Host Response Time Is Rated; Why Not Guests Too?

[Brian2036]

Apparently host response time is a big deal and can affect Superhost status.

 I would like to have similar information about guests who request information or preapproval.

It appears that some of them make a habit of spamming hosts with requests and then can’t be bothered to acknowledge receipt of the information.

It is becoming annoying to receive messages from prospective guests who indicate strong interest in the listing, ask a pertinent question, then do not have the simple courtesy to answer, “Thanks for your prompt response but I have decided to book elsewhere.”

I’m not going to issue preapproval even though Airbnb apparently wants me to do that. Blocking my calendar for these discourteous people may cost me a legitimate guest.

 The last one requested information at 1:30 AM. I didn’t see it until 7:30 AM which I suppose will affect my response time. I answered the question and provided other information.

No response.

Airbnb has goosed me three times trying to get me to either preapprove or decline.

 I politely notified the guest that I would appreciate some kind of response before I preapprove.

Nothing.

Shouldn’t guests who habitually do this be identified for the edification of other hosts?

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036  I'm assuming what you are talking about are Inquiry messages, not Requests. I'm afraid that answering inquiries is just part of the job of hosting.

Try not to let the fact that most inquirers don't have the basic manners to thank you for your time annoy you. Lack of basic manners seems to be quite common these days, in life in general.

No, answering a message 6 hours after it is sent doesn't affect your response rate- failing to answer within 24 hours does.

And just ignore those pesky messages to pre-approve or decline- as long as you have answered an inquiry message, that's all that's required.

[Brian2036]

@Sarah977 

Thanks for the explanation.

 The “You need to preapprove or decline!” messages annoy me and I think they’re designed to do so. Once would be more than sufficient.

 I fail to see how this advances Airbnb’s “grab the money” agenda at all when preapproving someone who is loping his mule blocks my calendar for 24 hours.

 I have been wondering if the RPG generation assumes that anything that happens on line is a video game and NPCs such as hosts are merely computer constructs.

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036  It seems that these days there are tons of new users  who don't bother to upload their payment info until the moment they book, which leads to that 24 hour wait sometimes on REQUESTS, with a calendar block. 

Inquiries, even when pre-approved,  do not block your calendar unless the guest then goes on to book.

I've never had my calendar blocked for 24 hours, because all the guests I've had were either long time users, or they had already entered their payment details before they tried to book something. So their payment got confirmed right away.

[Brian2036]

@Sarah977 

Thanks again.

 I thought that preapproval reserved the subject dates for 24 hours.

So I conclude that preapproval is actually useless except perhaps to make the guest feel “wanted.”

”OMG! The host sent preapproval 5 minutes after I pretended to be interested in the listing! Maybe I should demand a discount and see what happens next!”

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036 Yes, the way it works is that when you get a booking request and accept it, Airbnb immediately starts the process of charging them. If they don't already have their payment method in order, it could take up to 24 hours for their payment to either go through, or he rejected, during which time your calendar is blocked for their dates. (Unfair to host

If you pre-approve an inquiry, the guest can either take the extra step to book, in which case you might get the same 24 hour scenario, or they can ignore it, in which case Airbnb isn't starting to charge them and the dates remain open.

I have actually pre-approved many inquiries that went on to book, which may be not most hosts' experience. But I get the kind of guests who may want to get a bit more info, or ask a specific question before committing, but who are actually serious about booking my place, they aren't just wasting hosts' time sending out the same inquiries to multiple places, never to be heard frrom again.

If the guest is serious about booking, then pre-approving them means they can just take the next step to actually book, without having to then send a request, or me having to accept that request.

[Pat271]

What an interesting idea, Brian. This would be a fair treatment that has the potential of improving guest response times, just as it does with hosts.

The problem is that many guests do not have their notifications turned on, whereas of course, all hosts have them turned on. This creates a bit of an un-level playing field when it comes to treating guest response times the same as host response times. Most of us hosts know when guests have messaged us, whereas many times guests are completely unaware because of the way they have set up their notifications.

Also, it goes without saying that right or wrong, Airbnb caters to guests using kit gloves, both in decision-making policies and software design. They are less likely to implement measures that could be construed  as overly-tracking or punitive towards guests.  They reserve those types of measures for us hosts.

[Emilia42]

@Brian2036 

Actual Responses are measured, not the actual time. When a guest first initiates contact, you have 24 hours to respond. If you do not respond, that is counted against you. It really doesn't matter whether your response text happens in 2 minutes or 6 hours. What matters for Superhost Status is that you actually communicated with the guest whether it be a pre-approval, decline, or text. For an inquiry, I've never pre-approved (or declined) a guest in my life. I answer the question and archive the message. I could really care less if they ever message me again, truthfully I hope they don't. (You can see here how much I hate inquiries :-)) 

[Pat271]

True, @Emilia42, although the actual time is tracked and a notice is displayed, depending on the length of time, e.g. “Pat usually responds within 1 hour”. I could envision a situation where a guest might be dissuaded to book if the message said “Pat usually responds within 24 hours”.

[Emilia42]

@Pat271 

Yes, true. Although, I am not sure the time period over which the statistic spans. I am not quick to respond. I don't bother responding late at night. So sometimes I respond 8 hours later. Sometimes 2 hours but never immediately. But as far as I know, it has always said "responds within the hour. " I have seen listings though where it says "responds in a day." In that case, I think the 8% response rate is more telling. 

[Brian2036]

@Pat271 

Good point about the notifications.

It hadn’t occurred to me that they might not have enough sense to enable them when allegedly conducting a legitimate search for lodging.

In that case it would be pointless to offer them preapproval because they wouldn’t see that either.

Perhaps Airbnb could show whether they have enabled notifications on guest’s profiles.

[Pat271]

Showing whether notifications are enabled is a fabulous idea, unless it is violating some sort of privacy issue to display it.

This issue of notifications has got me thinking that perhaps I should add a message to my normal message when a guest books.  Something like “Happy to host you for those nights, <Guest>; thanks for booking with me! Please make sure you enable your Airbnb notifications so you won’t miss out on important updates from me and/or Airbnb as your stay approaches.”  And maybe even instruct them how to turn notifications on.

I think many people, including myself, choose to leave notifications off when I install most apps, so as to avoid getting endless barrages of visual and auditory spamming on our devices. I don’t think that most guests realize, though, that they might miss something very important if they don’t turn on notifications for Airbnb, and that they can selectively control various levels of notification. 

[Colleen253]

@Pat271 I have that in my 'thanks for booking' message "If you don't have it, I recommned the app for ease of communication and easy access to your reservation details while on the go. Be sure to turn on notifications"  and it definitely helps with confirmed guests. My biggest annoyance is when a guest has requested to book,  I need more info from them (usually the info I've asked for in the house rules that they don't read) and they don't respond in timely manner. Meanwhile the clock ticks on...

[Pat271]

@Colleen253  Yes, I get those too…I just ask the question and let the time pass for about 23 hours, then I decline with a “Your booking request has expired, as additional information is required” type of message. I also add to that message to be sure to turn on notifications. So far, all of those guests  have rebooked and provided the information, luckily without someone else booking in between the cancellation and the rebooking request.

[Brian2036]

@Pat271 

Excellent idea. The next time I get what appears to be a legitimate enquiry I will remind them that they won’t get an answer unless they enable notifications.