Bring Back Reply By Text!!!

Bring Back Reply By Text!!!

I get a text message to my phone when guests message me and I was, until a few days ago, able to just reply right in the text message and it would get sent to the guest. NOW it's telling me to open the bloody app to reply!! If you are busy and all you need to say is, "That's fine." it's UTTERLY ANNOYING to have to launch the app and have it sit there and wait to get to the message and reply. This is a ridiculous innefficiency! 

9 Comments
Lydia40
Level 2

I thought I was going crazy too! I swore I used to be able to text reply!  I send a reply to a guest that was checking in last night and they never got it because I just relpied to their text in messages rather than opening the app and going to messages etc.  I dont always have time to do that and there seems to be way more of a delay of loading their message too.  It says I can text the guest directly via SMS but those text incur charges for international texting from my phone company.  Also, there isnt an easy way to get their number from the body of the AirBnb instruction text to the To: in the new message without cutting and pasting.  All things I dont have time or sometimes the ability to do in the moment I get a question from a guest.

Helen0
Level 10

I thought it was something wrong with my phone! 

My messages didn't go through to a guest recently - so we were left wandering around the airport looking for each other, not realising we hadn't seen each other's messages. 

How ridiculous to remove this useful facility - but at the very least, Airbnb should have the courtesy to warn us before taking it away!

 

On top of that, if we now have to do everything through the app then it needs to work 100% of the time, instead of only when it feels like it at present. I simply cannot rely on the app, too many times it has simply failed to register what I have done and not sent it to the guest. If this is now the only way to communicate with guests when I am not at home then it has suddenly become and extremely urgent and critical issue that must be resolved immediately!

Martin280
Level 10

Yes! I totally agree. Of course it's a way for the company just to save money but this is a poor, poor move. It adds so much frustration and inconvenience for us hosts and the guests just to save a few pennies per reservation. Utterly not worth it. 

Alia0
Level 2

I wondered what the deuce was going on, too.

 

It is ridiculous to be given an alert that I've got a message, and even be able to read a short one, but not be able to reply. 

 

Add me to the list of frustrated users. 

Michelle140
Level 5

Yes. I was shocked that they would remove such a useful feature. Very annoying. I use minimal data on my phone, so if I'm not at a wifi spot, I usually just text back.

Gillian19
Level 10

It sounds like a great feature I didn't even know we had! Would love them to bring it back though - would be so much handier than having to log in every time to send a message.

Stephan2
Level 10

agree, please all vote for this idea. So they will look serious at AirBnB.

Lois-and-Darryl0
Level 10

I totally agree with ALL of these comments.  This is a ridiculous and non-sensical loss of a function that most of us need.  Who comes up with these change in rules that are working fine?  Don't fix it - PLEASE - unless it's broke.  And it wasn't broke!

Kathleen260
Level 3

Airbnb WTH? Why on earth would you REDUCE functionality and ADD friction to the customer experience?  Bring back TEXT please!!