Always ok to decline an enquiry?

[Trude0]

Hi,

I got an enquiry (not booking request)  for my guest house this afternoon, from a guest wanting to check in today, for 4 nights. The guest is a member since July, but has no reviews yet, and offered no information, other than that they would be 2 people. I was a bit concerned, replied that I had to check if I could get the house cleaned and ready in time, and revert - but in the meantime asked for information on who the guests were, reason for visiting my city, and reason for very short notice booking (highly unusual for me, after 17 previous guests, only one same day booking). Did not hear back for 2,5 hours, wrote a message that since I'd heard nothing back, I assumed they'd found somewhere else - and besides, no time to clean. 

The guest then replied he/she was still interested, they were in a neighbouring country and would drive here tonight and arrive in the middle of the night. I would not need to clean before arrival, but could clean tomorrow, "if I wanted to"!!! A bit strange... I replied that arrival in the middle of night was not ok, nor was checking in without cleaning, and the best I could manage was check in tomorrow evening 8 p.m If still interesting, to please answer my questions so I could review the request/inquiry.

Guest then answered he is interested, and "we will check in tomorrow 8 p.m as you said". And that he would "answer your questions when I get home". 

So, apparently this guest now thinks he has booked the house, or at least that I have accepted his/her enquiry, and may well already be in the car driving here... Or maybe will answer my questions in an hour, who knows.

I haven't concluded I WILL decline, but would like to explain that I will not accept, either, until I have received more information. But am a bit worried about writing this to the guest -  not sure I am ALLOWED to decline an enquiry, just because "someting does not feel right"??? Am I? Am scheduled to receive Superhost status now (Oct 1st), and don't want to risk it.

Have never declined, cancelled or missed the 24 h deadline before.

HELP!

[Emiel1]

@Trude0 

It is not obliged to decline an Inquiry, just answer the question(s) within 24 hours (you allready did).

End conversation politely if it is going nowhere,otherwise pre-approve (or sent special offer)

[Sarah977]

@Trude0  This guest doesn't seem to be being deliberately non-communicative as far as not answering questions, just that they are in transit and finding timely communication difficult. Since he's agreed to an  8 PM check-in tomorrow, if you can accommodate that, I myself would be inclined to simply message back, explaining that you do need  him to answer the questions you posed, and to understand that he doesn't have a confirmed reservation until you actually approve his booking, so he can't simply show up. Then see how the response is "when he gets home". Not everyone is in a circumstance where they can communicate quickly- driving, being out of cell-range, phone out of juice and nowhere to plug it in, are all very real possibilities.

Then, of course, he would need to amend the dates of the original enquiry, or send a proper booking request for you to approve.

I don't see any huge red flags in the guest's communication so far and lots of guests with no reviews turn out to be great. He just seems a bit unclear as to how Airbnb works as far as what constitutes a confirmed booking.

Of course, if you don't feel good about this, just re-iterate what you said before, that you can't accommodate on such short notice. It isn't necessary to either pre-approve or decline an Inquiry- just messaging back to the original Inquiry message within 24 hours fulfills your obligations, you don't get any penalties for that, whereas too many declines do count against you.

And I would never agree to a guest checking in without the place being cleaned first, even if the guest says that's okay with them. It could easily come back to bite you if the guest is a scammer who tried to get a refund on the basis that the place wasn't clean.

And if you don't want last-minute bookings in the future, set your advance notice to 3 days. Of course, that doesn't prevent a guest from sending an Inquiry asking if you'll accept shorter notice, though.