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I have now been an AirBnB host for one year. I have lost my superhost status!
A) Cancelling Reservations. First one: Cancelled a guy who was a porn addict on his Google plus profile. $100 host penalty fee (later reversed after I sent in proof). Second one: Cancelled a guy who didn’t sound mature and very drug addled ($50 penalty fee, no reversal requested. Third one: Cancelled a guy who I should not have booked a room to so cheaply ($50 penalty fee, no reversal requested). Lesson: Don’t let greed make you push that accept button - look guest name up online, talk with them a bit, make sure they understand your ad before they book.
B) Completed Trips: 173
Five-Star Reviews: 76%
80% required
Response Rate: 99%
90% required
Commitment Rate: 98%
100% required
I guess I lost superhost status since 7 or 8 guests didn’t give me 5 stars out of 173. Bawww!
Actually I think it was also because we aren’t allowed to cancel even ONE guest as a superhost. Yep! It’s ridiculous. No penalties that affect the profile of guests that cancel, even if they do it constantly of course (well hardly, aside from ones that benefit airbnb, such as the fact they keep those wonderful fees all for themselves, so you can see why hosts are punished, but guests are not!).
But yes, it does seem like your rating has dropped. Guests are harder to please than ever this past summer. Hosts are renting out for cheaper and cheaper, going above and beyond. I think it’s an influx of new hosts spoiling guests with ridiculous expectations. Or to be honest, reviews on trip advisor average around 3.5, so it is silly that homes that have no ability to change location and layout would be able to compete with these ratings and consistently get five stars. I loathe the pressure of this system, despite being a high scorer myself. I find it stressful, pressurized and unfriendly to hosts. It’s simply not a rewarding way to treat people. If we were pets (thank god we’re not) we’d all be cowering under the table and in corners from the punitive style airbnb has adopted to try to keep hosts offering mor and more.
I’ve never canceled on a guest. Although I have wanted to after they checked in, just once though. Most people coming to Hawaii are planning out a trip pretty well… Not just passing through. I guess at helps…
I’m intrigued as someone who hasn’t ever booked through Airbnb - do you mean cancelling after the booking has been completed, or denying the booking before that stage? I guess the former since you probably don’t see the person behind the booking request until it’s completed?
In which case don’t you have the right to cancel on someone once you notice they are potentially problematic guests?
You have the right to cancel, but after the first time which is free, the ones that follow give the host a penalty fee. However, if you are a new host and you suddenly realize that the guest you’ve already allowed to book is someone you can’t stand based on their infuriatingly stupid or irritating email messages , you can only cancel them and swallow the $50 to $100 host penalty fee that comes along with it. If you can provide hard evidence they are problematic (I.E. porn on their public profile, guns and dead animals on their facebook photos, whatever it is that seems legitimately offensive) you may be able to get your fee reversed. But if they just seem really stupid then no, it’s just penalty.
In addition, AirBnB will block out those dates on your calendar so you can’t re-book them with someone else. When I first became a host I was only accepting people with a photo and verifications. But then I got greedy and I started raising my prices and accepting bookings of people who weren’t properly verified, especially as I grew to appreciate how many busy travelers are just scattered, disorganized, and desperate for a place to stay. If they sound nice I try to help them learn how to fill out their profile - but sometimes they just give up and book elsewhere. Sometimes I just accept people with terrible profiles as a masochist and wait to see what happens.
Don’t blame yourself for not being able to get a full read on a person within the short 24hr booking window cs2015. Even reviews can’t be trusted as every host who has avoided leaving negative reviews knows! But it does sound like you’ve had some doozies!
