Post by High Priestess on Nov 30, 2019 4:31:24 GMT
Blocking a guest on Airbnb messaging....a story...
So I just had an unpleasant experience and wanted to share with you all some info on how to block a guest. It's not obvious and it should really be more clear.
Anyhow...the story...
A guest, call her Hannah, sends me an intial inquiry message that sounds very exuberant but also a bit confusing. She's VERY interested to stay at my listing, But I get confused about her statement "is there a way for me to reserve to book when I get paid Dec 6th?"
Finally with some back and forth I figure out that she means she gets her paycheck on Dec 6 and can't pay for the reservation until then, so she's asking if I'll hold the room for her. Which of course I wont'.
But besides that, she has told me nothing about herself and what brings her to my area, so I begin asking her some questions in order to do my standard screening that I do for prospective guests.
Based on Hannah's responses to the questions, I determine that I dont' want her to stay in my house. Her presentation comes with some red flags. She's complaining about toxic mold and drugs in the place she was staying before, and also talks about Airbnb doing "intense harm" in my area, and also hasn't answered some of my questions. As well, I find her communication too incoherent, and imagine it could be really difficult to have someone in my house who is so confusing/confused.
I decide to tell her that I dont' think she would be a good fit in my house, but I do so with my usual politeness and thank her for her interest and wish her the best in finding a nice place.

After this she really gets nutty, demanding to know why I made this decision, and begins sending multiple messages. She says that my response is "cold" and "hurtful" and that it would be "more humane" to talk more, accuses me of acting "cliquish" (have NO idea what that means) and saying my words were "terrible". I get a strong sense of how irrational she is, and am very clear now that I want nothing to do with her.
So at this point I tried to follow Airbnb's own help article on how to block someone. www.airbnb.com/help/article/2020/how-do-i-report-a-message-or-block-someone-on-airbnb?
However, I discovered that after following these directions, one does NOT get the option to block the user.! Reporting a guest (or host) only does that, sends a report to Airbnb.
So I called Airbnb CS and asked for help. The CS agent told me that whenever a user reports another user on Airbnb, then apparently as an automatic part of that process, the individual reported is blocked from any further communication with you. They also cannot request to book or instant book with you.
So I'm glad to know that. But I think Airbnb should be clearer and state that in the process.

So I just had an unpleasant experience and wanted to share with you all some info on how to block a guest. It's not obvious and it should really be more clear.
Anyhow...the story...
A guest, call her Hannah, sends me an intial inquiry message that sounds very exuberant but also a bit confusing. She's VERY interested to stay at my listing, But I get confused about her statement "is there a way for me to reserve to book when I get paid Dec 6th?"
Finally with some back and forth I figure out that she means she gets her paycheck on Dec 6 and can't pay for the reservation until then, so she's asking if I'll hold the room for her. Which of course I wont'.
But besides that, she has told me nothing about herself and what brings her to my area, so I begin asking her some questions in order to do my standard screening that I do for prospective guests.
Based on Hannah's responses to the questions, I determine that I dont' want her to stay in my house. Her presentation comes with some red flags. She's complaining about toxic mold and drugs in the place she was staying before, and also talks about Airbnb doing "intense harm" in my area, and also hasn't answered some of my questions. As well, I find her communication too incoherent, and imagine it could be really difficult to have someone in my house who is so confusing/confused.
I decide to tell her that I dont' think she would be a good fit in my house, but I do so with my usual politeness and thank her for her interest and wish her the best in finding a nice place.

After this she really gets nutty, demanding to know why I made this decision, and begins sending multiple messages. She says that my response is "cold" and "hurtful" and that it would be "more humane" to talk more, accuses me of acting "cliquish" (have NO idea what that means) and saying my words were "terrible". I get a strong sense of how irrational she is, and am very clear now that I want nothing to do with her.
So at this point I tried to follow Airbnb's own help article on how to block someone. www.airbnb.com/help/article/2020/how-do-i-report-a-message-or-block-someone-on-airbnb?
However, I discovered that after following these directions, one does NOT get the option to block the user.! Reporting a guest (or host) only does that, sends a report to Airbnb.
So I called Airbnb CS and asked for help. The CS agent told me that whenever a user reports another user on Airbnb, then apparently as an automatic part of that process, the individual reported is blocked from any further communication with you. They also cannot request to book or instant book with you.
So I'm glad to know that. But I think Airbnb should be clearer and state that in the process.
