recently (in 2019) but already had a string of bad reviews. I never want to get a request or a booking from this guy again. Can we block guests again now, or does declining because I'm not comfortable block them? If we can block again, how? I couldn't figure out a way. Any suggestions are welcome. 

If I do get an Instant Booking from him, I'm going to call Airbnb and get them to cancel, but it would be nice to avoid it all together. 

[Wendy117]

@Alon1Yes you are correct of course and I have read everything you mention but it is good to reiterate it in the forum for hosts to be aware of the risks.  It does seems to be common practice here in Australia for 3rd party bookings to be made for groups of Asian guests with limited english.  My usual approach is to check out the organisation doing the booking and they must provide me with a list of names  and description of each guest which is required by my own insurance.This is far more than I manage to get from most auto-booked guests.

I believe Airbnb will allow claims against the security deposit but not through Airbnb Host Protection insurance.  I have a landlord policy of my own strictly for short term letting and I can't imagine when I might want to use Airbnb Host Protection insurance, which from other accounts on the forum seems to be difficult to do. I live in a seperate area so don't have a lot of the issues that can occur when you are living in the same space.  If I ever had threatening or criminal behaviour etc I would call the police. Maybe I am naive.

Airbnb actually helped me through resolving this one as it was very complicated - the booker had requests to book 2 of my apartments for the same period, but as you know, the inbox can only show one listing to respond to.  Thanx for your comments.

[Alon1]

@Wendy117 

You seem to be on top of your situation, and I'm glad to learn Airbnb were helpful in your latest booking.

In the UK the police don't get involved in issues of rental & lodgings that are deemed 'civil' matters to be pursued through the civili courts. -- Police will only get involved in an obviously criminal circumstance.

Otherwise, worth mentioning, that as a live-in host, I've encountered very few problems in six  years of hosting. Moreover, judging by all the Airbnb forums I've participated in over the years, I've evidently encountered far fewer problems than absentee hosts.--I believe this is in a large part due to my never activating Instant Book. and so always retaining as much control as possible on the decision as to whom to host or not.

However, of the problems encountered, they were mostly related to 3rd Party bookings, especially the undisclosed ones prior to booking. As a result I've managed to have 3 Reviews deleted in the past 18 months. -- It's naturally made me more carefull still, and I will only consider 3rd Party requests if the booker is able to attend at arrival of their charge. This is basically Londoners wanting to lodge a relative or friend. Otherwise, I encourage the Inquirer to get one of their intended guests to open their own account and make an independent booking.