The "Not Recommend" Option

The "Not Recommend" Option

We have just had a guest that we would not recommend. They indicated that they would like to book with us later in the season but is there a way to "block" their booking without their knowledge? We don't want them to be blocked completely by Airbnb because they were lovely people with not so lovely dogs but we don't feel comfortable having them stay with us in the future.

7 Replies 7
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Melissa-and-Scott0 

Melissa, you can't stop specific guests from searching your property and booking it without it affecting their general booking status on Airbnb.

You do say that they were fine, it was the dogs that were not.

I was like you untill I had a couple turn up here with a pair of Burnese Mountain dogs and they did an indescribable amount of damage. So after that.....No Pets, that is my rule. It can be anything from a St Bernard down to a bladder with 4 legs....even though we have a dog, their dog is not welcome here.

 

You have a permanent message stream open with these guests now I would just send them a message to say........ "In light of recent issues with having pets, we have had to retink your pet friendly status, and in future will not be able to accept bookings that involve travelling pets. Just thought I would give you advance warning of this alteration as it may affect a return booking on your part!"

That should solve your problem for you Melissa without sounding too heavy handed.

 

Cheers.....Rob

@Melissa-and-Scott0 if you use instant book and give them a thumbs down & low star ratings then they shouldn't be able to book with you again (make sure you have the 'recommendations from other hosts' selected as part of your IB requirements). And maybe as @Robin4 suggested send them some private feedback that due to the behaviour of their dogs you wouldn't be able to host them again.

Thanks Rachel,

 

If we do what you suggest, would they still be able to instant book us? I don't want to lose our super host status by declining a guest booking.

 

Best,

Melissa & Scott

@Melissa-and-Scott0  Your Acceptance Rate is not factored in with the Superhost criteria; it's displayed in the dubious "Basic Requirements" category. You are allowed to decline inappropriate bookings.

 

You can also block an guest from contacting you or booking with you. Go to their profile, click "Report this User," and you'll get the option to block them as well. It doesn't mean that they couldn't use a different account to book if they really wanted to...but in that case I agree with @Robin4 's advice about how to communicate the pet issues.

@Melissa-and-Scott0 they shouldn't be able to instant book with you if you don't recommend them when you review them (however given the glitches with airbnb it's not 100% guaranteed). You also have the free cancellation option (via Airbnb customer service) with IB if they do somehow manage to book with you. You would need to contact customer service to explain that you're not comfortable with the booking.

Thank you for your help! We were under the impression that is someone booked, we were obligated to take their booking? We don't want to preclude them from other bookings as other hosts may be able to meet their needs better than we could but we want to preserve the relationship with our neighbors which means that we can't have them (more specifically their dogs) back to our property.

 

Best,

Melissa & Scott

@Melissa-and-Scott0 if you're not comfortable with an IB booking you can get it cancelled by customer service. I've had third party bookings cancelled by CS as it's in my house rules that I do not accept them.