Why is it required to select dates when contacting a host?

[Kelsey94]

This is very frustrating and non-sensical for people who want to ask general questions. 

I have a guest who asked a question about making an exception for pets, my answer is no. But do I decline her request (and possibly hurt my ratio?) or approve while telling her "no pets"?

Two support agents incorrectly told me a message could be sent without dates selected, which I quickly proved wrong. 

This feature makes absolutely no sense. Airbnb needs some SERIOUS consultation on website efficacy. 

[Kelsey94]

I'm fine with pre approving or declining, I just want clarification on what happens when I do that! 

If someone asks to bring a pet, and I say no. Do I approve? Or decline? The dates are available, but the answer is no. This is totally unclear what to do, or if it's okay to reply and then "do nothing". 

Clear instructions and communication will help them increase bookings!! Not confusing the **bleep** out of people! 

[Sarah977]

@Kelsey94  If you get an Inquiry message where the guest is asking for something you don't provide, or to bring a pet, when you have a no pets policy, do not pre-approve or decline- just message them back something like " Hi XXX, as you can see in my listing, I have a no pets policy. All the best in finding another listing that suits your needs."

That will usually result in never hearing from the guest again, the Inquiry will expire 24 hours after it was submitted, done.

[Kelsey94]

This is what I plan to do, I just feel strongly that Airbnb needs to make it clear this will not count against you. Currently they state that these requests must be pre-approved or declined within 24 hours in their host guidelines. 

[Mark116]

@Kelsey94   It is purposely confusing, they want you to accept everyone and encourage everyone to book which is why they want you to 'accept' for inquiries as well as booking requests.  

[Sarah977]

@Kelsey94  You might find the post by Susan, down near the bottom of the last page on this link, interesting. It's Airbnb's calculated MO to set things up like this. Don't hold your breath for it to change.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Review-rules-changed/m-p/972573#M243829

[Ange2]

@Sarah977    Your inquiries disappear after 24 hours?  

I have a dozen or more on my dashboard from months ago, people who had no verifications, wnated to bring pets etc. and who never replied to my messages. 

I dismiss them from the dashboard but they still appear in 'pending'?

[Sarah977]

@Ange2 No, they don't disappear, they are still all there in my message Inbox. What I meant is that after they expire I just ignore them.

It's actually proved useful to have them still there, as it gives me the ability to get in touch with a potential guest if necessary. Recently I had someone send an Inquiry with not the dates she actually wanted because those dates were booked. She actually knew where my place was, as she stayed in the area before, her Inquiry was to let me know that if for some reason the booked guest cancelled, to please let her know, as she would love to book those dates. In fact, the already booked guest did cancel, and I was then able to message her back saying the dates were now available. Unfortunately, disappointing both to her and me, she had already booked another place 2 days before, as she was worried about not finding anything if she waited too long 😞

[Emilia42]

@Sarah977, @Kelsey94

I have been told by reliable hosts here in this forum that declining an inquiry DOES NOT prevent a guest from booking. Only a decline on a request can do that. If you are using Instant book and the guest meets all of your requirement they can still book regardless of a decline (you will have to call CS for a manual cancellation.) They can also request to book regardless of a declined inquiry. You would then be declining them twice (greatly affecting your acceptance rate.) I do exactly what @Sarah977 mentions above and steer the guest away from my listing by only answering the questions with my stated policies.

[Emilia42]

@Kelsey94,  If no dates need to be selected, don't you think hosts would be forced to answer hundreds of inquires that ask "Is April 12th (or whatever date) available?" At least if a guest has to select their preferred dates to ask a question, they would know if the dates are actually available. I don't want to answer questions from guests who can't even stay because the weekend they want is already booked. I live in a college town. I hate it when college kids send me an inquiry to ask me if they can stay in my apartment for the fall semester. I tell them "Sure you can; select the dates you want and book it." The dates for 4 months in a row are never consecutively open for them to book the entire time. If they tried to enter their correct dates, they would see this.

[Mark116]

@Emilia42  Absolutely.  I don't want to get a bunch of random messages about our thread count, how far are we from the Empire State Building and JFK Airport from people who are still so far from their trip that they can't even be bothered to guess at some dates for their travel.

[Emilia42]

@Mark116, haha, thread count. I, myself, would secretly want to ask that but I would never actually do it.

[Kelsey94]

No, because they can see on the calendar what dates are available.... I'm actually happy to answer any questions from prospects. That's why imI a host. 

people can still ask stupid questions even when entering a date. The only difference is that I'm forced to pre approve or decline them if I don't want to get dinged according to airbnb's articles!

[Sarah977]

@Kelsey94  Every host who has responded to you here has said that you are not forced to pre-approve or decline an Inquiry- just messaging back is enough.

The link Emilia posted below confirms this. 

Just ignore those proddings to pre-approve or decline. Just like most of us ignore the stupid price tips and a lot of the other stuff.

[Kelsey94]

Sarah, i understand that. The issue is that Airbnb has a lot of conflicting information in their articles and from their tech agents. 

There has been disagreement even within this thread about whether or not declining a pre-booking inquiry will count against you. 

Clearly this is something that needs to be addressed..  that's all im saying. 

[Sandra856]

@Kelsey94 you don't have to use the decline button EVER when it comes to an inquiry. A message is enough AND you have the possibility to pre-approve if you like. Believing that airbnb wants or would try to change anything to make it easier to understand is meaningless. They couldn't care less.