Response Rate Wrong

Rebecca36
Level 2
Atlanta, GA

Response Rate Wrong

Is anyone else having issues with their response rate being wrong? I was told by the help center that 

 

"I think what's happening is that we're counting the inquiry that she didn't pre-approve/decline as a message that wasn't responded to."

 

I responded within an hour to the inquiry, but didn't preapprove or decline because I was then waiting on a response from the guest, and that is either a bug or Airbnb has changed their policies on response rate without telling the hosts. 

 

I'm very frustrated because I work hard to keep up all of my status, and because of their bug or policy change, my response rate looks bad to guests. 

6 Replies 6
Patti---Dana0
Level 2
Kansas City, MO

The only response that is "counted" is clicking the accept or decline.  If you message the guest and wait more than 24 hours for the response, the system counts that as not responding.  Best way to combat this is to let the guest know you need a response by X time and then decline if they have not responded.  This also frees your calendar up so others can book.

That's not what the help says. https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/430/what-is-response-rate-and-how-is-it-calculated

 

Doing one of the following within 24 hours improves your response rate and response time:

  • Accepting or declining a reservation request
  • Sending a message back to a guest who has sent a reservation request or a booking inquiry
  • Pre-approving or declining a trip described in a booking inquiry

Responses after 24 hours count as a late response, which will decrease your response rate and increase your response time. Your response rate can impact your position in search results.

@Rebecca36, I was confused about that, too.

 

I had someone ask me about the place and wrote back within a few minutes.  After writing to the guest, I had a message from ABB telling me to pre-approve or decline to keep my response rate scores.  So I pre-approved the guy.

 

ABB's instructions are contradictory to what that message said.

 

That's the same situation I had.  I was also told that by not pre-approving or declining within 24 hours your listing will start to drop in search results.  If for no other reason, I will always pre-approve or decline to ensure my listing gets good placement.  Lots of competition in my area!

Hi, @Wendy-and-Frank0

I too have experienced the auto message that you mentioned when I was in a similar situation. It is concerning, and I hope that the stats are calculated according to the policy quoted. Some of the automated responses can be abrupt and hurtful, my hope is that these issues are refined at some point.  

The difficulty of declining a guest whose needs you may not be able to accommodate, is the automated message that I did once get telling me that a second guest decline on the same date would lead to a calendar blocking. So that was a bit intimidating, for sure.

Oh well, we proceed with caution and diplomacy, and keep reading the FAQ's and hosting tips and tools. 

Best regards,

Christine.

 

@Christine1, fully agree.

 

I imagine if I had pre-approved someone who made me uneasy, I'd write messages that were a little **bleep**-retentive, OCD about keeping the place clean.

 

Except that with my luck, I'd end up with a Felix Unger on my hands.  Nose issues and all.