How can I block a guest from messaging me, viewing my listing and/or sending future reservation requests?

[Sean95]

I have had issues in the past with crazy guests who:

- Leave a review complaining about things like the space being too small or the doors to neighbouring apartments in my building being too close together, however, they then go ahead and try to book more nights on future dates (because my price is so low) but obviously I don't want a repeat guest who's going to leave bad reviews for things that cannot be changed because that hurts my overall rating for no reason.

- Book without reading any of the info on the listing, then cancel on the check-in date because they waited until that time to realize they had booked a "private room" instead of an "entire place" and then start sending me repeated refund requests.

There have been many more situations that I can't recall off the top of my head where there was an apparent need for a "block" button, in the same way you can block someone on any social media platform to prevent further communication or stalking.

There has never been a prominent "block" button, but a workaround I have used in the past is to bring up the guest's profile, click "Report this guest" -> "They're being Offense", then fill out the text box for AirBnB's consideration, then click "Submit", and only then does a "Block" button appear. That "Block" button is nested within submenus that can only be found by initially clicking on "Report this guest". If you select any of the other options under that first menu, like "I think they're scamming or spamming me" or "Something else", then the block button does not appear.

Therefore, the way I have always done this in the past is by clicking "Report this guest", then selecting "They're being offensive",  then in the blurb to AirBnB, I have to explain that they aren't actually being offensive but that I'm clicking this reason because their idiotic UX design makes the block button available only via this route.

Today I tried following that process and noticed that after sending the report, there was no block button.

Does anyone know whether there still exists a way to block people who are pestering you on AirBnB?

[Sean95]

After submitting the report, this  is all I get. Just a greyed out button says “user reported” and no option to block. 

 

[Sean95]

And I tried viewing the user’s profile on the desktop website, hoping to undo and then resubmit the report (thinking that maybe if I do it from a computer, the option to block night appear, however the “undo” button shown in the screenshot does nothing when clicked)

 

[Emma4159]

Hi, same here. Any solution from Airbnb? 

[Ramona-Bogdana0]

Hello @Sean95 

Thank you for your reply, this is the process:

To report a message from someone or block any future communication from them:

1. Go to your Inbox and click the conversation with the person you want to block
2. Click the flag icon next to the message to report a user
3. You must select They're being offensive to block a user and follow the next few questions with the appropriate options
4. Describe the reason for blocking
5. Click Submit, then Block this person and OK

How do I report a message or block someone on Airbnb? - Airbnb Help Centre

Have a great hosting, and so sorry for this story with that guest.

[Sean95]

Ok I finally got to the bottom of it and all this confusion is coming from sloppy UX design.

It IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE to block guests! However, there are some booby traps in the process.

In order to block a guest FROM A COMPUTER:

1. Go into the conversation with the guest.

2. Locate the PARTICULAR MESSAGE within the conversation that you want to report.

3. Click the flag next to that message and the "What's happening?" window will open.

From this point onwards, select "they're being offensive" and the rest of the process will work.

WHAT NOT TO DO: On the right hand side of your screen, there is a pane called "Reservation Details". If you scroll down within that pane, you will see some clickable items below the financial details. One of these items is "Report this guest". Do NOT click on that. If you do, it opens the exact same window as in step 3 above and presents an identical reporting procedure but once you reach the end, there will be no option to block.

In order to block a guest FROM THE APP:

1. Go into the conversation with the guest.

2. Locate the PARTICULAR MESSAGE within the conversation that you want to report.

3. Tap the message itself.

4. This opens an overlay window that contains a flag.

5. Click on the flag and the "What's happening?" window will open.

From this point onwards, select "they're being offensive" and the rest of the process will work.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Once you are inside a specific conversation with a guest, you will see a button at the top that says "Details". If you click on that, it will open a window that contains the same information as the "Reservation Details" in the pane mentioned in the previous section regarding the procedure from a computer. Do not submit a report from this window, or you will be provided with an identical reporting procedure but once you reach the end, there will be no option to block.

[Jana---Peter0]

Thanks so much for posting this! It's seems to be the only way to block a guest.

[Josephine-Akosua0]

I am reading this in 2024 but also could not find how to block a past guest who is harassing me after they had reported me, Airbnb had investigated, temporarily suspended my account, found me not liable and reopened it. The past guest then resorted to asking for a refund. I declined. He has now sent me a threatening, very long, totally narcissistic message and I need him blocked. I got an 'we are investigating' from Airbnb but I feel unsafe after I went through the procedure to report. I am anxious to block them asap and not wait for airbnb to take their time... any help would be much appreciated.

[Josephine-Akosua0]

Just an update for anyone who may still need this, that after one reports a message, and fills in the box for why someone is being offensive (you do have to write something), the option to block appears. 

[Quincy]

Hi there @Sean95, I've passed this on to the team yesterday, and they have recommended that you contact them again so that they can review this for you. 

[Jason2727]

We have been hosting for 10 years now. I would say that there are probably around 1-3% of the guests who are gaming the AirBnb system and this tiny percentage really give the platform a bad name.

How these guests game the system is they will book a stay for say 7 days and on the 5th or 6th day they will make a complaint to the host and then threaten to write a bad review if the host doesn't offer a refund. Our policy is to always refund whenever one is requested because we just don't want to create any aggro nor do we have the time and energy to dispute a single transaction. There is no way to report this kind of incidence to AirBnb and even if AirBnb did find a way to investigate the guest would invariably deny all allegations they blackmailed the host because everything would have been verbal with no paper trail. Most hosts would just take it on the chin effect the refund because having a bad review is so costly to business but it would leave a bitter taste in their mouths and some hosts would just sign off AirBnb because they just feel so violated. 

I had one guest who stayed for 5 days and the night before the last day they asked for late check-out which we would normally grant for free if there weren't any other guests checking in the following but unfortunately that day we had new guests checking in so we had to politely decline their request. The following day just an hour before checkout time the guests complained that the hot water wasn't working and requested the last night's fees be refunded. As per our normal practice we refunded the night immediately and when the house-keeping team went in they found that the hot water system had been tampered with and there was nothing wrong with the system itself. 

Currently there is no function for hosts to just "block" a particular guest from rebooking; booking.com has this function; I don't know why AirBnb doesn't. Hosts should be able to choose who they do business without having to provide any reason. Currently the only way to do this is to click on "Report a Guest" which is a completely different feature because none of the options provided are relevant and moreover the handling process is all wrong. Through this "Block" function AirBnb will be able to identify guests who are gaming the system because you will quickly see that these same guests get blocked from all the places that they stayed at. I propose that once a guest gets blocked more than 3 times then there will be a review and more blocks from hosts would get them barred from the system altogether. This would really help AirBnb to clean up the rotten apples which I believe accounts for a very small percentage of guests and at the same time reduce the sign-off rate from hosts who get frustrated from receiving bad guests whom end up getting to stay for free effectively.

[Jason2727]

Couldn't agree more; anyone who posts up a reply saying that you can do so by click "Report a Guest" is missing the point. It's like saying that you could use a knife as screwdriver. 

I just want to be able to block a guests from booking; I don't owe anything a reason. 

We have been hosting for 10 years now. I would say that there are probably around 1-3% of the guests who are gaming the AirBnb system and this tiny percentage really give the platform a bad name.

How these guests game the system is they will book a stay for say 7 days and on the 5th or 6th day they will make a complaint to the host and then threaten to write a bad review if the host doesn't offer a refund. Our policy is to always refund whenever one is requested because we just don't want to create any aggro nor do we have the time and energy to dispute a single transaction. There is no way to report this kind of incidence to AirBnb and even if AirBnb did find a way to investigate the guest would invariably deny all allegations they blackmailed the host because everything would have been verbal with no paper trail. Most hosts would just take it on the chin effect the refund because having a bad review is so costly to business but it would leave a bitter taste in their mouths and some hosts would just sign off AirBnb because they just feel so violated.

I had one guest who stayed for 5 days and the night before the last day they asked for late check-out which we would normally grant for free if there weren't any other guests checking in the following but unfortunately that day we had new guests checking in so we had to politely decline their request. The following day just an hour before checkout time the guests complained that the hot water wasn't working and requested the last night's fees be refunded. As per our normal practice we refunded the night immediately and when the house-keeping team went in they found that the hot water system had been tampered with and there was nothing wrong with the system itself.

Currently there is no function for hosts to just "block" a particular guest from rebooking; booking.com has this function; I don't know why AirBnb doesn't. Hosts should be able to choose who they do business without having to provide any reason. Currently the only way to do this is to click on "Report a Guest" which is a completely different feature because none of the options provided are relevant and moreover the handling process is all wrong. Through this "Block" function AirBnb will be able to identify guests who are gaming the system because you will quickly see that these same guests get blocked from all the places that they stayed at. I propose that once a guest gets blocked more than 3 times then there will be a review and more blocks from hosts would get them barred from the system altogether. This would really help AirBnb to clean up the rotten apples which I believe accounts for a very small percentage of guests and at the same time reduce the sign-off rate from hosts who get frustrated from receiving bad guests whom end up getting to stay for free effectively.

[Lorina14]

@Jason2727 

You have some good points - have you submitted them to Airbnb comments for them to look into? I have read about guests booking a longer stay to make the min night requirements then requesting to leave early due to an issue to get the number of nights they wanted anyway and work around the minimum night requirement. 

@Rebecca @Alex @Elisa is there anyway to pass on these comments to the right team to address guests that game the system or the issue with blocking problematic guests?

[Jason2727]

yes - have tried to submit to the airbnb support which is a black hole.... impossible to get through to anyone...