Do retracted requests still count against you? Someone told me that they affect response rates the same as a missed request!

[Jennifer2759]

I am very concerned because it isn't fair to punish hosts when guests request to book when they can't meet our posted and clearly advertised expectations. In my case, my state doesn't allow non-Vermonters without a strict 14 day quarantine and I literally had several people a day sometimes requesting to book who couldn't meet these requirements! If they can't retract, and you can't decline without penalty (and I have it in my title that only Vermonters can book and in my description) then what are we supposed to do?

[Emiel1]

@Jennifer2759 

I never experienced the retracted booking requests are affecting my (respons) rate. I allways ask guest to retract their request if there is not a good match. Most of them do and if not, i (must) decline.

Only if you decline a lot Airbnb will sent a warning (I never received one). In these pandemic times declining (or retracting) booking requests happens more then useal, as for specific reasons like hosting is not possible / allowed.

[Emilia42]

@Jennifer2759 If I were you, I would reply:

"Dear guests, unfortunately, because of government travel restrictions I only accommodate Vermont residents. You can visit the State's website for more information. I'm sorry if you missed this in my listing description. Please withdraw your request as soon as possible to prevent Airbnb from charging your credit card and holding up your deposit."

[Sarah977]

@Jennifer2759  While declines affect your Acceptance rate, and declining a lot can result in warnings from Airbnb, that rating isn't used in qualifying for Superhost status, so you don't any worries there.

And I don't see how a retracted request could be counted against your response rate- how can you accept or decline a request which has been retracted?

[Jennifer2759]

I agree that it makes no sense, but I did experience the ill effects of too many declined requests (had several a week at one point during the summer!) and Airbnb put my listing three pages in when I had always been on the first page (and am a superhost) when you looked up my town. The crazy thing is that you would see several listings before mine that weren't even in my town - that is what you called being buried! Since I have asked guests to retract their requests (to expedite the removal of the hold on their card), I am now back to the first page. However, this other host was so confident in his claim that the retractions were worse, that I wanted to check here to see if anyone knew what he was talking about.