I'm currently having the SAME issue!
After receiving about 10 denials to booking attempts - All because "sorry, our calendar was not updated and the apartment is not available on those dates), someone at Airbnb suggested we send through a message ahead of time to introduce ourselves and ask about availability.
So I started doing that this morning for a trip we're taking to Paris next week (and before anyone chastises me for waiting until the week before - I've been ATTEMPTING to book for the past month and getting these ridiculous denials for calendars not being updated!)... and after sending maybe 5 or 6 of these messages to potential hosts, I suddenly can't send any more messages, and keep getting an "error" message that says "try again or contact Airbnb support."
As a LONG term Airbnb host, I know what a joke it is to be suggested to "Contact Airbnb". We once had guests that refused to vacate the apartment and were doing some sort of satanic ritual when our housekeeper arrived, freaking her out to the point of feeling VERY unsafe and threatened. And even in THAT emergency it took me almost two HOURS of holding (while calling internationally, I might add!) to actually get through to someone.
So I'm quite sure reaching someone over message issues will be SO far down on their totem pole!
Anyway, I'm guessing that there is a limit to how many inquiries you can send at one time, but with Hosts being SO irresponsible about updating their calendars, but guests needing to jump through hoops to actually find accurate listings that are properly updated, they should allow us to send as many messages as we need to, so as to find a place. For me, it's not Spam, it's serious attempts to get a booking! But after spending weeks narrowing down my lists and then finding exactly what I want and need at the price that works for me, only to wait a day for the response of "sorry, our calendar wasn't updated", I realize that I have to just message as many supposed "availabilities" as possible and find out who TRULY is available.
As a HOST, I HATE that this is the situation. I can't stand getting bothered with people's "fishing expeditions", but now as a guest, I'm starting to understand it. It's because of the irresponsible and bad hosts that don't update their calendars.
Of course I've even started wondering if it's because all of these hosts have decided that I'm not a good guest to have - but that's sort of ridiculous since I have nothing but great reviews as both a Guest and as a Host. And as a fellow Airbnb Host, I'm sort of the perfect Guest, because I know what it means to have your home respected by a Guest.
Anyway, I STILL don't know what the truth is of the messaging errors, because it's not discussed anywhere that I can find. So I come to this Community to vent about it, with the delusional hope that SOMEONE from Airbnb might even remotely CARE about that hassles of wasting time falling in love with a listing and then finding out it's not available!
