Acceptance Rate: Phone Conversation With Laura Hugheswww.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-128009Ernest shared 10 months ago on New Hosts Forum
Ernest
Acceptance Rate: Phone Conversation With Laura Hughes
I spoke to Laura Hughes last night for over an hour. The conversation included many topics but at the heart of the conversation was the subject of the Acceptance Rate and its impact on search results.
Here is a summary:
Laura said Airbnb has, at present, no intention of changing the policy and it is true that Acceptance Rate does impact search results. She tempered this with stating that although it does impact search results, it is merely one of many factors that impacts these results. She was not able to quantify this impact, however, she said that, unless you decline many requests in a row (she used 30 requests in a row as an example) that it was not going to have a noticeable impact on search results. This led me to explain that the non-transparency of the search results algorithm was another source of frustration among hosts.
I emphasized that I, and what I perceived to be many hosts, felt that it was inappropriate to have Acceptance Rate impact search results at all. I explained that I felt that Airbnb was penalizing hosts who decide, with good reason, not to pre-approve or to accept a request and who felt it should remain up to a host whether or not he or she felt a guest was a good fit with his or her listing. When Airbnb continues to decide to have Acceptance Rate impact search results, it appears that Airbnb believes we should be accepting more, if not all, requests and that gives hosts the impression that we are no longer the gatekeepers to our own property, that Airbnb is deciding for us who and when to host. I said that until Airbnb changes this policy, I will remain unhappy and I believe that many hosts will as well.
Laura says that many of the best hosts decline multiple inquiries/requests and that all hosts are in the same boat here so this really shouldn't impact any host who are actively accepting reservations regularly. When I probed her to explain the policy more in depth, she admitted that Airbnb's policy decision on this issue was designed to penalize those hosts who have listed a space, yet have no real intention of hosting at all. She explained that there are many hosts who have put up a listing which has been active for many months or even years, yet have never hosted (apparently thousands of these types of listings area active), the results of which are that guests, sometimes first-time guests, reach out to these hosts, only to be rejected or ignored. When a guest is rejected multiple times (or ignored), he or she is less likely to become an active user of Airbnb, thus hurting the entire community. The Acceptance Rate policy is designed to dissuade this type of host from repeatedly declining guests and to penalize them if they do.
I reasoned with her by explaining that Airbnb ought to have a different solution to deal with these "bad hosts," rather than relying on a policy that negatively impacts both good and bad hosts alike. I asked her how we should respond to those inquiries that ask to book for a third party, or ask to use our home as a film studio or ask to bring a pet when pets aren't allowed, etc. without having our Acceptance Rate negatively impacted. She replied that we should decline them, but that there is no way to do so without negatively impacting our Acceptance Rate. It was at this point in the conversation she really started to grasp our frustration with the policy, in that we have no choice but to be penalized while doing the right thing by declining what amount to be fruitless inquiries/requests.
She then asked me for ideas on how to solve the problem. I explained that the solution should not be trying to fix a bad policy, rather, Airbnb should be trying to determine how to prevent these types of inquiries in the first place. Rather than trying to put a band aid on a wound, one should try to prevent the wound from occurring in the first place. I told Laura that I had been pleading with Airbnb from the start to take affirmative steps designed to better educate users before they are sent out into the Airbnb universe booking listings. Why not, as I have mentioned to many Airbnb agents in the past, have an Airbnb 101 video that plays to every new Airbnb user when they first create an account. This video can be very simple and short; Here is how to create an account, how to get verified, how to search for listings that suit your needs, how to read a listing, find the house rules, reach out to a host with questions, etc. This way, when a guest does reach out to a host, he or she knows to only ask questions that may not be answered in the listing itself.
I explained to Laura how frustrating it is to explain the whole Airbnb system to a new user who may ask questions like how much is your nightly rate? or who holds the security deposit? or what is your address? I explained to her how frustrating it is when you need to field inquiries that make it clear from their questions that they haven't even read the listing. I said, you guys need to educate the guests, that way the number of inappropriate inquiries will diminish and the number of pre-approvals and accepted requests will increase. Laura explained that many new guests may not want to invest the time to become educated and may just want to start booking. I said that perhaps these are the type of guests who don't belong in the community. This video won't eliminate poor community members but it will mitigate the number of them and in turn decrease inappropriate inquiries/request in the long run.
The community should be comprised of people who want to make a small investment such that they can be positive contributors to the community. Maybe, just maybe, not everyone belongs in the community. And maybe, those people who don't want to take just a few minutes educating themselves, by watching a short video, for example, should not be admitted to the community. Remember when Chip Conley said that he wanted the Airbnb community to win the Nobel Peace Prize? This was apparently mentioned by Chip during his interviewing process with Airbnb and was highlighted by Brian Chesky as an aspiration of the company at that Airbnb Open. To create a community of this magnitude take effort, will, and participation by the members of such a community and members of such a community should want to invest a bit of time to learn how to be good, active, productive members, not just in it for themselves looking to use it for their own benefit. So I say it again, maybe, just maybe, not everyone belongs in the community.
I also suggested an Airbnb video for hosts: how to manage your calendar and keep it updated, how to best describe your listing, how to decide upon and list your house rules, how to decide if instant book is right for you, etc. This way you can help ensure that hosts know how to use the platform efficiently and effectively, also resulting in increased numbers of accepted reservations.
I pointed out that if every guest is encouraged to reach out to five hosts, that a projected acceptance rate of 75% was mathematically impossible because only one of those five hosts could actually host the guest. She took this point to heart.
I also suggested removing hosts from the platform who had not hosted for a certain period of time; many moths or years, for example. That way guests would not reach out to dead listings. Ultimately, there must be a way to achieve their goals without penalizing hosts who are fielding empty inquiries. She suggested having a list pop up asking why a decline was given (or lack of a pre-approval) and if it fell into a certain category, such as asking a host to accept more guests than the listing can accommodate, or asking to book for a third party, then the declined request would not be calculated into the acceptance rate percentage. I thought that this may be a potential solution, but kept coming back to my point that acceptance rate shouldn't impact the search results to begin with. Educate the community!
At the end of the day, it seems that Airbnb wants to improve the policy and is open to suggestion. Laura proposed that I attend a small focus group meeting in the coming weeks with four other vested hosts hosted by her at Airbnb headquarters. Initially it was to be next Wednesday, but will be another day due to scheduling conflicts. At this meeting will be five hosts, Chip Conley, Laura Hughes, Bryan Jung and members of the Trust & Safety team, members of the Hospitality Team and members of the Product Development team. As Laura says, the meetings objectives will be to achieve:
3 Main Outcomes:
* Walk through the prioritized list of (1) what we are already doing to address your thoughts from last July as well as some of the things that have been brought up in the past few weeks; (2) what we are not [and why] and (3) what is scheduled for later.
* Have other stakeholders [working on these issues] hear directly from you in person. [Across Product and Trust & Safety team]
*Search and Acceptance Rate: Make sure the facts/data are clearly understood and talk through some of what we can do moving forward.
I hope this is helpful to those who have been concerned about this issue. I will update you with more after our meeting.
Cheers,
Ernie (Josh) Thayer
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Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
Thank you so much, Ernest, for taking the time to update us so thoroughly. Very much appreciated. Here are my thoughts on your report:
1. It seems blindingly obvious that they should be more pro-active in monitoring bad listings and bad hosts. Instead of introducing a complicated policy that penalises good hosts, just get rid of the bad ones already! Presumably the reason that they don't this is because the number of listings is important to their shareholders and valuation. That's all fine but they have to realise that they are sacrificing quality for quantity and this idea of a fostering a 'community' will implode.
2. I simply don't understand why they won't allow a 'Make an inquiry' or 'Ask a question' option in the main booking area. The 'contact host' option is so hard to find now, particularly for newbies. This option could be used to field those who are looking to bring pets, dummy dates etc. etc. This parameter (if that's the right word) would not feed in to the Acceptance rate metric. It would be a way to open dialogue with the host and then, once all questions have been answered and the suitability of the place is established on both sides, booking goes ahead (or not). This has been proposed many times by Peter (London Clocktower Peter!), myself and others. It seems SO obvious, I just can't understand why it's not implemented.
3. Leading on from above... the push for bookings without any prior communication seems to be a priority for them, despite all the fluffy talk about making friends and belonging etc. It's imperative that the Instant Book feature is improved. Until they can guarantee that a positive review really IS a positive review, it is meaningless for the safety of hosts. And the requirement should be put back to at least 3 positive reviews. Again, I can't understand why this is a problem. For all those long-distance hosts or property managers who are happy to take anyone at all - that's fine, they can set their parameters as low as they want. But to penalise all us long-standing hosts who have been ambassadors for the platform over several years - come on. It's not right. Many of us are losing faith and thinking of giving up. Just check across the Groups.
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Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
And one more crucial thing! 4. Please bloody talk to us, Airbnb! For a company that bases it's reputation on communication and "belonging" they are terrible at communicating changes and updates to us. It's really bad practice. The tech guys have FAR too much power to make changes and tweaks without realising how they affect the everyday business of hosting. I'm sure they do test things but not enough. There are so many experienced hosts now - USE us! Treat us with some respect - we are stakeholders after all. Obviously, these are my thoughts directed at Chip, Laura et al. Hope you can relay some of them, Ernest. They're not new thoughts or ideas, but I do feel a lot better for putting that down.
Jeannette
Jeannette10 months ago
"I also suggested removing hosts from the platform who had not hosted for a certain period of time; many moths or years, for example." < I think if they address this, the Acceptance Rate issue kind of goes away, and we can keep declining inappropriate guests.
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Evi
Evi10 months ago
I agree with this.Απαντήστε
Deborah
Deborah10 months ago
Definitely! As Jeanette points out, this is the way to go, I believe --- find some method for detecting and then warning and then removing such hosts. One example of such a host: I have seen listings put up by someone who only wanted a guest for a certain limited period of time, say one month during a certain year, when they were going to be out of town. Guests who fail to take in this information on the listing description, and see that the calendar is open, may inquire or make a reservation request with such a "dead" host and the whole thing goes nowhere.
Serafina
Serafina10 months ago
Jeanette, I agree. And Deborah, you are so right about those hosts making a one-time offer of their place and then essentially abandoning the listing. Seems like there would be an easier fix for Airbnb than the Acceptance Rate.
Bridget and Mark
Bridget and Mark10 months ago
I suggested in another thread A decline list that states situations that would not be counted against the host - asking for dates different from those on request, inquiry for more people than listing permis, spam. Easy easy solution.
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Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
Yes but that's open to abuse, no? You could just be lazy and not bother to update your calendar and then choose an option that gets you off the hook. To me the really really simply solution is to give a clear option for guests to ask questions without committing. That's number one. In addition, ideally there would be a registration form when you start requesting bookings - number of guests, how many children, pets etc. If the listing does not accept pets, children, has a maximum number of people etc., then you simply cannot enter that information. It's not technical rocket science. Other sites do it easily. The guest requirements could be saved for each trip so they don't have to enter the information each time. There is such a mismatch between the huggy, fluffy, belonging nonsense airbnb marketing and the actual reality of BOOK BOOK BOOK! GIVE US YOUR MONEY NOW!! I'm almost embarrassed to be associated with it now, truth be told.
Allison
Allison10 months ago
Rebecca's got it. They would need nothing more than a more user-friendly interface. They don't even need to do an educational video. The web interface of airbnb is not at all intuitive. The poor design serves neither the host or guest. They need to do some ethnographic research and THEN redesign the interface. I don't believe airbnb understands how guests are searching. They aren't even huge changes: - make the "contact host" button as big as that huge "request to book" button. - make the filters easy to find and guide guests to them! Screen people for me so they don't have to read 5 listings or take a stab in the dark with not reading first. You won't get so many false hits. All I want: No kids. No dogs. No Smokers. Max of 4. - put a filter on it that says "show current hosts only" and make someone positively click if they want to see the dead hosts in there. Airbnb can still count them in their press release numbers. - and for the love of everything good and holy: Check the freaking metrics because they are SO HORRIBLY WRONG. Who is programming this? I posted an example 2 weeks ago. There is no reason airbnb shouldn't be able to provide RELIABLE, ACCURATE metrics to their hosts. Especially if it's going to affect how we're placed in a guest's search. It's also horribly lagged. I'm able to smash terabytes of patient data together and display accurate info to people across the hospital, within seconds of it being entered. At a tiny hospital in Northern Michigan! I'm baffled as to why a $10 Billion company can't do it?
Deborah
Deborah10 months ago
Thank you Ernest for taking on this issue, meeting with the Airbnb staff, and letting us know what is happening!
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Bekah and Brian
Bekah and Brian10 months ago
Thumbs up, Ernest!
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Susan
Susan10 months ago
I'm calling BS here. If the true problem is a jillion listings without active hosting, why not identify them and delist them? Could it be you could no longer brag 350k hosts and might upset the VC guys? Hmmmm.... And, if you're going to reward accepting and punish declining, even marginally, that's how hosts are going to react! In those overly-saturated markets, every edge counts.
Floating this through a focus group now to "fine tune" a policy that has already been decided and implemented is just pablum for the "community" (such as it is). Better to have discussed it in advance and announced it in advance.
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Renee
Renee10 months ago
Ernest, thanks for your commitment.
1) I support removal/suspension of all inactive hosts. 1/2dotcom suspends your account if you don't update your inventory very 120 days; either get these hosts to improve their listings or get off the site.
2) Additional factors for higher in the search results EG the host a member of our message boards & do they post/answer. This will help Hosts who don't get a review not due to being a bad host but by the ignorance of the guest.
3) The vid idea is great. People prefer easy & short. Relay Rides, Uber uses this approach.
4) I wish the decline reasons were more extensive &/or more specific EG no/low verifications, 3rd party booking, no long term guests, etc.
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Mary
Mary10 months ago
I actually type my reasons for declining an inquiry.
Evi
Evi10 months ago
It would be nice if airbnb saw what all of you are suggesting above..Are they even reading any of this? Allow me to say that I am a very new host, 5 days..I think that for such a new user either host or guest there should be a video or a practice lesson on how to host, how to make your profile correct, they want id? don't let anyone make a profile without id then! , what I host should be aware of and what a guests should not do. A video or a practice lesson that you HAVE to make/see entirely before your profile is accepted and published. My very first experience with airbnb, me that I am a 5 days user, was a guests that sent a reservation, a new guest in airbnb, and that he after a couple of hours told me I am sorry I need to cancel because I pressed the wrong button I just wanted to ask for availability..So it was for me very frustrating to find out the proper way to fix this..With a strict policy that I had placed..So finally my point is before I and Mr x that made the new reservation should both be totally informed how to accept, hot to not accept, how to make a reservation, how to just ask a question, etc before even getting our profiles published. Thank you.
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Andrew
Andrew10 months ago
Ernest, you're a legend. I really appreciate that you've taken such great notes of this dialogue and given us so much insight into where Airbnb stands on this issue. I'd like to link people to this post whenever questions and complaints about the Acceptance Rate policy come up again, and hope this thread can be a sort of database of our community's suggestion for improving it. (Alas, being a group organizer doesn't get much attention inside of Airbnb; my most recent help ticket related to this forum has been untouched for three days and counting...)
My own thought here, which echoes much of what Rebecca said, is that the Acceptance Rate should apply only to Reservation Requests and not to Inquiries. The fact is, a guest can send out hundreds of non-binding inquiries to an unlimited number of hosts, without any regard to whether the listings are appropriate or suitable, and Airbnb provides nothing but encouragement for them to do so. But every host who makes the correct decision not to pre-approve these inquiries takes a hit for that. Not fair at all.
On the other hand, no guest is going to submit hundreds of Reservation Requests, as they'll get charged for each one that's accepted. Once the guest puts their money where their mouth is, the communication is at a whole other degree of seriousness, and I do believe we should be held accountable for how we handle these. (I also think that hosts who don't respond at all to Requests should have their listings promptly removed),
On the matter of educating users, I personally prefer having a tutorial built into the interface over trying to make people watch an infomercial video. No matter how much information you shove in people's faces, you can't really make them take it in when it counts. (This applies to us as well - I'd say around 15% of the questions posted on this forum could be answered by a quick click on Help Center).
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Julie and Eric
Julie and Eric10 months ago
More thoughts and suggestions for improvement:
www.airbnb.com/groups/39/contents/128010 Serafina
Serafina10 months ago
As one of the video-averse minority, Andrew, I can say that I almost never watch them. Either they don't run on my ancient laptop or I do something else until it's over with. But there's value in offering the same information in multiple ways to reach different users. And keeping the acceptance rate based on reservation requests rather than inquiries makes a lot of sense.
Andrew
Andrew10 months ago
One potential issue with doing a video is, indeed, the fact that an increasing share of people are using Airbnb primary on mobile devices, which are also not so good for video.
Mary
Mary10 months ago
Ernest: What an amazingly well thought out and preted treatise on the subject!
Deborah
Deborah10 months ago
I agree with Andrew on keeping acceptance rate based on reservation requests. If Airbnb is actually mostly concerned with hosts who have listed but are not serious about hosting, those hosts are going to be declining most or all of their reservation requests, so Airbnb could set up a system where those with the lowest acceptance rate for reservation requests, get put to the bottom of search results, and/or get sent an email from Airbnb asking them if they really want to be hosting, and stating that they will be deactivated if they continue to decline every reservation request and/or fail to respond at all to inquiries. (Which are the main things Airbnb seems to be concerned with...right?)
In addition, reservation requests which are inappropriate (eg guest asking to bring 6 people when the maximum is 2, or wanting to do filming at the site, or want to bring pets when no pets are allowed) could be declined under a special category of decline, which doesn't penalize the host. This could be "guests' reservation request violates house rules/maximum person #/is not for accomodations". Hosts could flag such requests as in violation of their rules, and thus be not counted as declines. In order to avoid hosts abusing such a measure in order to avoid penalties for declines, Airbnb could set the system so that at a certain number of such declined, flagged requests, the requests would go to an AIrbnb staffperson to be checked for veracity. Say, if a host has 10 such declines (or whatever number turns out to be appropriate) in a one month time period, that would trigger an Airbnb staffperson to look into the matter to make sure all the flagged requests indeed are inappropriate ones.
The latter feature, of allowing declines which are inappropriate, is important because some hosts have been harassed by another user who CONTINUALLY makes reservation requests which are declined by the host. Such an aggressive approach, and misuse of the system, should not count against any host: a guest's abuse of the system should not result in penalizing the host.
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Nic and Rach
Nic and Rach10 months ago
We appreciate all the work that you do Ernest ....I have nothing against Airbnb...
Too much politics and corporate greed but I don't see it as bad as other monopolizing companies , such as cable companies, mobile/cell phones to name a few. There are rooms for improvements and I am all for it. like everyone else. so far I am satisfied and having a great time hosting. Thanks Airbnb !!!
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Vicky
Vicky
Vicky10 months ago
Thank you for raising these issues Ernest. I def think they should weed out inactive hosts by eg everyone not updating calendar every 30 days
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Nathalie et Claude
Nathalie et Claude10 months ago
it would be fun to have the same information on guests such as :
number of inquiries vs number of reservation.
it would give an idea about the guests who contact many, many host with few or no reservation.
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Nathalie et Claude
Nathalie et Claude10 months ago
and like the others , i much appreciate the time Ernest is spending to educate the Airbnb team for us. And that to have x reasons to decline without impacting the rate may be an easy and quicky solution to start.
Mary
Mary10 months ago
"Fun" is an understatement! It would be invaluable when deciding whether or not to welcome a stranger/first time Airbnb'r into our homes. I have urged new users with only one name to share a "little" about themselves, especially since they know SO much about me from my profile, references, & reviews. No one has ever refused.
Rachel
Rachel10 months ago
Thank you Ernest! I agree with all of the above. If it can be brought up at the meeting, and you feel up to telling them, having Facebook only count as a verified ID is quite upsetting! There's no safety or possibly even truth in that. People make fake FB accounts all the time. Verified ID with phone email and especially government ID makes a bigger difference. They shouldn't be able to even inquire without the government ID and the rest in place. It causes us to have to spend time educating them on how to do their verification or even just having to ask them to please finish their verifications before we can pre approve, costing time and energy.
Thanks!
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Andrew
Andrew10 months ago
Facebook is regarded as a Verification, but NOT a "Verified ID." If your settings allow only guests with Verified ID to book, a guest who only has Facebook/Email/Phone verification will not be able to proceed to booking. If you don't wish to take the time to explain how to get verified when pre-approving, you don't really have to - they'll be automatically prompted to do so before they reach the payment screen.
Rachel
Rachel10 months ago
That's good to know, but I still feel like I need to take the time to send them a note bc otherwise they don't do the id verification and that worries me when they don't have more than a possibly fake email and phone
Mary
Mary
Mary10 months ago
I personally experienced the frustration of dealing with "ghost hosts" when attempting to book a place near the Airbnb Open venue in Paris. I spent hours combing through all appropriate listings and began to process inquiries: ten at a time. EVERY one either didn't respond for days (no one responded within 24 hours), said they weren't certain of their plans then, didn't want to book that far in advance, needed to establish their own travel plans, etc. Every one if the listings had open calendars. One said she was traveling & would respond when she returned only to email me that unlike the description, I (my adult son & granddaughter) would be sharing the space WITH her. Was that OK? I believe that one if the reasons the Open is being held in Paris is due to the dramatic increase in Airbnb listings. (I think I heard it went from 4,000 to 40,000; or something like that.) But, I feel these listings are not "real." They are phantoms/ghosts that do not really intend to book guests. I must wonder if there is some tax advantage in their culture that would prompt the behavior to be so prevalent. I have booked with a local hotel
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Andrew
Andrew10 months ago
It's a sad irony that so many hosts trying to attend the Airbnb Open are unable to secure Airbnb accommodation. (They really should've chosen Berlin, where we have a huge oversupply of listings - especially off-season - and much more affordable housing). For my last trip to Paris I wrote to at least a dozen hosts before getting a response, and most of my experiences in other cities have been similar. Unfortunately it's only a small minority of hosts that are genuinely committed to hosting and having accurate calendars. I also wish Airbnb would raise the bar for having active listings.
Nathalie et Claude
Nathalie et Claude10 months ago
Bonjour Mary, believe me there is no tax advantage to rent a room in Paris. It is even surprising to have gost host as the local laws to rent are very complex. The maire de Paris is against airbnb. To have a better chance to book, do you look at the response rate?
Nic and Rach
Nic and Rach10 months ago
I'll stay at your place Andrew, I need to see your wall design and to meet you in person.
Nathalie et Claude
Nathalie et Claude10 months ago
Andrew, they choosed Paris because it is the 2nd market (income) after the USA.
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Mary
Mary10 months ago
But Nathalie, they are not REAL postings! That is what I was trying to share. None of the properties I inquired about would consider a booking, their calendars were completely open, etc. I now believe it to be the "norm" in Paris. Unfortunate.....
Nathalie et Claude
Nathalie et Claude10 months ago
I sorry about that Mary. As far as i am concerned, all the requests i have are treated (sometimes not in my favour when the calendar is not updated - we were doing the cleaning at my daughter's birthday because i forgot to block the calendar). In this case, a poor acceptance for these people is normal.
Shirley
Shirley
Shirley10 months ago
I'm one of the hosts lost in the dead zone of Airbnb algorithms because I can't tag a historic town 12 miles away from me, in another state. The stats on someone actually entering the village/township of my listing is very low. I've waited for bookings on airbnb for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 months since I've listed here. I booked 50 reservations in 2014, with only 3 from Airbnb. With a whole house rental our listing is probably not the ideal for Airbnb's mission. I've asked to be able to tag another cities near my location to resolve the search issue (which Homeaway does allow).
I decline more inquiries here because: 1) guests are attending a weekend rock concert (several are scheduled during the summer). just joined Airbnb, are in their 20's, and probably never rented a house before. Just can't take the chance, especially if my neighbors are become unhappy. 2) I'm asked to have more guests sleep over than the maximum. Usually for bachlorette parties .. and I can't accommodate any more than I've already stated. 3) The inquiring guest made a mistake and didn't intend to place a booking request. They were inquiring for info to pass on to other family members. 4) Guests wanted to invite a large number of visiting guests for a party or dinner. My neighbors are very close to our property lines and guests that create too much traffic, especially at odd hours, or noise outdoors would be a huge problem for me. I do wonder if my listing is considered one of the deadbeats even though because of larger time frames between bookings. We should be able to convey a reason for not accepting a booking and perhaps the reasons could have a value assigned to them to calculate the level of punishment for non-acceptance. Exceeds maximum, didn't intend to book, guest wanted to throw a party, etc. = no change in acceptance rating.
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Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
andrew re. "On the other hand, no guest is going to submit hundreds of Reservation Requests, as they'll get charged for each one that's accepted. " The thing is though, that some of them ARE doing this. Because they don't realise that making a booking request means they are tied if the host accepts. This has happened to me several times recently. Twice I have accepted requests only to find out that the guests preferred to stay somewhere else where they had also made a request and were really angry that they'd been charged. There was nothing I could do about it. Since then I have been really careful when I get a booking request that, although I like the sound of the guest, the request doesn't seem committed (eg. they are asking questions). I advise them that they should use the 'contact host' option until they are sure of where they want to stay. Because they are new they can't seem to work out how to cancel a booking request so have asked me to decline. I've just done it and to hell with the acceptance rate. I don't want guests, even the ones I'm not going to host, to be unhappy. So in conclusion, the interface is a bloody mess. This could all be avoided by placing a big fat 'Ask the Host a question' button in the booking area. Sorry to repeat myself on this issue again but I'm hoping the more it is said the more notice someone somewhere might take.
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Andrew
Andrew10 months ago
I see what you mean, but I have mixed feelings about it. For me, the "Contact Host" people almost never wind up booking, but they take up much more of my time with stupid questions that make it clear they've barely even glanced at the listing. Whereas if I accept a Request and they want to get out of it - tough titty, they can cancel and eat the fees.
Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
Oh I really disagree here, Andrew. I like it when guests make an inquiry - often they're just being polite or they have a specific question that isn't answered in the listing. It opens up a dialogue and if I like the sound of them, I pre-approve. If I don't or if I can't offer what they want from their question, fine - they don't get pre-approved, everyone moves on. I much prefer this to the booking request that comes in from Australia at midnight (here) when I'm going to bed and I'm not happy to just accept it so I reply asking for more info but they don't get back in time and that bloody clock is ticking etc. etc. Guests ask stupid questions all the time. Before booking, after they've booked, before they've arrived, on arrival, during their stay (every day sometimes).... It's just the nature of the business to my mind.
Drew
Drew10 months ago
I suggested to airbnb that Hosts be given the option to opt-out of taking Inquiries, in light of the fact that noise from Inquiries is now factored into AR (or, "has always been"). They were aghast at this suggestion, but I see it as a direct correlation to AR...a Host either accepts or declines a Booking Request and we gain or suffer as a result. I suspect more Hosts would opt out than not.
Drew
Drew10 months ago
*cross-posting as I see a lot of names here not in the other groups which Ernest also posted*
Hi Ernest - yes, I've also had numerous conversations with Ms. Hughes and made nearly all the same points. I've stressed that this 'catch-all' policy around AR is poorly crafted and only serves to cheapen the airbnb brand by burying the best Hosts/listings towards the bottom of searches.
For a company that lives/breathes data analysis, there's no doubt in my mind that they'd be able to slide/dice the data to create a more nuanced policy to weed out the bad actors. I'm not buying all the 'noise' around this coming from airbnb as to so-called limitations.
In the end, they 'sell' a product they have very little control over. This creates a significant issue for the long-term have little control over their 'product' at present (think scrutinizing questions from the Street for a pending IPO). This feels to me to be just one means to wrest control over their product and (over time) weed out the true 'bad actors' in their eyes...the independent-minded/safety-conscious Host (including those of us that are the so-called Superhost). It's a rather transparent and shameful move, imo.
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Rebecca
Rebecca10 months ago
Some of us have been posting links to both the threads but yes, it's worth reminding everyone:
www.airbnb.co.uk/groups/content/content-128010 It would be great to have a more user-friendly format to the groups but hey, that's the least of our worries right now I guess!
Mary
Mary10 months ago
Look what I found when looking for postings elsewhere:
nerds.airbnb.com/host-preferences/Reply Like Delete
Deborah
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older version w/o name sof commenters
I spoke to Laura Hughes last night for over an hour. The conversation included many topics but at the heart of the conversation was the subject of the Acceptance Rate and its impact on search results.
Here is a summary:
Laura said Airbnb has, at present, no intention of changing the policy and it is true that Acceptance Rate does impact search results. She tempered this with stating that although it does impact search results, it is merely one of many factors that impacts these results. She was not able to quantify this impact, however, she said that, unless you decline many requests in a row (she used 30 requests in a row as an example) that it was not going to have a noticeable impact on search results. This led me to explain that the non-transparency of the search results algorithm was another source of frustration among hosts.
I emphasized that I, and what I perceived to be many hosts, felt that it was inappropriate to have Acceptance Rate impact search results at all. I explained that I felt that Airbnb was penalizing hosts who decide, with good reason, not to pre-approve or to accept a request and who felt it should remain up to a host whether or not he or she felt a guest was a good fit with his or her listing. When Airbnb continues to decide to have Acceptance Rate impact search results, it appears that Airbnb believes we should be accepting more, if not all, requests and that gives hosts the impression that we are no longer the gatekeepers to our own property, that Airbnb is deciding for us who and when to host. I said that until Airbnb changes this policy, I will remain unhappy and I believe that many hosts will as well.
Laura says that many of the best hosts decline multiple inquiries/requests and that all hosts are in the same boat here so this really shouldn't impact any host who are actively accepting reservations regularly. When I probed her to explain the policy more in depth, she admitted that Airbnb's policy decision on this issue was designed to penalize those hosts who have listed a space, yet have no real intention of hosting at all. She explained that there are many hosts who have put up a listing which has been active for many months or even years, yet have never hosted (apparently thousands of these types of listings area active), the results of which are that guests, sometimes first-time guests, reach out to these hosts, only to be rejected or ignored. When a guest is rejected multiple times (or ignored), he or she is less likely to become an active user of Airbnb, thus hurting the entire community. The Acceptance Rate policy is designed to dissuade this type of host from repeatedly declining guests and to penalize them if they do.
I reasoned with her by explaining that Airbnb ought to have a different solution to deal with these "bad hosts," rather than relying on a policy that negatively impacts both good and bad hosts alike. I asked her how we should respond to those inquiries that ask to book for a third party, or ask to use our home as a film studio or ask to bring a pet when pets aren't allowed, etc. without having our Acceptance Rate negatively impacted. She replied that we should decline them, but that there is no way to do so without negatively impacting our Acceptance Rate. It was at this point in the conversation she really started to grasp our frustration with the policy, in that we have no choice but to be penalized while doing the right thing by declining what amount to be fruitless inquiries/requests.
She then asked me for ideas on how to solve the problem. I explained that the solution should not be trying to fix a bad policy, rather, Airbnb should be trying to determine how to prevent these types of inquiries in the first place. Rather than trying to put a band aid on a wound, one should try to prevent the wound from occurring in the first place. I told Laura that I had been pleading with Airbnb from the start to take affirmative steps designed to better educate users before they are sent out into the Airbnb universe booking listings. Why not, as I have mentioned to many Airbnb agents in the past, have an Airbnb 101 video that plays to every new Airbnb user when they first create an account. This video can be very simple and short; Here is how to create an account, how to get verified, how to search for listings that suit your needs, how to read a listing, find the house rules, reach out to a host with questions, etc. This way, when a guest does reach out to a host, he or she knows to only ask questions that may not be answered in the listing itself.
I explained to Laura how frustrating it is to explain the whole Airbnb system to a new user who may ask questions like how much is your nightly rate? or who holds the security deposit? or what is your address? I explained to her how frustrating it is when you need to field inquiries that make it clear from their questions that they haven't even read the listing. I said, you guys need to educate the guests, that way the number of inappropriate inquiries will diminish and the number of pre-approvals and accepted requests will increase. Laura explained that many new guests may not want to invest the time to become educated and may just want to start booking. I said that perhaps these are the type of guests who don't belong in the community. This video won't eliminate poor community members but it will mitigate the number of them and in turn decrease inappropriate inquiries/request in the long run.
The community should be comprised of people who want to make a small investment such that they can be positive contributors to the community. Maybe, just maybe, not everyone belongs in the community. And maybe, those people who don't want to take just a few minutes educating themselves, by watching a short video, for example, should not be admitted to the community. Remember when Chip Conley said that he wanted the Airbnb community to win the Nobel Peace Prize? This was apparently mentioned by Chip during his interviewing process with Airbnb and was highlighted by Brian Chesky as an aspiration of the company at that Airbnb Open. To create a community of this magnitude take effort, will, and participation by the members of such a community and members of such a community should want to invest a bit of time to learn how to be good, active, productive members, not just in it for themselves looking to use it for their own benefit. So I say it again, maybe, just maybe, not everyone belongs in the community.
I also suggested an Airbnb video for hosts: how to manage your calendar and keep it updated, how to best describe your listing, how to decide upon and list your house rules, how to decide if instant book is right for you, etc. This way you can help ensure that hosts know how to use the platform efficiently and effectively, also resulting in increased numbers of accepted reservations.
I pointed out that if every guest is encouraged to reach out to five hosts, that a projected acceptance rate of 75% was mathematically impossible because only one of those five hosts could actually host the guest. She took this point to heart.
I also suggested removing hosts from the platform who had not hosted for a certain period of time; many moths or years, for example. That way guests would not reach out to dead listings. Ultimately, there must be a way to achieve their goals without penalizing hosts who are fielding empty inquiries. She suggested having a list pop up asking why a decline was given (or lack of a pre-approval) and if it fell into a certain category, such as asking a host to accept more guests than the listing can accommodate, or asking to book for a third party, then the declined request would not be calculated into the acceptance rate percentage. I thought that this may be a potential solution, but kept coming back to my point that acceptance rate shouldn't impact the search results to begin with. Educate the community!
At the end of the day, it seems that Airbnb wants to improve the policy and is open to suggestion. Laura proposed that I attend a small focus group meeting in the coming weeks with four other vested hosts hosted by her at Airbnb headquarters. Initially it was to be next Wednesday, but will be another day due to scheduling conflicts. At this meeting will be five hosts, Chip Conley, Laura Hughes, Bryan Jung and members of the Trust & Safety team, members of the Hospitality Team and members of the Product Development team. As Laura says, the meetings objectives will be to achieve:
3 Main Outcomes:
* Walk through the prioritized list of (1) what we are already doing to address your thoughts from last July as well as some of the things that have been brought up in the past few weeks; (2) what we are not [and why] and (3) what is scheduled for later.
* Have other stakeholders [working on these issues] hear directly from you in person. [Across Product and Trust & Safety team]
*Search and Acceptance Rate: Make sure the facts/data are clearly understood and talk through some of what we can do moving forward.
I hope this is helpful to those who have been concerned about this issue. I will update you with more after our meeting.
Cheers,
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Thank you so much, E, for taking the time to update us so thoroughly. Very much appreciated. Here are my thoughts on your report:
1. It seems blindingly obvious that they should be more pro-active in monitoring bad listings and bad hosts. Instead of introducing a complicated policy that penalises good hosts, just get rid of the bad ones already! Presumably the reason that they don't this is because the number of listings is important to their shareholders and valuation. That's all fine but they have to realise that they are sacrificing quality for quantity and this idea of a fostering a 'community' will implode.
2. I simply don't understand why they won't allow a 'Make an inquiry' or 'Ask a question' option in the main booking area. The 'contact host' option is so hard to find now, particularly for newbies. This option could be used to field those who are looking to bring pets, dummy dates etc. etc. This parameter (if that's the right word) would not feed in to the Acceptance rate metric. It would be a way to open dialogue with the host and then, once all questions have been answered and the suitability of the place is established on both sides, booking goes ahead (or not). This has been proposed many times by Peter (London Clocktower Peter!), myself and others. It seems SO obvious, I just can't understand why it's not implemented.
3. Leading on from above... the push for bookings without any prior communication seems to be a priority for them, despite all the fluffy talk about making friends and belonging etc. It's imperative that the Instant Book feature is improved. Until they can guarantee that a positive review really IS a positive review, it is meaningless for the safety of hosts. And the requirement should be put back to at least 3 positive reviews. Again, I can't understand why this is a problem. For all those long-distance hosts or property managers who are happy to take anyone at all - that's fine, they can set their parameters as low as they want. But to penalise all us long-standing hosts who have been ambassadors for the platform over several years - come on. It's not right. Many of us are losing faith and thinking of giving up. Just check across the Groups.
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And one more crucial thing! 4. Please bloody talk to us, Airbnb! For a company that bases it's reputation on communication and "belonging" they are terrible at communicating changes and updates to us. It's really bad practice. The tech guys have FAR too much power to make changes and tweaks without realising how they affect the everyday business of hosting. I'm sure they do test things but not enough. There are so many experienced hosts now - USE us! Treat us with some respect - we are stakeholders after all. Obviously, these are my thoughts directed at Chip, Laura et al. Hope you can relay some of them, Ernest. They're not new thoughts or ideas, but I do feel a lot better for putting that down.
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"I also suggested removing hosts from the platform who had not hosted for a certain period of time; many moths or years, for example." < I think if they address this, the Acceptance Rate issue kind of goes away, and we can keep declining inappropriate guests.
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I agree with this.Απαντήστε
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Definitely! As J points out, this is the way to go, I believe --- find some method for detecting and then warning and then removing such hosts. One example of such a host: I have seen listings put up by someone who only wanted a guest for a certain limited period of time, say one month during a certain year, when they were going to be out of town. Guests who fail to take in this information on the listing description, and see that the calendar is open, may inquire or make a reservation request with such a "dead" host and the whole thing goes nowhere.
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J, I agree. And Deborah, you are so right about those hosts making a one-time offer of their place and then essentially abandoning the listing. Seems like there would be an easier fix for Airbnb than the Acceptance Rate.
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I suggested in another thread A decline list that states situations that would not be counted against the host - asking for dates different from those on request, inquiry for more people than listing permis, spam. Easy easy solution.
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Yes but that's open to abuse, no? You could just be lazy and not bother to update your calendar and then choose an option that gets you off the hook. To me the really really simply solution is to give a clear option for guests to ask questions without committing. That's number one. In addition, ideally there would be a registration form when you start requesting bookings - number of guests, how many children, pets etc. If the listing does not accept pets, children, has a maximum number of people etc., then you simply cannot enter that information. It's not technical rocket science. Other sites do it easily. The guest requirements could be saved for each trip so they don't have to enter the information each time. There is such a mismatch between the huggy, fluffy, belonging nonsense airbnb marketing and the actual reality of BOOK BOOK BOOK! GIVE US YOUR MONEY NOW!! I'm almost embarrassed to be associated with it now, truth be told.
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R's got it. They would need nothing more than a more user-friendly interface. They don't even need to do an educational video. The web interface of airbnb is not at all intuitive. The poor design serves neither the host or guest. They need to do some ethnographic research and THEN redesign the interface. I don't believe airbnb understands how guests are searching. They aren't even huge changes: - make the "contact host" button as big as that huge "request to book" button. - make the filters easy to find and guide guests to them! Screen people for me so they don't have to read 5 listings or take a stab in the dark with not reading first. You won't get so many false hits. All I want: No kids. No dogs. No Smokers. Max of 4. - put a filter on it that says "show current hosts only" and make someone positively click if they want to see the dead hosts in there. Airbnb can still count them in their press release numbers. - and for the love of everything good and holy: Check the freaking metrics because they are SO HORRIBLY WRONG. Who is programming this? I posted an example 2 weeks ago. There is no reason airbnb shouldn't be able to provide RELIABLE, ACCURATE metrics to their hosts. Especially if it's going to affect how we're placed in a guest's search. It's also horribly lagged. I'm able to smash terabytes of patient data together and display accurate info to people across the hospital, within seconds of it being entered. At a tiny hospital in Northern Michigan! I'm baffled as to why a $10 Billion company can't do it?
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Thank you E for taking on this issue, meeting with the Airbnb staff, and letting us know what is happening!
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Thumbs up, E!
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I'm calling BS here. If the true problem is a jillion listings without active hosting, why not identify them and delist them? Could it be you could no longer brag 350k hosts and might upset the VC guys? Hmmmm.... And, if you're going to reward accepting and punish declining, even marginally, that's how hosts are going to react! In those overly-saturated markets, every edge counts.
Floating this through a focus group now to "fine tune" a policy that has already been decided and implemented is just pablum for the "community" (such as it is). Better to have discussed it in advance and announced it in advance.
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E, thanks for your commitment.
1) I support removal/suspension of all inactive hosts. 1/2dotcom suspends your account if you don't update your inventory very 120 days; either get these hosts to improve their listings or get off the site.
2) Additional factors for higher in the search results EG the host a member of our message boards & do they post/answer. This will help Hosts who don't get a review not due to being a bad host but by the ignorance of the guest.
3) The vid idea is great. People prefer easy & short. Relay Rides, Uber uses this approach.
4) I wish the decline reasons were more extensive &/or more specific EG no/low verifications, 3rd party booking, no long term guests, etc.
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I actually type my reasons for declining an inquiry.
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It would be nice if airbnb saw what all of you are suggesting above..Are they even reading any of this? Allow me to say that I am a very new host, 5 days..I think that for such a new user either host or guest there should be a video or a practice lesson on how to host, how to make your profile correct, they want id? don't let anyone make a profile without id then! , what I host should be aware of and what a guests should not do. A video or a practice lesson that you HAVE to make/see entirely before your profile is accepted and published. My very first experience with airbnb, me that I am a 5 days user, was a guests that sent a reservation, a new guest in airbnb, and that he after a couple of hours told me I am sorry I need to cancel because I pressed the wrong button I just wanted to ask for availability..So it was for me very frustrating to find out the proper way to fix this..With a strict policy that I had placed..So finally my point is before I and Mr x that made the new reservation should both be totally informed how to accept, hot to not accept, how to make a reservation, how to just ask a question, etc before even getting our profiles published. Thank you.
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E, you're a legend. I really appreciate that you've taken such great notes of this dialogue and given us so much insight into where Airbnb stands on this issue. I'd like to link people to this post whenever questions and complaints about the Acceptance Rate policy come up again, and hope this thread can be a sort of database of our community's suggestion for improving it. (Alas, being a group organizer doesn't get much attention inside of Airbnb; my most recent help ticket related to this forum has been untouched for three days and counting...)
My own thought here, which echoes much of what Rebecca said, is that the Acceptance Rate should apply only to Reservation Requests and not to Inquiries. The fact is, a guest can send out hundreds of non-binding inquiries to an unlimited number of hosts, without any regard to whether the listings are appropriate or suitable, and Airbnb provides nothing but encouragement for them to do so. But every host who makes the correct decision not to pre-approve these inquiries takes a hit for that. Not fair at all.
On the other hand, no guest is going to submit hundreds of Reservation Requests, as they'll get charged for each one that's accepted. Once the guest puts their money where their mouth is, the communication is at a whole other degree of seriousness, and I do believe we should be held accountable for how we handle these. (I also think that hosts who don't respond at all to Requests should have their listings promptly removed),
On the matter of educating users, I personally prefer having a tutorial built into the interface over trying to make people watch an infomercial video. No matter how much information you shove in people's faces, you can't really make them take it in when it counts. (This applies to us as well - I'd say around 15% of the questions posted on this forum could be answered by a quick click on Help Center).
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More thoughts and suggestions for improvement:
www.airbnb.com/groups/39/contents/128010 Reply
As one of the video-averse minority, A, I can say that I almost never watch them. Either they don't run on my ancient laptop or I do something else until it's over with. But there's value in offering the same information in multiple ways to reach different users. And keeping the acceptance rate based on reservation requests rather than inquiries makes a lot of sense.
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One potential issue with doing a video is, indeed, the fact that an increasing share of people are using Airbnb primary on mobile devices, which are also not so good for video.
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: What an amazingly well thought out and preted treatise on the subject!
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I agree with A on keeping acceptance rate based on reservation requests. If Airbnb is actually mostly concerned with hosts who have listed but are not serious about hosting, those hosts are going to be declining most or all of their reservation requests, so Airbnb could set up a system where those with the lowest acceptance rate for reservation requests, get put to the bottom of search results, and/or get sent an email from Airbnb asking them if they really want to be hosting, and stating that they will be deactivated if they continue to decline every reservation request and/or fail to respond at all to inquiries. (Which are the main things Airbnb seems to be concerned with...right?)
In addition, reservation requests which are inappropriate (eg guest asking to bring 6 people when the maximum is 2, or wanting to do filming at the site, or want to bring pets when no pets are allowed) could be declined under a special category of decline, which doesn't penalize the host. This could be "guests' reservation request violates house rules/maximum person #/is not for accomodations". Hosts could flag such requests as in violation of their rules, and thus be not counted as declines. In order to avoid hosts abusing such a measure in order to avoid penalties for declines, Airbnb could set the system so that at a certain number of such declined, flagged requests, the requests would go to an AIrbnb staffperson to be checked for veracity. Say, if a host has 10 such declines (or whatever number turns out to be appropriate) in a one month time period, that would trigger an Airbnb staffperson to look into the matter to make sure all the flagged requests indeed are inappropriate ones.
The latter feature, of allowing declines which are inappropriate, is important because some hosts have been harassed by another user who CONTINUALLY makes reservation requests which are declined by the host. Such an aggressive approach, and misuse of the system, should not count against any host: a guest's abuse of the system should not result in penalizing the host.
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We appreciate all the work that you do E ....I have nothing against Airbnb...
Too much politics and corporate greed but I don't see it as bad as other monopolizing companies , such as cable companies, mobile/cell phones to name a few. There are rooms for improvements and I am all for it. like everyone else. so far I am satisfied and having a great time hosting. Thanks Airbnb !!!
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Thank you for raising these issues Ernest. I def think they should weed out inactive hosts by eg everyone not updating calendar every 30 days
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it would be fun to have the same information on guests such as :
number of inquiries vs number of reservation.
it would give an idea about the guests who contact many, many host with few or no reservation.
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and like the others , i much appreciate the time E is spending to educate the Airbnb team for us. And that to have x reasons to decline without impacting the rate may be an easy and quicky solution to start.
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"Fun" is an understatement! It would be invaluable when deciding whether or not to welcome a stranger/first time Airbnb'r into our homes. I have urged new users with only one name to share a "little" about themselves, especially since they know SO much about me from my profile, references, & reviews. No one has ever refused.
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Thank you E! I agree with all of the above. If it can be brought up at the meeting, and you feel up to telling them, having Facebook only count as a verified ID is quite upsetting! There's no safety or possibly even truth in that. People make fake FB accounts all the time. Verified ID with phone email and especially government ID makes a bigger difference. They shouldn't be able to even inquire without the government ID and the rest in place. It causes us to have to spend time educating them on how to do their verification or even just having to ask them to please finish their verifications before we can pre approve, costing time and energy.
Thanks!
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Facebook is regarded as a Verification, but NOT a "Verified ID." If your settings allow only guests with Verified ID to book, a guest who only has Facebook/Email/Phone verification will not be able to proceed to booking. If you don't wish to take the time to explain how to get verified when pre-approving, you don't really have to - they'll be automatically prompted to do so before they reach the payment screen.
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That's good to know, but I still feel like I need to take the time to send them a note bc otherwise they don't do the id verification and that worries me when they don't have more than a possibly fake email and phone
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I personally experienced the frustration of dealing with "ghost hosts" when attempting to book a place near the Airbnb Open venue in Paris. I spent hours combing through all appropriate listings and began to process inquiries: ten at a time. EVERY one either didn't respond for days (no one responded within 24 hours), said they weren't certain of their plans then, didn't want to book that far in advance, needed to establish their own travel plans, etc. Every one if the listings had open calendars. One said she was traveling & would respond when she returned only to email me that unlike the description, I (my adult son & granddaughter) would be sharing the space WITH her. Was that OK? I believe that one if the reasons the Open is being held in Paris is due to the dramatic increase in Airbnb listings. (I think I heard it went from 4,000 to 40,000; or something like that.) But, I feel these listings are not "real." They are phantoms/ghosts that do not really intend to book guests. I must wonder if there is some tax advantage in their culture that would prompt the behavior to be so prevalent. I have booked with a local hotel
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It's a sad irony that so many hosts trying to attend the Airbnb Open are unable to secure Airbnb accommodation. (They really should've chosen Berlin, where we have a huge oversupply of listings - especially off-season - and much more affordable housing). For my last trip to Paris I wrote to at least a dozen hosts before getting a response, and most of my experiences in other cities have been similar. Unfortunately it's only a small minority of hosts that are genuinely committed to hosting and having accurate calendars. I also wish Airbnb would raise the bar for having active listings.
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Bonjour M, believe me there is no tax advantage to rent a room in Paris. It is even surprising to have gost host as the local laws to rent are very complex. The maire de Paris is against airbnb. To have a better chance to book, do you look at the response rate?
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I'll stay at your place A, I need to see your wall design and to meet you in person.
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A, they choosed Paris because it is the 2nd market (income) after the USA.
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But N, they are not REAL postings! That is what I was trying to share. None of the properties I inquired about would consider a booking, their calendars were completely open, etc. I now believe it to be the "norm" in Paris. Unfortunate.....
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I sorry about that M. As far as i am concerned, all the requests i have are treated (sometimes not in my favour when the calendar is not updated - we were doing the cleaning at my daughter's birthday because i forgot to block the calendar). In this case, a poor acceptance for these people is normal.
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I'm one of the hosts lost in the dead zone of Airbnb algorithms because I can't tag a historic town 12 miles away from me, in another state. The stats on someone actually entering the village/township of my listing is very low. I've waited for bookings on airbnb for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 months since I've listed here. I booked 50 reservations in 2014, with only 3 from Airbnb. With a whole house rental our listing is probably not the ideal for Airbnb's mission. I've asked to be able to tag another cities near my location to resolve the search issue (which Homeaway does allow).
I decline more inquiries here because: 1) guests are attending a weekend rock concert (several are scheduled during the summer). just joined Airbnb, are in their 20's, and probably never rented a house before. Just can't take the chance, especially if my neighbors are become unhappy. 2) I'm asked to have more guests sleep over than the maximum. Usually for bachlorette parties .. and I can't accommodate any more than I've already stated. 3) The inquiring guest made a mistake and didn't intend to place a booking request. They were inquiring for info to pass on to other family members. 4) Guests wanted to invite a large number of visiting guests for a party or dinner. My neighbors are very close to our property lines and guests that create too much traffic, especially at odd hours, or noise outdoors would be a huge problem for me. I do wonder if my listing is considered one of the deadbeats even though because of larger time frames between bookings. We should be able to convey a reason for not accepting a booking and perhaps the reasons could have a value assigned to them to calculate the level of punishment for non-acceptance. Exceeds maximum, didn't intend to book, guest wanted to throw a party, etc. = no change in acceptance rating.
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@a re. "On the other hand, no guest is going to submit hundreds of Reservation Requests, as they'll get charged for each one that's accepted. " The thing is though, that some of them ARE doing this. Because they don't realise that making a booking request means they are tied if the host accepts. This has happened to me several times recently. Twice I have accepted requests only to find out that the guests preferred to stay somewhere else where they had also made a request and were really angry that they'd been charged. There was nothing I could do about it. Since then I have been really careful when I get a booking request that, although I like the sound of the guest, the request doesn't seem committed (eg. they are asking questions). I advise them that they should use the 'contact host' option until they are sure of where they want to stay. Because they are new they can't seem to work out how to cancel a booking request so have asked me to decline. I've just done it and to hell with the acceptance rate. I don't want guests, even the ones I'm not going to host, to be unhappy. So in conclusion, the interface is a bloody mess. This could all be avoided by placing a big fat 'Ask the Host a question' button in the booking area. Sorry to repeat myself on this issue again but I'm hoping the more it is said the more notice someone somewhere might take.
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I see what you mean, but I have mixed feelings about it. For me, the "Contact Host" people almost never wind up booking, but they take up much more of my time with stupid questions that make it clear they've barely even glanced at the listing. Whereas if I accept a Request and they want to get out of it - tough titty, they can cancel and eat the fees.
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Oh I really disagree here, A. I like it when guests make an inquiry - often they're just being polite or they have a specific question that isn't answered in the listing. It opens up a dialogue and if I like the sound of them, I pre-approve. If I don't or if I can't offer what they want from their question, fine - they don't get pre-approved, everyone moves on. I much prefer this to the booking request that comes in from Australia at midnight (here) when I'm going to bed and I'm not happy to just accept it so I reply asking for more info but they don't get back in time and that bloody clock is ticking etc. etc. Guests ask stupid questions all the time. Before booking, after they've booked, before they've arrived, on arrival, during their stay (every day sometimes).... It's just the nature of the business to my mind.
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I suggested to airbnb that Hosts be given the option to opt-out of taking Inquiries, in light of the fact that noise from Inquiries is now factored into AR (or, "has always been"). They were aghast at this suggestion, but I see it as a direct correlation to AR...a Host either accepts or declines a Booking Request and we gain or suffer as a result. I suspect more Hosts would opt out than not.
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*cross-posting as I see a lot of names here not in the other groups which E also posted*
Hi E - yes, I've also had numerous conversations with Ms. Hughes and made nearly all the same points. I've stressed that this 'catch-all' policy around AR is poorly crafted and only serves to cheapen the airbnb brand by burying the best Hosts/listings towards the bottom of searches.
For a company that lives/breathes data analysis, there's no doubt in my mind that they'd be able to slide/dice the data to create a more nuanced policy to weed out the bad actors. I'm not buying all the 'noise' around this coming from airbnb as to so-called limitations.
In the end, they 'sell' a product they have very little control over. This creates a significant issue for the long-term have little control over their 'product' at present (think scrutinizing questions from the Street for a pending IPO). This feels to me to be just one means to wrest control over their product and (over time) weed out the true 'bad actors' in their eyes...the independent-minded/safety-conscious Host (including those of us that are the so-called Superhost). It's a rather transparent and shameful move, imo.
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Some of us have been posting links to both the threads but yes, it's worth reminding everyone of the other thread [see post below on this forum] It would be great to have a more user-friendly format to the groups but hey, that's the least of our worries right now I guess!
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Look what I found when looking for postings elsewhere:
nerds.airbnb.com/host-preferences/
500% on Chrome/Macbook worked but I can read really small print.
500% on Chrome/Macbook worked but I can read really small print.
Elad
Julie and Eric
Rebecca
Drew
Peter
David
Stan and Maggie
Maxine
Serafina
Javier and Kym
Terry and Cher
Mark
Francisco
Lula
Lisa n Lee
Jeannette
Steph and Steven
Rachel
Chantelle and Lance
NOrma and Patrick
Jaime
Deborah
Alexina
Cathey
Amecus
Alan