Pre-booking Message - no longer available?

[Cristina--And-Cody-0]

I've had a pre-booking message since I started hosting in 2017. I love that guests get engaged and they tell us what bings them to our area and I also stress the importance of reading the arrival instructions. I also do co-hosting and my other listing has two bedrooms - and that is the perfect place to alert guest to tell us if they need both beds made.

For some reason that message disappeared from the app - the option to add the message is there - but shows a blank message and that i need to add it again. On the desktop version - there's not even an option anymore to add it (under Guest requirements)

n the desktop page.

[Stacy-And-Casey0]

Sybe, this is a message we provided to Airbnb as feedback and think it’s very valid.  Would love thoughts from other hosts and you on this:

Hello. I’ve read the news about Airbnb removing the “pre booking message required” feature. We think this is a major flaw for two reasons. First, it helps us to feel much more comfortable as hosts to know our guests actually read our question and inform us of their travels. Second, Airbnb has said that we can still send an “automated message” to accomplish this. This can and will result in us looking a bit foolish because some guests will send us a nice message even without being promoted with a “pre booking message,” so when we have an auto message set up that ask them something like “what brings you to town?” we will now look foolish when they have already answered or provided this info voluntarily in the first place. If we have an auto message ask them the same type of question again (because we cannot predict what a guest will say), it makes us look less “real” as hosts and most automated. It just doesn’t provide a best experience for the guest. We ask that you bring back this option of e “pre booking message” for hosts that want to utilize it as we find it a very very valuable tool. Thank you.

[Sybe]

@Stacy-And-Casey0 I love how you kept it constructive and built your arguments with examples. I'll make sure this lands with the right people! You can send it directly to Airbnb as well using the Feedback Form, although you did mention you provided it to Airbnb already so that's perfect. 🙂

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[Niraj2]

this is a disaster. It's created so much more work for me that I have had to turn it off on all 4 of my listings. there are things guests need to know BEFORE they book. Once they are booked who then cancels when they realise the booking doesn't suit them? Do they have to go through the hassle of is it me? If its me why arent I getting more penalty free instant book cancellations? Its a stupid move and should be fixed immediately. 

[Huma0]

@Sybe 

And why were hosts not informed of something this important IN ADVANCE? Well, of course I know why. It's because thousands of them would immediately turn off IB if they knew.

Don't you think it's a bit suspicious, especially given the song and dance Brian Chesky/Airbnb has been making about all the recent updates that supposedly make it safer and easier to host, that they forgot to mention this rather crucial change???

And scheduled messages are useless. The whole point of the pre-booking message is that guests got to see it before, not after, they instant booked. The clue is in the name.

[Robbie54]

@Sybe the pre-booking message is very important to a lot of hosts, why was it removed? If you don't know why please say so. 

[Sybe]

@Robbie54 I'm afraid I can't give you more information at this time, but as you might have seen we're reading and collecting all the comments you and other Hosts are sharing here, so I'll make sure Airbnb is aware of the point you've raised. 🙂

[Gillian166]

@Sybe

is there a way to have a scheduled message with information that only Instant book people might need? How do we make a scheduled message only for the guests who booked via IB, versus the guests who booked the "normal" way with a bit of chat first?

[Nina-and-Clint0]

We are so disappointed Airbnb have removed the pre-booking message feature. Most guest don't read the listing clearly prior to booking. We use this function to ensure that guests know key information before committing to booking. We were receiving lower reviews about accuracy until we started using the pre-booking message. Communicating with guests post IB  with a scheduled message feels like we are trying to hide something. 

I don't see how or why this is in an "upgrade" for anyone. 

[John5097]

Some of us experienced the sudden and unannounced halt of first message from guest when using Instant Book about a year and a half ago. 

I had five of seven guest suddenly include no message. So I already have some experience and know what its like. 

One of the guest booked for third party and didn't include any message, then lied about it. The other ones were stressful and very challenging to get them to respond. One didn't, which resulted in my first ever cancellation of a guest.

Other guest may prefer zero communication. But I have no intention of  running a Jerry Springer Airbnb.

I've adjusted my settings, but would have been nice to have some kind of advance notice and not have this sprung on host without any heads up. The email and post here was a day after this topic started.

This was the third party booking that didn't include a first message. 
You can read the topic here
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Cafe/No-first-message-from-guest-when-booking/td-p/145...

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Sybe]

Hi @Cristina--And-Cody-0 and everyone! 😃

I have some good news. After reading and sharing all feedback regarding the pre-booking message feature, it's been decided to bring the feature back starting today, December 12th. You can read more about it here: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-updates/The-Instant-Book-pre-booking-message-feature-is-r...