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I mean, if I pick that as the option, is that really what the email to the declined guest says? That I’m uncomfortable???
SHEESH.
So, I picked “dates are unavailable”–even though they are–and then I open them back up.
I swear, all of the decline options and subsequent questions are just designed to make you say ah, screw it, fine, I’ll host this person.
What caused you to not say what made you uncomfortable with the guest? Airbnb got heat over hosts being racist so they had to tighten up controls on declines.
I just didn’t want the guest to get a message saying I’m uncomfortable! I mean, isn’t that kind of weird?
The guest just signed up, has no reviews, is 20 years old, lives nearby, and was very vague about his reason for booking for himself and two guests. So: uncomfortable.
I didn’t think that dates not available was a valid reason to get a no-penalty cancelation. Doesn’t AirBNB now block those dates permanently?
It wasn’t a cancellation, it was a booking request that came through in the middle of the night. I’m not on IB, and even if I were, this person wouldn’t have been able to use it.
You will not get a penalty free cancellation for your stated reason. Again, they push for IB but they put you in a difficult place if you are unsure of accepting the reservation.
Oops me too! I’ve had a request like this and I had no problem with the uncomfortable with the guest selection. Just write the truth.
But do they actually tell the guest that you, the host, are uncomfortable? The way it’s worded it sure seems that way! I just think that’s kind of an unnecessary thing to tell the declined guest.
Does anyone have knowledge of what the email to the guest actually says/looks like?
I’m not sure what the email looks like, but in my message history it just states the reason given with no mention of uncomfortable . I require a govt ID on their profile for bookings. A potential guest was complaining about doing this, after some back and forth i just declined, chose uncomfortable, this is the message history:
“Government Id is required for reservations.”
No mention of being uncomfortable.
You should find a way to be honest, saying dates are unavailable and then making them available is probably the most complained about thing hosts do that makes us all look bad and lose business.
Why shouldn’t the guest know that his/her request made the host uncomfortable? We all get frustrated when guests ding us in review without telling us what they were unhappy about. Shouldn’t guests be extended the same courtesy of being told why they are being rejected? It would be helpful to the guest to know that if he had some reviews and be specific about his reason for booking he would be more likely to be able to book your place. Just as we can’t do anything about the location of our listings; your guest can’t do anything about his age or where he lives.
I once received an inquiry like this as well. No reviews, and he did not pass the threshold of my IB. He had a hazy selfie taken in a car at night with the flash, young guy, not smiling. He did not specify what his reason for stay was. And even after I prompted him to specify, his response was a vague “to hang out.” Three 20somethings renting a house that fits 8 just to hang out. To me, it kind of gave off flags like he was going to throw a party. But his response to my decline was that he thought I was racially discriminating. An absurd claim since I, myself, am a POC, we have reviews and guests of all backgrounds, and quite frankly, I couldn’t even tell what ethnicity he was from his photo anyway (we’ve rented to people with cartoons and anime as their profile photo, I mean… come on.)
This reminds me of a guest I had who had an unflattering profile pic and an African sounding name. He sent an inquiry instead of doing IB. I accepted right away. The next day in checking the reservation I saw he had changed his picture to a much more flattering one of him and his white traveling companion. Maybe it was a coincidence but I did wonder if I was being tested.
This really freaks me out! Really! My family is multi ethnic, multi cultural and whatever we were before this became a big issue. I ask guests questions to be sure they will be happy staying with us. C’est ça voilà
I definitely didn’t like how quickly he went “there.” It does a disservice to fighting real discrimination on the site. Was I supposed to lecture him on how first impressions work? Common sense would suggest you want to come off as friendly and transparent about your plans as possible.
Why would it freak you out?
Because I think it’s really creepy for Airbnb to “test” hosts if that is what happened to you.
It is the standard method of checking for discrimination.