Booking request bumping pre-approved offer to other guest.

[Andrew90]

I had a situation today and was wondering how other hosts felt.  As a host I'm not thrilled with the default behavior.

I had an inquiry for a full week booking that I responded to and sent a pre-approved offer against.  Shortly after, another potential guest tried to book a shorter stay for that same week and bumped the offer I had sent just 15 minutes before.  I would prefer to be able to choose!  The original reqeust for 7 days would have generated more revenue.

My qeustion is why shoudl a new booking request bump an existing and valid pre-approval? I know I can cancel or deny the booking reqeust (thankfully didn't have instant book turned on) but I feel it puts me an an akward situation with both guest. My offer to the first guest was cancelled for significantly more money and I'm forced to make the second guest wait while I try to connect the original guest and pressure them into a decision. 

Andrew

[Amaris0]

Hi Andrew,

I suspect that one of the messages was an Inquiry and the other a Request to Book; the latter always overrides the former because an Inquiry is just a question and does not mean the guest will actually book your accommodation whereas a Request to Book is just that, the guest is ready to make that booking.

Ama

[Andrew90]

Understood but I had made a offer with pre-approval. I don't feel this should be be bumbed automatically. It makes me look bad to have an offer I made cancelled 30min after I made it.

In the end it might not matter much but It certainly reinforces that I don't want to turn on Instant Booking.

[Clare0]

@Andrew90 Well, it's your decision to accept the bird in the hand (reservation request) vs the bird in the bush (the inquiry you sent the the Pre-Approval to).  If you decline the reservation request and the dates are blocked, simply go to your calendar and unblock them. Airbnb has this insidious way of blocking dates.  When you decline, there's a little box that says "block these date" which you need to uncheck to make the dates available.  Doesn't make sense to me, but you can go into your calendar and unblock them. 

Keep in mind, the guest you sent the Pre-Approva to might never respond so declining the reservation request might leave you empty handed.  Again, you have to decide whether to take the chance the Pre-approved guest will come back to you with an acceptance. 

[Andrew90]

Thanks that is how I handled it. I was just checking to see if there was something I missed. But if they were looking at mutiple properties they may have booked somewhere else after getting the automated notification from AirBNB that the dates they requested were no longer available.

When I was recruited to host on AirBNB I was assured that I could reach out to guests through AirBNB operator if the prospective guest agreed (since I don't have direct contact information). When I attempted this I was politely declined twice.

Andrew

[Clare0]

@Andrew90 You can still message guests through the Airbnb messaging system any time.  Airbnb does not allow off-site communication until a reservation is confirmed.  Why? To avoid scammers from defrauding both hosts and guests.  Who ever told you that you could reach guests through an Airbnb support person is wrong.  They'll only do it in emergency situations. 

In the case of the guest who you pre-approved, you can still send them a message that the dates they want are available. Just go to Your Messages and go from there. 

Hope you get the reservation you want!

[Christine1]

@Andrew, You say you are not thrilled with the default behaviour regarding the way these things are processed? Then what would you prefer?

Andrew says: I had a situation today and was wondering how other hosts felt.  

Me says: Since you asked other hosts to respond, here are my responses to your letter>

I had an inquiry for a full week booking that I responded to and sent a pre-approved offer against.

My Response: This remains valid for 24 hours.

Shortly after, another potential guest tried to book a shorter stay for that same week and bumped the offer I had sent just 15 minutes before.

My Response: ”The potential guests graciously requested to send their business your way. They did not “bump” the offer at all”.

I would prefer to be able to choose! _

My Response: You did do the choosing when you decided to send them a pre-approval.

The original reqeust for 7 days would have generated more revenue.

My Response: Sounds like this is the real issue of concern.  

My qeustion is why shoudl a new booking request bump an existing and valid pre-approval?

My Response: You can pre-approve, decline, or write to the 2nd enquirer to let them know you have an existing enquiry for that period and you want to wait a period of time before making a decision about offering them accommodation in response to their enquiry. All these choices are yours to make.

I know I can cancel or deny the booking reqeust (thankfully didn't have instant book turned on)

My Response: See you are correct! you do have these options.

I feel it puts me an an akward situation with both guest.

My Response: I suspect you are feeling awkward about the bird that you think may have gotten away.

My offer to the first guest was cancelled for significantly more money and I'm forced to make the second guest wait while I try to connect the original guest and pressure them into a decision. 

My Response: I don’t agree with this analysis of the situation. Yes, you will face the choice of accepting or declining reservation requests in the order that you receive them. But the other contributor @Amaris0 was correct. The first enquiry was probably just that; an enquiry and not an actual booking request from someone who knew what they wanted. Each party has the opportunity to know that until they accept a pre-approval they do not have a booking, and the dates might go to another guest.

@Andrew90I would not advise pressuring anyone to make a decision, just keeping all parties informed will be encouragement enough. You are not in an awkward situation when you have 2 enquiries, you are in a fortunate position! to communicate with potential guests and create a good impression and represent yourself to them. #: )

If the $value of the bookings had been reversed, would you have still been as concerned about the default position? You are essentially in full control, You got to say yes or no to both enquiries. @Amaris0is correct in what she says and this knowledge should be factored in when you are choosing what reply to make.

[Rob85]

It is wrong to say you are in control.

IF you cancel the instant book, then you are penalized by AirBnb.   

This is just WRONG.  When you make an offer it should LOCK the listing (or have the option to lock the listing).  I am in the same situation this morning.  Was having a really nice conversation with someone who wants a MONTH.  In the middle of the night an instant book took TWO dates in the middle.  $700 or $50......      My only choice, it seems, it to cancel and suffer the AirBNB penalty.   We did not even belive we had the feature turned on.  We discussed it.   Initially it was on.  Then after week one, and A LOT of weirdos, we turned in off.  Somehow it was back on.  NOT HAPPY!!!  Can't figure out how to contact AirBNB to get them to help.

This is NOT a good feature.  It helps AirBnb, but takes substantial control out of the host's hands.