Pending Listing Removal Help!

Wade129

I did not realize that cancelling a few bookings over the course of a year would result in the removal of my listing. Aside from 3 cancellations during a 12 month period and one guest complaint about a broken amenity, my property was on track for Superhost status. The property has an overall rating of 4.9. This is my first year hosting, and there was not much warning before this happened.

I am currently appealing the decision and hope for a good outcome, but I am unsure whether I will be successful. This is terrifying, as there are over $85,000 in guest payouts from bookings that are now pending cancellation. Does anyone have experience successfully appealing a removal decision that would be willing to share the experience. I need any help I can get.

If anybody from AirBNB is reading this and can help, I would really appreciate it. This situation is terrifying and potentially devastating, and It is hard to tell whether my support requests are being answered by humans or AI.

Wade129

@Wade129 There is no way you deserve to be a Superhost or even a host at all if you have cancelled 3 stays. That is 3 sets of guests who have been let down by you and potentially had their trips ruined.

It is hosts like you that give Airbnb a bad name so I doubt your appeal will succeed.

Wade129

Hi @Wade129

I don't have knowledge of the chances of getting things re-instated, hopefully someone can comment on that and give some advice.

The problem with host cancellation is that Airbnb's entire system depends on guests being able to trust that their reservations will work out. If anything goes wrong, it's best to try everything in your power to avoid a host cancellation (unless it falls within the scope of the extenuating circumstances policy Major Disruptive Events Policy - Airbnb Help Center )

When a guest has an issue and needs help with a cancellation, it's sometimes tempting to help them by cancelling from your side. Unfortunately this is bad for the host - never step in and offer to cancel on their behalf. If the guest struggles with the app, rather contact Support on their behalf and ask Support to get in touch with the guest and help them cancel. Make it very clear that it's the guest (not you) who wants to cancel and that it should be processed as a guest cancellation.

Having the listing suspended is the worst-case outcome, but there are other negative consequences before that: if you cancel only 1% or more of bookings in a 12-month period, you no longer qualify for Superhost (you can check your Superhost Status in Menu, Insights - it's likely that it's showing a too-high cancellation rate to qualify) and your listing's ranking is negatively impacted by host cancellation.

I'm sure you're (unfortunately) very aware now of the downside of host cancellation after what happened - hopefully some hosts can advise the best way to navigate the situation from here.

Wade129

@Wade129 just to follow on from @Mike-And-Jane0 's comment. We can't see your listing at the moment (due to the suspension), so I can't check. But, of course, if there's a pattern of behaviour in the listing that suggests to Airbnb that you've been cancelling bookings and then replacing them with ones at a higher price, I agree that it's unlikely you will be able to host on Airbnb again. This is hopefully not the case, as the cancelled dates are automatically blocked on your Airbnb calendar. I'm not sure whether or how Airbnb may investigate whether these were replaced by higher-priced bookings from other sites.

Wade129

Why did you cancel 3 bookings @Wade129

Wade129

@Wade129

As already mentioned, The "C" word (cancellation) is not to be tossed around lightly. As advised already, Airbnb does NOT want Host canceling stays - hence there are stiff penalties if you do so. If there are circumstances beyond your control (natural disaster in listing location, plumbing issue/water damage or other issue makes the listing uninhabitable), then always ASK Airbnb if they can cancel the stay under their major disruptive events policy, so you don't incur penalties and fines.

Listing suspension and permanent removal is one of the penalties:

Host Cancellation Policy

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990

As with anything, always best to thoroughly understand any business venture before embarking upon it. This includes reading through some very lengthy polices, including Airbnb's Terms of Service and Ground Rules for Hosts which all Hosts agree to when listing on the platform. This holds true for ANY OTA that you want to list your property on.

If you don't wish to invest time in doing that, it's best to hire someone to do that for you (Experienced Co Host or STR Consultant), so you don't end up in the precarious position you are in now.