So a guest definition of negative review is below 3.5, but a host who gets 4.8 or lower is threatened with them shutting down your listing?
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I also have two listings (and co-host for a neighbour) but have never cancelled as uncomfortable. And Iāve done exactly the same thing if Iāve seen that a guest has a problem review. (āI saw that Mary in Baltimore said that you made a lot of noise. Please please please please donāt do that here. Quiet as a little mouse pleaseā.)
What is annoying is when hosts donāt say what the problem was with the guests. They say things such as ābetter suited to a hotelā or 'guest broke house rules etc.
These things tell me nothing. Some hosts think that something trivial like not taking out the garbage or not washing the dishes after their last breakfast and so on makes them āmore suitable to a hotelā or whatever. I donāt mind guests who do things like that so if a host just says that the guest broke the rules I need to know what those rules were - they were probably a lot stricter than I expect.
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Itās worse than just invisible guest ratings that impact instant book, itās literally a foundation for booting a host a guest doesnāt like off the platform. Consider this scenario:
- Guest 1 of group booking gets declined by host (strike 1 of host decline allowance).
- Guest 1 gets mad and has guest 2 of his/her group IB the same property. Host declines (strike 2 for host).
- Guest 3 of group IBs the property. Host declines (strike 3 of host declination policy). Host is suspended or deactivated from Airbnb.
Congratulations, thatās Airbnb host extortion for you folks! All made possible by your friendly neighborhood invisible guest rankings!
See: As a host, what penalties apply if I cancel a reservation for a stay? - Airbnb Help Center
You have to be careful with your wording or Air BnB will remove your review. I left a very honest review and the guest complained and Air BnB removed it. I appealed for them to reverse that decision as my review didnāt violate any of their rules. He was a nightmare and I didnāt want any other hosts to unknowingly end up with him as a guest.
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Yup, exactly why we chose our words carefully about a guest bringing their āassistance dogā without notice and then leaving it in the space. Itās worst when hosts donāt leave any review or a neutral one for folks who are awful.
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Not really. Just follow Airbnbās review guidelines.
I did. Because of the issues, I even consulted with the Resolution Center to ensure my review didnāt violate any guidelines before posting it. And they still removed my review. They couldnāt explain the reason why and wouldnāt reverse it. This guy has been on the platform for 8 years and doesnāt have any reviews. So I suspect my review wasnāt the only he had removed.
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Shocking! 
I always thought that this IB requirement meant that some host clicked the ānoā button on the āwould host againā question of the review. It would appear that Iām wrong on this.
Defunct??
sure it would. I accept first time airbnb guests, but after they book I do check out their social media if it exists and isnāt completely private. when i started out as an airbnb host, I shared that I used airbnb as a guest for several years and used my experiences to help me be the best host I can possibly be. Iāve had very few bad experiences with guestsā¦unfortunately, canceling one after I was able to learn more about him cost me my superhost status.
I had to go back in the thread to see what āsure it wouldā referred to. Apparently it is in answer to me saying if no one acccepted guests without reviews, Airbnb wouldnāt exist.
Nothing youāve said here negates that statement. Checking people out on social media doesnāt negate that. You are saying you do accept guests without reviews, you just vet them in other ways.
What I was saying is that if all hosts took the attitude that some do, of never accepting a guest without reviews, no guests would ever get accepted. Therefore there would be no guests, ergo no hosts.
If you used instant book you would have 3 penalty free cancellations per year.
Well thatās interesting to hear! This is the first time I cancelled anyone, instant book or otherwise. I was penalized by having those dates blocked by airbnb, which bugged me but under the circumstances not a problem because it really would have been difficult for me to prepare the apartment that week for anyone. When I asked Airbnb yesterday why my superhost status was not achieved this time around, they told me that Iām only allowed one cancellation per 100 bookings! I donāt think Iāve had 100 bookings total during the entire time Iāve had these two apartments on Airbnb.
Every host would be well advised to become familiar with the policies of the platforms they host on. Yeah, I know, nobody reads all the fine print. Thatās okay as long as you accept the consequences without complaint.
Superhost is not all that. The best thing about it is getting a $100 travel voucher for every year of consecutive status. Iāve used, or will use, all of mine which is $700 value.
I noticed the language had changed from the thumbs up/down āWould you recommend?ā to a yes/no āWould you host again?ā when reviewing my recent guests.
But that may be because I temporarily switched from IB to inquiry for my post-COVID vacc rentry phase. Iāll check when I switch back. Iām shocked, just shocked to think that Airbnb might not be consistent and logical at all times!
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This 100%.
As someone who used to write customised user manuals, for the systems I installed, then had to field support enquiries, in my mind I was thinking why donāt you RTFM.
Google itā¦
JF
Yes! Please let us know
I turned off instant booking a while ago. When a guest was improper and pushy. Finally I got her to cancel but it was a true pain. IB off has been great.
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It has seemed to me that IB is an attempt to compete with the ease of booking a hotel room. The wording of what constitutes ānot a negativeā from other hosts is not spelled out, so it is a wide open loophole. It would take a lot of verbiage to clarify the term.
I tried IB for a short time and got rule breakers and borderline rule breakers, no matter how much communication was done after booking. The IB feature appeals to people who did not want a personal touch, and imho were better suited to a hotel stay, hands off, or a whole house where theyād not have to deal with or conform to my house rules and presence here. It is just not for me. All my IB guests made for a stressed out host, me, and that is not why I do this. I get why they booked, they wanted to stay here, but on their own terms. After I removed IB, all my guests were absolutely appropriate, my hosting stress free. Interestingly enough, the IB guests did not review me, and I found it very stressful to figure out how to review them. It was just a poor fit.
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Ahh! Okay, I hate to expose my naivetĆ©, but I host a āwhole houseā w/o being present and I absolutely expect people to conform to my house rules. I am not knocking what you said, but am genuinely asking if that is the prevailing attitude among guests and/or other hostsā¦that āEntire Houseā rentals are for people who want to do whatever they want w/o constraint? In my 2+ years of hosting, I have certainly had those kinds and have fine-tuned my house rules, communication, and response in that time to weed them out/lay the groundwork for dealing with them. None of my stuff is perfect but I feel Iām getting better at picking guests, picking my battles and enforcing the rules that really matter most. Stillā¦that bothers me to think that most see my house that way if itās true.
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