instant book on but airbnb making me approve reservations

[Victoria620]

this is the message from airbnb: 

Why am I seeing this request?

We sometimes require hosts to accept a reservation request even when they have Instant Book turned on. You’re most likely to see this when you haven’t updated your calendar in a while or you’ve recently canceled a reservation."

i'm a superhost. i cancelled two instant book reservations in 2018. one was because a guest booked and in her message told me she would be bringing her dog.  i have a strict no-pet policy that i don't think she read. the other i cancelled because her reviews were mixed and her responses to her reviews felt off. she then reported me for discrimination. note that i am a minority and she is not. i've hosted everyone and the only thing i'm discriminate about is entitled behavior. 

how long will airbnb make me approve requests? i feel this would deter guests if they can't instant book? i can't seem to find this information. thank ypu in advance for reading. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Victoria620

I am afraid- nobody knows how long. Some hosts said 1 month, others few months, someone said you have to have a lot of activity on your listing, someone said he contacted CEO and succeded... 

I remember one host canceled the booking with the help of Airbnb and CS rep said he will not be punished and the cancelation is on the guest behalf but now, a few months later his instant booking is disabled.

[Helen3]

You should never cancel and IB if it doesn't meet your critieria. You should call Airbnb and ask them to do this.

Airbnb is the only one who can advise you on how long your listing will be flagged, so probably best to give them a call.

[Rachel177]

@Victoria620 I had the same thing happen to me in December when I noticed my instant book was switched off. I had airbnb cancel a couple of third party bookings during 2018 & despite customer service telling me it wouldn't affect me it did.

I wouldn't rely on help from Airbnb at all - they kept closing my CS enquiries without resolving it. Some of the other suggestions on the community centre were to change prices for your listing each day which I did. It took about 3 weeks to resolve, then IB seemed to be switched off again for no reason for a few days. IB is now showing for my listing (for now) but who knows if the airbnb powers that be will turn it off again on a whim.