Pending request cancellation

[Grigory6]

Hi all

We have received a request from a guest. She wants to stay for a month and the price on airbnb is £1750. In the message she says she can’t pay that amount and offered £1200. 
I replied that we can’t accept this offer and suggested that she cancel her request saying that otherwise it would be automatically accepted in 24 hours (I bluffed assuming that I won’t be able to decline that request).  Now she’s having difficulties with cancelling that (I trust that’s sincere) and I can still see the request. What would you recommend to do? As I understand if I cancel the request the dates would stay blocked I can’t let it happen. I can accept it and let her deal with cancellation etc but don’t want to put the gust into a difficult situation.

Thanks

[Emiel1]

@Grigory6 

The guest can retract the request. If she has a issue to do this, then you can decline the request within 24 hours.  Dates will not be blocked.

[Anonymous]

@Grigory6  Is this a "Booking Inquiry" or a "Reservation Request"?

You can't "cancel" a request. Cancellation only applies to a confirmed booking. And a request is binding; there's no opportunity to negotiate the price, because when you accept it the guest is automatically charged the listed amount.

If it's only a "Booking Inquiry," you don't have to pre-approve or decline it; the only necessary action is writing a reply. If it's a Request, declining it will not cause your calendar to be blocked.