Selected "discuss more" w/guest who didn't respond; now AirBNB says I didn't ans in time

[Margaret25]

I received a booking request and selected "discuss more" option. I wrote the guest an email, never heard back and then got an email from AirBnB saying that I could be penalized now for not responding within 24 hrs. Can't find ANYWHERE on site where I can contact AirBnB directly about this. Anyone run into this problem before?

thanks,

Margaret

[Clare0]

@Margaret25 Yes, I just had this experience.  I responded to a reservation request and asked the guest to verify some things for me before I could accept her reservation.  She never got back to me, but knowing that Airbnb had me on the clock, I declined the reservation, thus avoiding being accused of not having responded.  In the end, the reason that the guest hadn't responded was because she had an old email address in her account and never got my messages.  AGGH!  She ultimately sent another request which I accepted. 

Here's how to contact Airbnb about your situation: 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165/highligh...

The bottom line is to either accept or decline a reservation request within the 24 hour period.  🙂 Just messaging doesn't stop the clock.

[Margaret25]

Thanks Clare - I called AirBnB and was told they would look into why I received the email. My concern is that shortly after the first inquiry, I received a second one and was in correspondence with the guest but the 24 hr period is approaching and we haven't finished our discussion. I was quite clear w/the AirBnB rep that I don't want to "decline" this guest while we're in the middle of discussing plans; AirBnB is starting to feel a little "pushy" about accepting/declining within a 24 hr period and penalizing the host while discussions are still underway. At least with their tel #, I can contact AirBnB. Many thanks for sending that!!

Margaret

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

Booking requests must be accepted or declined. Inquires only need to be responded to. You'll definitely want to spend some time in the Help area for hosts to make sure you understand how this works, and that you're not missing important information.

[Michael99]

Realy good to know this.

I began using Airbnb this past winter and now manage 5 properties on the site. I have a 99% respons rate having missed one due to a guest not replying after requesting to book but also had quesitons. I did not accept or decline because of their question. While waiting for the reply the clock "expired" the booking request.

I feel as long as you are in discussion with the potential guest you should not be penalized. But I beleve Airbnb wants us to get the guest booked quickly to either lock them in or free up our calendar for other potential guest.

[Patricia116]

A very similar situation just happened to me.  I promptly sent a message to a

potentiel guest after receiving her booking inquiry but she never responded back

to me.  Even though this guest had one good review, good ID verifications and a

photo of herself, I didn't feel comfortable accepting someone that won't respond to

my messages.