I had a reservation request that was subsequently cancelled by email so I did not formally respond and that has brought my response rate down what am I supposed to do in that situation? It has really irritated me as I did respond to her but if I had accepted we would have been in a stupid situation and if I decline I have to have a good reason.
Clare, Airbnb asks you to accept or decline a request within 24 hours. If you just messaged the customer and declined it, Airbnb does not register this. You must hit the decline button, Airbnb will ask you for the reason, just select "other" and enter no text response. Yes it affects your response rate, but it will return to 100% in the near future if you continue to accept or reject the request within 24 hours.