Block bad guest

I would like to have a way to block a bad guest email and/or ip from hitting my website and booking. Some guests I just don't want back. Right now I allow guests to automatically book my condo. Im open to different ways to accomplish this other than sending an email that says I'm sorry my husband booked these dates and I didn't know.

Thanks.

Agreed, this would be a nice feature.  One that AB&B could use as well.  I only do request to book and no instant booking because of this.

I just ran into this and really need this feature.  Airbnb is saying they can't do this since I am API integrated and that I need to do this through my 3rd party app.;

Unfortunately, this isn't really possible.

IP addresses are commonly shared and reassigned regularly, so that, while it is indeed technically possible to block a particular IP address, it wouldn't likely actually block the desired target for very long and would likely block other people you didn't intend to.

It would also be possible to block specific email addresses from making a booking, but of course most people have multiple email addresses and getting a new one is fast and free, so that wouldn't be very effective either.

I’d be happy with blocking email. Would be better than nothing. 

Airbnb can do this if you are not API integrated, so they have a way to do it.  Airbnb support said since I'm API integrated, OR is responsible to present this feature option.  They were a bit shocked when I told them OR doesn't have the option.  Since this is an option for non-API integrated Airbnb hosts and Airbnb is expecting OR to offer this feature, I would assume the code is in the API and OR just needs to code the access and presentation into the OR website.  This would not be at an IP level...it would be at the guest user level.

It can’t be that hard. And I think people are creatures of habit, and just use the same email so it’s at least better than nothing

We have confirmed that Airbnb's API integration includes no support for this feature, so, it is not possible for us to make use of it.

I agree this would be a great feature.  We have low cost, extraordinary properties in in-demand locations, and often sell out.  We like to block guests who leave tepid or vindictive reviews from future booking, on the theory that we really only want to be matched with guests who dig our style, and don't need the anxiety.  Just a "no thank you" button.

It's pretty crazy that a guest can review you poorly, and then still repeatedly book your place during peak season.  Nope, I'll see if someone else wants those dates.

What about VRBO?

No, the Vrbo API doesn't support any such feature either, unfortunately.

What about direct bookings through OR? I have a guest who has broken rules and I do not want returning to our Inns. They booked directly through OR, yet I still can't block them? 

As discussed above, it's not possible to reliably block a guest even from direct bookings, and not possible at all for the channels, so any such "block" function wouldn't work more than half the time.  This would create even more confusion and frustration than the current situation.

We do recommend using a "Bad Guest" tag on their contact info, which would provide some potential for awareness and action if they tried to book again.

While it isn't ideal, I already have Ken's idea implemented. Whenever I have a guest that I'd prefer not to rent to again, I tag them as a "Problem Guest". Then I have a booking trigger that will send me an email if they book again.

I haven't had a problem guest try to book again yet, so don't know if my trigger will actually work. If they do, then I would just cancel the reservation and let them know they're not welcome based on their previous stay.

Most of the time the feeling is mutual so I don't really expect many of them to try booking again. Having a way to point them out if they do is nice, but simply blocking them would be better. That way we don't incur credit card fees that are kept by the merchants. Integration with AirBnb and Vrbo would also be nice because then we wouldn't incur any negative consequences of canceling a reservation, though I would think both would waive this if we show good reason for the cancelation. This would probably be easy as there would be documentation of it from the previous booking via that channel.

I agree.  This is very much needed.  We also have guests who we do not ever wish to have back. 

Ken, 

Before integration I am pretty sure Airbnb had a "block" feature that would prevent a guest from interacting with the host, by messages or otherwise (direct booking).  Are you sure there is no potential integration at this level?  They may say you cannot prevent a direct booking but there may be a way to simply cut the guest off from any interactions.

It seems like a manual option in the guest record then a simple flag for any guest that comes through with same or very similar parameters (i.e. name, email, phone number, address, etc.) would be very simple to implement. Host/owner can determine on their own if they want to force cancel the booking, or not accept.