Dealing with an Enquiry

[Derek157]

Good afternoon.  As an AirBnB host I frequently get enquiries via the web site concerning things like taxi prices, local facilities etc.  I can answer those queries fairly comprehensively and that is not a problem, but they always come accompanied by a "Pre Approve or Decline" prompt.  I usually pre-approve and explain to the potential client that that is the way I have to answer their query and not be too bothered if they ignore the pre-approval if they don't want to book.  But I always feel I am being too pushyand don't want people to feel bad if they don't book.  I have a 100% response within 24 hours rate and I would like to keep it that way.  If I don't either pre-approve or decline when I respond to their query does that affect my response statistics?

[Anonymous]

@Derek157  Fortunately no, they don't! You don't have to pre-approve or decline inquiries, just write some sort of response to the initial message within 24 hours to keep up your response stats.

For readers new to Airbnb:  an Inquiry is different from a Request, which is binding; those must be either accepted or declined in order to maintain your response rate.

[Derek157]

Thanks for that Andrew.  I always feel that people will think I am trying to make them commit when I pre-approve.

[Sarah977]

@Derek157  I don't think guests see it that way at all- that you're being pushy if you pre-approve. All the preapproval does is make it easier for them to go on to book if they choose to, without you having to do anything more.

I get quite a few Inquiries and if I feel good about the guest (they have good reviews and communicate well and politely) I pre-approve them. If I need further info from the guest to feel okay about accepting them, or if they have asked for something inappropriate to my listing, I simply message them back without pre-approving or declining.

[Emilia42 · Accepted solution]

For INQUIRIES: A written message counts as your response. No pre-approval or decline is necessary to maintain a response rate. I have never pre-approved or declined an inquiry before and my response rate is 100%. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Understanding-Response-Rate-and-Acceptance-Rate/t...

[Derek157]

Thanks for that link Emilia - most helpful, and will save me some work!

[Aura4867]

@Anonymous  @Emilia42  @Sarah977 Do you know if the response rate score is reduced by a late time of response to a support service?

I did what you said with the enquiries but my rate reduced and  I can only think it was because I didnt reply within 24 hours to a message from the support service.

Thank you all for your help

[Sarah977]

You mean a response to a message from Airbnb customer service? No, that has nothing to do with your response rate. There is a glitch currently happening, which may hosts have reported here in the past week- response rates are going down for no reason. Airbnb is aware of it, and supposedly working on fixing it. But you should let support know that you are affected by this glitch. 

Don't get into some back ad forth with CS about it, with them trying to tell you it must be your fault for not replying on time to guest inquiries or requests- just tell them it's a known glitch that tons of hosts have reported and your account is also affected.

@Aura4867

[Aura4867]

@Sarah977  Thank you,  they replied and said they will check and back to me in a week if the score doesnt change.