Inquiries

[Stephen100]

Do I need to decline inquiries if the conversation did not lead to a reservation request?

Thanks,

Steve

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

I don't.  My repsonse rate is still 100%. 

[Ed31]

I want to be clear about what you said. 

In my case the potential guest sent an inquiry with only 2 people but then followed up with a booking request for 3 people (after we talked and I agreed to allow her to get charged for three of her four people. 

Do I need to decline her original inquiry in order to not have any impact on my ratings?

Thank you.

Ed

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

You have 24 hours to approve or decline a reservation request or it will expire.  If it expires, the dates will be blocked out on your calendar as a penalty for not following up. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/28/what-do-i-do-after-i-receive-a-reservation-request

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/360/can-i-decline-booking-inquires-or-reservation-requests

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/430/how-are-my-response-rate-and-response-time-calculated

[Robin4]

@Stephen100....No Stephen, a booking enquiry is just that....an enquiry.....a fishing exercise!! What it will do is open a message stream with the potential guest so you can exchange information as to whether your property is available or not, or other details the guest may want to know prior to booking. If for some reason you can't proceed to a booking you simply state your reason to the enquirer and that will be the end of it.

The guest may make several 'booking enquiries' to different hosts in your area before settling on a particular listing. You can 'Pre-Approve' a guests booking enquiry which gives them 24 hours to confirm their intention to stay with you. If they have not responded within that 24 hour period their enquiry will simply drop off the system.....no further action is required on your part.

If the potential guest decides to utilise your property they will then follow up with a 'booking request', and it is this 'request' that you MUST either accept or decline. Failure to do so in a 24 hour period from the time the request was lodged will affect your response rate.

Cheers.....Rob

[Frances-Ruth0]

If I am correct, Hosts used to receive simple inquiries for discussions b/t guests&ghosts. Now it seems the initial inquiry arrives w an ACCEPT/DECLINE option, with the 24 hour clock ticking. My confusion is this: Sometimes i begin "vetting" the potential guest and the guest eventually cease to respond. After a few nudges I simply have to write back that I will need to DECLINE their inquiry in order to keep inside the 24hour limit ( and mostly so I do not forget and self-penalize). Does Airbnb send a msg to Hosts if/when ( w/in that conversation thread ) that the guest has found another location? 

[Robin4]

@Frances-Ruth0.....As I said in a previous post, a potential guest will come to you in one of two ways! They will send you an 'enquiry' which will ask you to 'Pre-approve'  a booking for them. This is not a booking and does not commit you to that enquiry. By Pre-approving that enquiry you have given the enquirer 24 hours to proceed with a booking. During this time you have message contact with the enquirer. You can still reject/decline that booking when it does comes if you receive a booking request from someone else or you decide a booking from them is not acceptable. A booking request over-rides an enquiry!

Once you have given that pre-approval you need do nothing else......'the ball is in the guests court'! If they do not proceed to a booking request in that 24 hour period both the pre-approval and the enquiry will drop off the system.

What is happening to you @Frances-Ruth0 is, you are not receiving 'Enquiries', you are receiving 'Booking requests'! In other words people just want to book your listing and you have 24 hours to either accept or decline that booking request. You MUST respond to this! Response time is taken into calculations where your 'Stats' are concerned, and it is in your interests to either accept or decline that booking as quickly as possible. One hour is accepted as a good yardstick for responding, and you are right......that is not a lot of time to check the credentials of the guest but, you do have access to their previous reviews and this should help you make a reasonably quick response. In this respect booking a hosting site or a hotel site are not very different. A guest does not want to wait days for an answer, they want to know where they stand, and if you don't respond in reasonable time, they will go elsewhere, and you will be penalised in your stats for not responding.

As far as Airbnb informing you is concerned, I can't tell you accurately. On occassions I have been notified by Airbnb that the enquiry has lapsed, on other occasions I have not...... so this is maybe something that Airbnb need to tighten up on!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Stephen100]

Thanks everyone! 

[Kevin168]

I received an inquiry from a potential guest who wanted my phone number. I suggested we stick to the messages as I don't speak his language and can use "translate" in a message. He then stated that he wanted to see the place first and asked for my address. Another host said not to ever do this (it would have involved not booking the place, just waiting) so I didn't. Today he wrote again, but to say he'd take the place if it was still available. I have no inclination to pre-approve or deny. He didn't send a reservation request, so I can't see his feedback. 

Since it's my first booking, I'm curious as to what YOU would do!

[Robin4]

@Kevin168.....Hi Kevin, there is a rule of thumb for hosts....If potential guests make demands before they book they will turn out to be amongst the most difficult to host. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!

There are so many wonderful people out there to host Kevin don't straddle yourself with a lemon!!!

I understand from what you have said he has simply sent you an enquiry for pre-approval, presumably so he could gain further information about your property. Kevin, decline the pre-approval and if Airbnb require any explanation (which they shouldn't) you can state you felt uncomfortable with the fact that the guest wanted contact outside of Airbnb, which is a legitimate reason for declining

Cheers....Rob

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/5724253?s=b14U

[Kevin168]

Thanks Robin! That was really what I felt like doing. I understand that i don't have to decline or pre-approve? After all, no request to book was received...