Responding to a request

[Sami1]

Pertential guest contacted me. I responded to her question regarding animals at my home (she can't be with them).  I now hear from Airbnb that the request was not responded to in the right amount of time.  I did respond to her request and in fact got a third message thanking me from her.  How does one get this straightened with Airbnb so I don't get unfavorable ratings by them?  Has anyone experience this yet?

[Clare0]

Was it an inquiry or a booking request? Sounds like the latter which has a time limit to respond.  

[Jennifer-And-Brian0]

Responding to an question does not count as a "booking" response as it relates to your response rate.  You must accept or decline a "booking" request within 24 hours. If you don't , you get penialized. 

That's how I understand it.  I have made this mistake before. Answered a question asked with a booking request and thought that counted as a response.  Nope. 

[Linda0]

Hello Sami -
When replying to guest inquiries always use the email reply or airbnb symbol reply so that the response can be tracked.
Do not use the text message system because the guest will not get your reply. It's mainly used as a notification to you like as an alert or alarm someone is trying to reach you.