URGENT TO ALL HOSTS!
I'm new to this community platform, but wanted to get this news out to all Hosts and Superhosts with properties on Airbnb.
Today, I was going through the listing statistics on the Airbnb dashboard for both of my vacation homes. I noticed that on both of my properties there were "things to work on" with an explanation point next to it. So, my curiosity made me click on the link and read about what Airbnb was requesting that I work on. After going down the list, it seemed that the only remarks that Airbnb had a remark about was the field that states this; "Accepted reservations _ Make guests feel welcome by accepting requests whenever you’re available". I'll start by saying that I do not allow Instant Booking for my properties.
I do require that each guest first be accepted by myself or my wife. We may have questions for the potential guests, so we don't like the Instant Booking. The problem is the common public doesn't just know how to ask a question on the Airbnb travel platform that they've been provided. Rather than just inquiring about the patio furniture, size of TV, cookware, garage size, etc ... They have a habit of actually making a full request for a reservation with specific dates. The potential guest then uses the reservation request to ask me a question. That's a problem for ALL Hosts and especially Superhosts.
The reason for this being a problem is simple.
In the event that the answer you've provided to the potential guest's question is not what they were hoping for, then you won't be booking them. Therefore, the days they've requested (but won't be booking) are held up for 24 hours. The dates are not able to be requested by any other potential guests for that property for 24 hours. ALSO, (this is the big issue), due to the fact that you won't be booking this mere inquiry, Airbnb considers this a denial by the Host. Making your percentage of "Accepted" reservation go down. You as a Host have done nothing wrong.
However, as your percentage decreases, so does your placement of your property on the Airbnb site. ALSO, you have the possibility of losing your Superhost status. I spoke to Airbnb and went up the chain of management. They admitted that this is an issue for any Host, and especially a Superhost. Their only solution was to have the Host ask the inquiring guest to cancel their own reservation request, prior to the 24 hour window provided. As we all know, most Airbnb travelers are rookies on their vacation site shopping. We love all our guests, but most are not tech savvy at all. That's why they made this mistake to begin with.
I don't see asking the inquiring guest to cancel their own reservation request as a logical remedy to the problem. It's a software issue that Airbnb isn't willing to work on unless we as Hosts make such a demand as a community. One of my properties is really new. Less thna 2 months on the Airbnb site. It's near a baseball spring training stadium. I've had lots of "inquiries". Some have been inquiries like I just spoke about. Not accepting such a reservation request, because it was ONLY an inquiry, has caused my "Acceptance" percentage on this new property to go below 60%. I've been told that my Superhost status, stated on both properties, is now at risk. This is a huge issue for all Superhosts. Let's band together and get Airbnb to correct this software statistic glitch that only Airbnb can solve!
Best Regards,
~ Sean