Reservation "declined"

[Anita1037]

I just had an odd experience.  I did a search for specific island location. The ABNB system output listed a home on the mainland. I did not really notice the location of the residence and simply asked the host a question.  Then I realized the home is not on the island I will be visiting.  I informed the host I was confused, he got a little snippy indicating: "I do not know why you are confused the house is in ...."  

Then, when I tried to explain what happened the following day, I saw he sent me a message indicating my reservation request was denied.

I am concerned because I did not make any reservation request so there should not have been anything to "decline."

I am also concerned that this will impact my air bnb reputation.

Is this a valid concern?

[Sarah977]

@Anita1037  A decline doesn't affect your reputation. 

But if you sent a Request in order to ask the host a question, that is not what you are supposed to do. To simply ask a question, you need to use the "Contact host" button you see in the listing, which means you are sending an Inquiry message.

A Request should only be used if you are ready to commit to a booking and be charged. If you send a Request, and the host clicks on Accept, you will instantly be charged for the booking, even if the host hasn't answered your question yet, or you have indicated that you are confused. 

The host likely declined because hosts have to either accept or decline a Request within 24 hours unless the guest withdraws the Request, which is what you should have done when you realized the listing was not in the location you were looking for.

An Inquiry message also gives the host the option to pre-approve or decline, but they don't have to do either- they can also simply answer the message. And even if a host pre-approves an Inquiry, you won't automatically be charged, as with a Request. You would then have to take another step to actually book.

So it's irritating to hosts to have guests send a request when all they wanted to do was ask a question, as it puts the host under the gun to either accept or decline within 24 hrs. And while declines do not affect guests, they do affect hosts- we get penalized for declining, both in our Acceptance rate and in lowered search rankings and warnings of suspension from Airbnb about declining too many requests.

Airbnb lumps a lot of listings in a large area together in search. For instance, I live in a small touristy beach town but Airbnb shows listings in my town together with listings from the city of Puerto Vallarta, an hour's drive away, even though guests who are looking to stay in one are not going to be interested in booking in the other.

It is the guest's responsibility to thoroughly read the listing information to ensure a place is what they are looking for. 

Guests have booked on the wrong side of the country because they only searched for the name of the city without noticing that they booked a place with the same city name but in a state 2000 miles from where they were going 🙂

[Anita1037]

Appreciate the response!  I am technically savvy (used to teach IT classes).  I am pretty sure I did not submit a request.  Vaguely recall I clicked on the "ask the host a question" button.

Anyway... I understand your point and will be more careful when searching for places going forward.

Have a good day!

[Sarah977]

@Anita1037  If you sent an Inquiry, there are hosts who don't realize that a simple response is all that is required for an Inquiry, as Airbnb keeps sending messages reminding the host to pre-approve or decline. 

And sometimes hosts get irritated with a guest who asks questions that are clearly answered by a thorough reading of the listing. If a host gets a lot of these, their patience may wear thin and they just decline rather than carry on messaging, especially when they know it isn't going to result in a booking. 

Some of us have more patience for explaining and messaging than others. Don't take it personally. 

[Colleen253]

@Anita1037  “I am pretty sure I did not submit a request.  Vaguely recall I clicked on the "ask the host a question" button.”

A host can ‘pre approve’ or ‘decline’ an Inquiry, though doing either is not strictly necessary. This is likely what happened. No need to worry. There is no mark against you. It’s unfortunate this host was impatient with you :frowning_face: