Issues with Request Messaging Platform

[Jeff1]

Hi there,

Looking to get feedback from Airbnb on what happened with a guest request that did not allow me to message her when her request came in. It then timed out and showed as cancelled. This shows poorly on me, but I was unable to accept because there were specific considerations for the booking (it was a photo shoot request not just a stay) as timing needed to be discussed.

Separately, she then requested again and I was able to message her on my laptop, but then the request timed out as we were in the midst of discussing details for the hours of her photo shoot. This has been an issue for me a few times with non-traditional bookings that need to be discussed, not just transactially booked.

Any clue what may have happened with the messaging functionality not being avaialble in the app? Any how can I avoid these request expiries from hurting my profile?

Thanks!