booking enquiry that are general enquiries not booking enquiry

[Ally43]

I just got a booking enquiry for xmas, but it wasnt actually a genuine booking , they wanted to know if my bedrooms have aircon.

i responded immediatley and said no.

now I have to either preapprove or decline booking.

if I dont respond I get a bad rating for response time ( even tho I have responded to his question)

i dont want to accept the booking its more than 6 months away...which Ive already stipulated on my calender so the only choice I have is to decline the booking, BUT if I do that I get a bad rating for declining too many bookings...in other words Im damned if I do and damned if I dont.

airbnb should acknowldeg a response is a response. it should not make hosts have to decline bookings for dates they have already said are not available and they should allow guests to ask questions without making a bogus booking.

[Emiel1]

@Ally43 

It is not obliged to pre-approve or decline an inquiry. Just answer the question within the time limit, that's all.

You can remove the inquiry from dashboard.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Ally43]

Hi 

i just spoke to airbnb and they told me if I didnt preapprove or decline id get a bad rating for non response.

A

[Mika8]

@Ally43  .. unfortunately many CS-reps don't know how the system works. The info from airbnb was not true.

you only have to accept or decline binding booking requests but not booking inquiries.

[Cathie19]

Hi @Ally43. @Emiel1  and @Mika8 are both correct.

It is not unusual for guests who want to chat to choose dates out of the wind, that are available, just to send a message. You do not have to approve or decline - just respond.

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If you are really concerned, I suggest you send them a message stating that although you are aware they are making an enquiry, Airbnb insist that as they have used dates in their message to chat, that to maintain your rating as a host, there are two actionable options.

1) let them know that you will accept a booking request (although it was an enquiry) from them, which may create credit card holds from Airbnb end. ( You do not handle the money and have no control over this automated action.) They would then need to cancel and as a guest could be penalised at a later stage.

2) The better option: alternatively, they withdraw/ cancel the enquiry with dates, now, before you are forced to preapprove it. For once this happens, it is the end of the enquiry, and they

can always book accurate dates, if available, at a later stage.

But in the meantime, if they don’t take this action before the 24 hour period from the time of the enquiry, you will have no option but to accept the enquiry... and tie up their credit, as you will unfortunately, not be able to cancel from your end as the host.

[Josiah0]

We get a few of these exact same types of Inquiries from potential guests - some with very strange requests.  I simply respond by message whether or not we can accommodate them, and then I leave the Inquiry alone unless they choose to book.  My response rate is 100%.

Reservation Requests are a bit more sticky, but usually we can accommodate them.  Sometimes, dates get automatically booked by someone else because we have Instant Booking (IB) turned on, so both Inquiries and Reservation Requests can get booked by an IB.  Bookngs can get quite competative where I live, so I generally don't worry about my response time.  If a guest cannot IB, it means he or she does not meet a minimum set a credentials to do so, including positive feedback from other hosts.

Many of the Inquiries we get are strange and often deviate from Airbnb's policies.  I often flag and report them, and sometimes block the person from booking in the future.

Fortunately, I'm at the top of search results in our area, so I really don't need to worry about a dip in ratings.  We have 2x the number of reviews than the second highest review-getter in the area, and a far more superior accommodation than some of the other hosts.  But, I do watch my ratings and will call Aribnb occassionally to rectify any mistakes.  They are generally very responsive and send me free gifts.

[Barbara1603]

Good morning,

I have just had a similar situation, My minimum stay is 2 nights, someone made an enquiry for 2 nights and then said they only wanted to stay over one night if possible. I explained that it wasn't possible and they wrote back thanking me anyway and saying they understood. Airbnb however send me this form with questions to fill in and blocking the nights noted in the enquiry.

As you say, they must distinguish between enquiries and actual bookings.

[Ana1136]

@Barbara1603 you must have blocked the dates when the inquiry came, you can unblock them. Airbnb only blocks dates if you cancel a reservation. And you don't have to accept or decline an inquiry, you just need to answer the questions. 

[Barbara1603]

Thanks for the reply, I did block the dates afterwards as I have a guest coming from the 3 - 7 June and the Inquiry was from 1 - 3 June, but I thought I saw in the message that Airbnb said if I declined the inquiry, those dates would be blocked. Anyway it is sorted now and I appreciated your feedback.