@James1278 - you will likely, as a software professional, find Airbnb's lack of consistency and programming is very frustrating - I do. As a Business Analyst, work flows seem to be non-existent to find out where the missing use case is within the system. They are just not very good at (1) keeping up to date within the products on where changes need to be made in other products on the system; (2) are lousy at updating the text within the Application and in the Help Center to be consistent; and (3) even worse at updating the users or the call centers for continuity of service. I log software errors at least once a week for them.
Right now the system is FUBAR. I have no idea what's going on but every time I search for Chandler, AZ, the only listings that come up on the first page when I ask for them to be shown on the map are the 50 PLUS listings in your area. Only after I turn on the filter for Instant Book do I get any other listings. The last 2 times, while trying to take some screen shots for you, the system couldn't even filter for Chandler giving me properties all over the world. They have some horrible roll out issue going on there today.
You are right, there could be some legacy issues here that are not affecting you as a new user. In the use case for a guest coming to my page, they pick the dates and hit "book". They do not have a chance to select "request to book" even when not logged in using incognito mode. This option does not present itself, not ever. If they do not have the qualifications to book instantly, they can only send an inquiry. Even now, on my page despite that the system tells guests they are to "request to book" in the Help Center and on your page in the settings is says the guest can "request to book", there is no way for a guest to do that on my listing. The software automatically switches the button where "request to book" would be shown to simply "book". They can book or they can send an inquiry.
I understand that you are not getting that option and logging an issue using the "contact us" function is recommended. As noted above, it looks like other hosts are experiencing this same problem.
Mentioned in my first reply, there is/was a known issue of non-qualified guests being able to "request to book" when a co-host was on the account and approving that guest meant that you were overriding your requirements. We were forced to decline several guests who would not get their profiles verified. We logged an issue ticket every single time and halfway through the summer, they stopped the co-hosting program all together so they never had to fix it. Perhaps the software issue that was causing the issue then has been migrated to new systems now. Keeping on Airbnb to correct these issues or update their help information is the best we can do at this time.
If you decline excessively, this will affect you in the search results list eventually and you may even get a nasty-gram from Airbnb saying you need to accept more requests. You have 24 hours to accept or decline a guest who requests to book to keep your response time in line, so take advantage of that and let guests know they have only 24 hours or you'll be forced to decline. You can keep track of how you are doing in the Progress tab.
Good luck to you and your experience with Airbnb. Come back frequently to update all of us on what the outcome is of your software trouble. Hopefully it will be resolved quickly. If you have more questions about this, please ask.
