No Response to Pre-Booking Questions

[Jacob470]

I use instant booking for about half my reservations. I know, 90% of hosts out there will say "shame on you" because of all the issues with instant book, but I really have not had the big bad issues with it. 

What I do have an issue with is people not responding to the pre-booking questions. Since there is no "get to know your needs" time when instant booking, that is my only chance to verify the guest is legit and I can accommodate any needs they may have. Most notably, people tend to say "1 guest" then show up with their husband and 15 year old son. That leaves me scrambling at the last second to set up for a completely different reservation from what is booked. Had they answered the pre-book question I have of "who are you travelling with?" this would have been avoided. 

Anyways, @Airbnb is there some way people can be forced to actually respond to the message.

Any other hosts out there. What have you done to encourage their response? What do your pre-book messages look like? What is the nice way you say "look here buddy, seems you can't follow simple directions, but could you pretty please respond to those questions I asked before you booked?"

[Helen3]

If you choose to use IB as many of us do, then you need to be vigilant as a host in chasing up guests for responses if they don't answer your IB questions. @Jacob470 

In my case I chase them twice on Airbnb and if they don't respond I ask Airbnb to contact them and let them know if they don't answer my questions they will need to cancel the booking.

I would never let a guest arrive without knowing who they were travelling with? what time they are arriving etc

Obviously if a guest books for two but turns up with three you don't need to allow them to check in/can ask the for additional guest charge and make sure you mention it in the review.

[Robin4]

@Jacob470 

Jacob there is no formal response to hosts questions as far as Airbnb is concerned, they leave it to the host to do all the 'dirty work' !

There is a fine line between getting the information you need and badgering the guest, and you don't want to get a stay off to a bad start by antagonizing the guest with what they either see as trivialities or simply do not want to provide a correct answer to! 

COVID-19 has given us a bit of cover and if you are unsure what a guests stay will involve in terms of numbers you can send to the guest........" Dear xxxxxx , we are looking forward to your stay but, we are living in difficult times. Covid-19 restrictions require that all  guests who will be staying be nominated as part of this Airbnb reservation. In order for us to properly prepare for you and have the booking formally proceed, please respond within 48 hours your acceptance of our house rules and advice of guest numbers. Failure to reply may jeopardize your booking. Thanks for your cooperation!" 

This is not incorrect Jacob because, when booking, the names of guests (plus their phone and email) who will be staying are required as part of the booking procedure.

It's not fullproof Jacob but it does throw the onus of a response back on the guest ....just make sure you keep it in the message stream.

Cheers........Rob

[Sarah977]

As hosts we tend to assume that guests are simply not bothering to respond to our Airbnb messages, which is often true, but not always. If a guest hasn't answered my message, I'll try again, stating its importance, and if there is still no response, like Helen, I'll asked Airbnb to try to contact the guest, which has resulted in a response. Some guests don't know to turn their notifications on, so you can always try sending them a text message on their phone, or calling, asking them to please check and respond to their Airbnb messages.

A couple times guests didn't respond in a timely manner it turned out they were on a camping trip with no internet or cell signal, or at a retreat where they weren't allowed to use any devices, and once the guest said she had never received any of my messages, which I did believe, because she apologized profusely. Glitches are quite common on this platform.

As far as IB pre-booking messages, I can't speak to that, as I've never used IB.

@Jacob470

[Flavia202]

Like you I use IB, @Jacob470 . It's been a positive experience so far.  I agree with the other responses here that you could try getting Airbnb to reach out to your guests if/when they don't respond.  

You could also repeat in your pre-booking message the total number of persons your space can accommodate, so guests can't claim they didn't see it.

As an aside, I love Labs! Also had one, (Jet).