Umm, did you mean to book my place??

[Colleen253]

I get a request to book early this afternoon, only it's not addressed to me. It's addressed to someone I can only assume is the host of another listing the guest has considered booking instead. I recognize the name as a fellow local host. So I message them back, asking for confirmation they want to book with me, rather than just accept and make an awkward situation more awkward. Crickets from the guest. But the clock ticks on. And of course, it's not crickets from Airbnb. The reminder to accept comes in 15 minutes later, as expected. And they keep coming. How about Airbnb sending messages to the guest...the one who nine times out of ten needs prompting, not the host. " Hey guest, your host hasn't accepted your booking yet, perhaps they need more info from you. Better check your messages!" Meanwhile, my calendar stays blocked with an uncertain booking.😫

[Susan990]

So glad you responded and no it does not penalize you ! All you need to do is choose the appropriate respond from the offered choices and then detail the reasons why you chose that, to explain the details. Trust the process to defend you and always be very verbal and articulate at every opportunity to prove your position on the issue with a suspect reservation which makes you uncomfortable.  I have always trusted in this process and never had the AI robot come back and bite me.

[Colleen253]

@Susan990 There are no penalties like there are for cancelling, but to be sure you can have your listing suspended for declining requests:

From Airbnb: “Hosts who have very low rates could face penalties, including having their listings paused”.

And proof of that, from this forum (only one of many): 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Excessive-decline-warning/m-p/1449756#M344342

Your search placement can also be affected.

If I’m declining for messing up my calendar or my rates, I’ll take full responsibility. But I take issue with the fact that Airbnb gives hosts no easy ‘out’ when receiving inappropriate requests or facing guests who don’t supply information requested before booking, and fail to respond in a timely manner when asked for it. I should be able decline, when appropriate, and not have to worry about a thing. Instead we’re left facing the clock, fussing about and sweating it out, putting up with endless reminders from Airbnb to respond 😡With the deteriorating quality of Airbnb guest, the opportunities to have to decline are becoming more frequent so again, I’ll save mine for when I really need to use them. 

[Emiel1]

[Jillian115]

@Colleen253 Yes, I posted about this recently. It's so frustrating. I respond immediately and have to wait all day for a response while my calendar stays booked. I didn't know you can be suspended for declining too often.  If thats the case why does airbnb allow requests for days that are already booked?