What happens when a host indicates that he/she would not recommend a guest to other hosts?

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

Superhosts here, with 101 reviews. We have 2 properties, 1 our townhome where we live, and a condo in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA. In the past 2 years, we've only had 1 time that we indicated we would not recommend a guest (we were her first Airbnb experience) to other hosts. It was obvious from what was left behind (cases of empty beer bottles and wine jugs for 1 weekend) and photos of guests leaving that there were more than our maximum of 4 guests in the 2-bedroom, 1 bath condo in the mountains, and 2 appeared to be underaged.  The guest who booked was college-aged. We have no problem with alcohol per se, but the amount of empties was ridiculous for what was supposed to be 4 guests max and there were signs they had a problem with the 2-month-old toilet in the only bathroom which also made us suspicious.

Just wondering how this "un" recommendation shows up to other hosts when the guest attempts to book? Thanks for any feedback. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0

if you gave him a thumb down then he shouldn't be able to instant book the property with the "recommended by other hosts" requirement and he shouldn't be able to instant book your place again.

This is in theory... but I am not sure if it really works.

So the review you gave him is even more important then the thumb down.

[Rachel177]

@Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0 they can't instant book. I've got IB switched on and it's a big flag for me when someone with multiple reviews requests to book with me instead of instant booking. @Branka-and-Silvia0 it does work when guests are given the thumbs down, they've not been able to IB with me, and they're overall rating shows up which tends to be 3 stars or less.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

tnx @Rachel177 good to know, I wasn't sure if it  still works, you know how quickly things change here on Airbnb... 😛

[Rachel177]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I'm sure it will change soon enough. I've already been punished for cancelling third party bookings by having IB disappear for a couple weeks. Nothing like rewarding superhosts for following the airbnb rules...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Rachel177

oh yes, that's how ABB is showing us it's love :))))

I would prefer a cookie

[Susan17]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Or how about a yellow rubber watering can? Gotta love those quotes...  🙂

https://www.airbnblove.com/

[Rachel177]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I'd prefer them just to sort themselves out. If they want to go down an anonymous booking platform with commercial hosts then just bite the bullet and let us airbnb classic style hosts go.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Rachel177

yes, it's a pity Airbnb has become... this... mutant...

[Rachel177]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 it was bound to happen, especially as they're looking at an IPO. I've had the interesting experience working in CS for a company that was expanding rapidly & there was minimal communication between the product managers/tech team and the customer service team. The amount of times we learnt about a new product launch from the customer complaints was often, and embarrassing.

[Susan17]

@Rachel177

But if they get rid of us, then how else could they keep up the pretence that the overwhelming majority of hosts on the Airbnb platform are just the little guys, relying on their Airbnb income to feed their families and stay in their homes?

They still need us (for now anyway) as a front in their regulatory battles with local governments and municipal authorities worldwide, and to shore up their desperate attempts  to convince everyone that their platform is absolutely NOT now swamped with huge armies of professional and commercial operators that are stripping city after city bare of long term housing stock, driving up rents and displacing local residents. Only reason they haven't dumped us all already. 

[Rachel177]

@Susan17 call me a cynic but I don't think they're concerned with the little guys anymore. The pushing of the new flexible cancellation policy & penalising hosts with too many cancellations looks like they're trying to go down the booking dot com path. It gets more guests through the door & the commercial hosts are okay with it because they can fill last minute vacancies + collect credit card details on check in.

[Susan17]

Completely agree @Rachel177, they're not one bit concerned about us, and they'd love to be rid of us. But if they tell the truth about the true state of affairs on the platform, every local authority on the planet will shut them down in five minutes flat.(That's why they go to such extreme lengths to keep listing the commercials right alongside the small hosts - obfuscation) So they need us onboard to keep up the fuzzy-warm  illusion that Airbnb still has a positive impact on the cities in which it operates. Sadly, that's far from the reality.