@Katherine92 Are you aware of the difference between Inquiries and Requests? Because they are handled differently. If it's an Inquiry, the options shown are pre-approve or decline. But you don't have to do either. All you have to do for an Inquiry is message them back within 24 hrs. So don't decline inquiries, ever, because declines count against you.
If it's a Booking request, the options are accept or decline. You must do one or the other within 24 hrs, but use that time to communicate with guests to get a sense of them, make sure they have read your description thoroughly, including house rules, and entered the correct number of guests. If they are asking for things outside of your rules or things you don't provide, briefly explain that your place won't be a good fit for them and ask them to please withdraw the request so they can look for a place that meets their needs. If they withdraw the request before the 24 hrs is up, you won't need to decline.
No, you can't just keep declining guests just because they have no reviews. Airbnb will send you threatening messages about suspending you if you decline too much.
You won't know if a guest has a real face photo until after a booking is confirmed- hosts can't see a guest's photo until then. But state in your listing that you require a real profile photo.
Re missing the friendliness and politeness- yes, this never sits well, but some newbie guests don't understand that it's not like booking an impersonal hotel room. Most of my guests send friendly informative initial messages, but I have also gotten messages that just say, "Arriving at noon" or "Looking forward to coming".
In that case, I send a friendly message back asking them a question designed to determine if theey have actually read the listing info and to jog them to be more forthcoming. This has always, for me at least, resulted in a good response, and the feeling that they understood they hadn't communicated well.
So it might go something like:
"Hi XX, thank you for your request. I am just checking that you read through the emtire description and are aware that the is a cat on the premises ( in case you have allergies) and that it's a 20 minute walk from my place to town and the beach?"
"Oh, yes, I did read the listing info and I have no issues with cats. I also am quite outdoorsy and love to walk, so the walk to town is fine with me. I' ve signed up for surf lessons, so I'll be up pretty early and probably be out most of the day. "
There's also nothing wrong with saying to a non-communicator, "Hi XX, thanks for your inquiry. I see that you are new to Airbnb, so you may think of it like booking a hotel room, but hosts like to know a bit about guests before accepting a booking. As you have no reviews yet, and haven't filled out any bio info on your profile, could you tell me a bit about yourself, your reasons for booking here, and your general plans while here? Are you on vacation, working online from home, attending a special event? Hope to hear back from you soon."
Definitely if you get a bad feeling about someone you should follow your gut, but try to give them chance to communicate beetter before you simply dismiss them.
That message I got that just said "Arriving at noon"? He turned out to be a very sweet and appreciative guy who was no problem at all and left a great review.
My general experience is that middle aged folks "get it" and send polite, friendly, informative messages and the younger ones whose daily communication generally revolves around one-liner texting need to be prodded a bit.
It's like the first the first time posters here on the forum whose first post consists of "Hi. I have some questions".
As if they are texting with a friend. They don't get the discussion forum concept, i.e, you just ask your question, give some context to make your issue clear, and people will answer.
