Response Rate keeps decreasing

[Wayne61]

Hi, hope someone can enlighten me about the response rate. I have been replying to my messages, so far I only have 2 messages that are tagged as Late or No Response (which I can't seem to get rid of). One is a May inquiry and the other is a December inquiry.

So we started renting out again this November and my response rate was at 100% and I was now a Superhost, then day by day it keeps decreasing. From 100% it became 96% then now it's 94%, but I was sure to reply to all messages. In fact, the messages tagged as Late or No response is still those 2 which we started with.

I tried reaching out to Support and they just keep telling me that it was system calculated and it was my fault, that I should reply to all the messages (wow). Claiming that those two unanswered messages was impacting my response rate. However, daily I've been responding to more messages so if anything shouldn't my response rate even go higher? At this rate, I'm worried my response rate will go below 90% and lose my superhost status.

Any ideas?

[Colleen253]

@Wayne61 "and it was my fault, that I should reply to all the messages (wow)."

Yes, classic response from the outsourced call center workers who don't even know basic Airbnb policy, and typically don't even listen to and understand your issue. It must be a bug of some sort.

Perhaps @Nick or @Lizzie could get someone from tech support to respond to you (with an actual solution and not useless nonsense.) Or, try twitter. Many people report getting more solid help when reaching out there.

[Wayne61]

Thanks @Colleen253! Appreciate your timely response and for tagging in people who could help! I was honestly a little frustrated with how they were replying, seem a whole lot unhelpful and unsympathetic. I think I started sounding a little angry on the message thread. 

I'll also try contacting them via Twitter, thanks for the great advice!

[Sarah977]

This may be a silly question, but since you didn't say one way or the other, have you made sure to reply to inquiries within 24 hours and to either accept or decline booking requests within 24 hours, as well?

@Wayne61

[Wayne61]

Hi @Sarah977! I wasn't able to answer to 2 (One was dated way back May and another for December).

I understand that this will affect and lower my response rate. However, as I keep getting and replying to new messages, shouldn't my response rate percentage go up again? But instead, it keeps decreasing. Upon checking, messages tagged as no response or late response was just those two from the start.

[Sarah977]

Yes, it should go up, but it could take some time to bring the percentage up again. And as long as you are within the 24 hour response period in your replies, and in either accepting or declining requests, if your rate keeps going down, that does sound like a glitch. I wonder if there are inquiries or requests being sent that you aren't receiving. 

But you might also lose your Superhost status if your star ratings don't go up- guests seem to love your place and your hosting, according to all your written reviews, but it appears that they don't understand that if they enjoyed it so much, they should be leaving 5* ratings. 

@Wayne61

[Wayne61]

Agree, @Sarah977! Thanks for pointing out the star ratings! It's something I've been working on. We also just recently started accepting bookings, and a lot of changes have been implemented.

Our ratings actually increased quite a bit compared to pre-pandemic, still got a list of changes for December. But seeing how things are going, seems to be in the right path! Thanks for the replies, really appreciate it!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wayne61 It is credible that your response rate will drop as it is a 12 month moving average. It is likely that 12 months ago there were lots of quick responses compared to a likely lower number now in these pandemic times. As a result there is less dilution of the 2 slow responses.

[Wayne61]

Hi @Mike-And-Jane0, sounds about right for a super host requirement which is calculated on a 12-month basis. One in which they haven't mentioned being calculated on a moving average, at least not in the help center.

But the thing is my main response rate (different from the super host requirement), which is calculated on a 30 day period is also continuously decreasing. Started off at 100%, down to 96%, and just now were down to 92%.

Mind you one of the messages I missed was for an inquiry of MAY 2020.

[Wayne61]

Is the response rate for the 30-day period also a moving average?

Either way, I only started opening my listing again last October 31. So from October 31 to date, I only missed one message dated November 9. And every day I've been getting inquiries and I've been replying earnestly.

Day to day, my response rate just keeps decreasing - not just the response rate for the superhost requirement but also the response rate listed on the stats on my dashboard.

[Sarah977]

When you say your "main response rate", do you mean what appears under your "basic" stats? I thought the basic stats were based on all the time since you started hosting, not 30 days. 

@Wayne61

[Wayne61]

Yes, that one. My understanding from this text is that the response rate under Stats is calculated in 30 days.

While Response rate requirement for superhost is 365 days. @Sarah977 

[Sarah977]

When you say your "main response rate", do you mean what appears under your "basic" stats? I believe the basic stats were based on all the time since you started hosting, not 30 days. 

In any case, don't get too hung up about the Superhost status- hosts who have had it, then lost it, then maybe earned it again have said it didn't seem to affect their bookings one way or the other. And it's getting bookings from nice guests that's the goal, right? Not some badge plastered over our photos.

Superhost is just a behavior modification tool- a carrot Airbnb dangles to keep hosts stressed out and kowtowing to guests, no matter how rude or demanding they may happen to be. Hosts with pages full of 5* reviews have had their ratings tanked and lost Superhost because of one nasty guest who left a retaliation review just because they were called out for something during their stay. As long as Airbnb refuses to remove those obvious outlier reviews, Superhost isn't about being a great host, because it's something a host has no control over.

@Wayne61 

[Nanxing0]

I have noticed that sometimes Airbnb fails to send me notice when there's an inquiry, and it doesn't show up until expired. This type of incidents not only affects my response rate, but also makes guests frustrating since they are expecting my response timely. It's obviously a technical issue and does not happen all the time, but you might want to take a look.

[Wayne61]

Hi @Nanxing0, thanks for your reply. I actually considered that as well. However, I haven't been getting any expired requests and nothing has been added to my "Late or No response" tab on my messages, when I try to filter it out.