Visibility takes a SHARP dive after Airbnb removes a booking…

[Don-And-Emily0]

Hello lovely hosts,

We recently approved a request for 4 people (our max is 6)… the principal guest had no reviews but his wife had 9 excellent reviews.

He told us early on that a 3rd couple might join them and agreed to let us know when they made a final decision. 

A few days prior to arrival texted to let us know they will have a total of 8! Even though it is stated clearly in our house rules he agreed to that max is 6. Then he said 6, then 4 and 8 again… got a feeling he was testing to see how strict we would be.

We called Airbnb and were told to communicate the 6 max occupancy rule very clearly and if they showed up with more than 6, airbnb would evict them.

Did not feel comfortable with this scenario and called abb again. This time we got an “escalated” ambassador who said this could be a potential party event and canceled the reservation and promised us there would be no penalties for us. 

Ever since that happened, the daily views have dropped to 1-2 from 19-20 per day… we are not booking anything even though this is the high season for us as we are near 2 ski areas.

Is this an algorithm thing or is it a quiet punishment for not accepting 8 guests against our house rules?

tia 

[Colleen253]

@Don-And-Emily0 Very likely a coincidence. 

However, I would not have contacted Airbnb. Doing so can be downright hazardous, given the poor quality of customer service these days. Just message the guest back and say so sorry but our maximum occupancy is 6, and we cannot accommodate more than that. Once a guest gets the sense that you are firm and will not be pushed off your post, all usually goes well. It's when they get the sense you're wishy washy that you end up with trouble.

You might want to add a line to your house rules that all guests must be registered at booking, and post booking additions will not be accepted. That cuts down on disorganized waffling guests and all this back and forth hoohah and stress.

[Don-And-Emily0]

Thank you Coleen.  The guy was playing games and we got a sense that he was actually planning on throwing a party as there was a sharp spike in views just the night before he booked us. I guess he shared the link with his 30 buddies…

Our house got trashed by such a group just a year ago and it was traumatic to say the least. Airbnb made it impossible to collect on damages and never took down the revenge review the guest left.

I was happy to have ABB cancel the booking but not sure what to make of this drop in exposure now. For the first time in a year we have no bookings going forward.