Response Rate Penalty for only replying to messages vs Accepting/Declining a request?

[Linda152]

Hi everyone,

I know there are a hundred posts about response rate, but I can't find anyone answering my specfic question:

Will your response rate drop if you reply to an inquiry/reservation request with a message instead of immediately pre-/approving/declining?

It seems that my response rate was penalized a few times for just replying to the messages (within Airbnb- not by email) because I needed more information about the guests and their group before giving them a yes/no on staying with us. Because of the turn-around time on messaging them and getting their response, I'm worried that the clock keeps ticking (and frankly, we just don't feel comefortable with all the guests we get messages from- especially those with no past reviews!)

I'm hoping I can stay in good-standing as a host without being forced to accept or decline each inquiry within 24 hours.

(also- does anyone understand why sometimes the countdown timer appears and sometimes not when a new message/request comes in?)

Thanks!

Scott

[Andrea9]

@Linda152

Sounds like you are mixing up the two.

A booking INQUIRY is not a committed decision and just somebody showing interest with questions.

You have 24h to react with either a reply, a pre-approval or declining.

A booking REQUEST is a whole different animal.

You have 24h to accept or decline or else those dates are blocked by Airbnb. It's to encourage hosts to answer more quickly to booking requests and not leave them hanging indefinitely.

If you have questions to the guest before being able to decide - tell them you will need the answer within X # of hours. That if you don't hear back from them in that time span you'll have to decline their request in order  to not be penalized by Airbnb.  But that they can then send you their answer (or additional information) with a re-issued request.

Hope this answers your question.

[Linda152]

Thanks for the details, that was more or less what I understood, however it seems that Airbnb is still penalizing my response rate for INQUIRIES, even though I've responded with a message requesting more information within the initial 24 hours. I even received an alert this mornign from Airbnb saying my listing is at risk of being deactivated because of response time! It's only at 84%! In school, 84% was a B!!

On a seperate note, it's now been 3 days since I escilated my resolution center request with Airbnb (claim against some guests that trashed our house) and we've had no response from Airbnb. By those same standards, Airbnb receives a response rate of 70% from me!

[Liz89]

I had a similar situation where I thought I had responded in the alloted time to the guest by asking a question about their stay. They did not respond back before the reservation expired. They did respond however, and I would like to accept the booking, but now those dates are blocked by Airbnb. How can I accept their reservation? I am a super host and have never not responded in some way to a request. Please help! 

Thank you! 

Liz

[Melody22]

I am new to hosting and am confused also. I just put up my listing and someone asked to book. That person just joined AirBnB and they have no reviews, so I sent them a message asking them to tell me more about themselves. From this thread it seems if the person doesn't reply back and I don't accept or decline I will be penalized. Is that correct?  If so that seems quite harsh. 

[Andrea9]

@Melody22

Easily solved:

Tell them you have to accept/decline within 24h to not be penalized by the Airbnb system, so that if they don't  manage to get back to you within that time frame, you'll decline the booking for that reason, but that they can simply renew their request when answering your question.

It always helps and leaves a good impression on potential guests if you communicate clearly and don't just decline. Or have your dates blocked because you didn't dare decline.

The system is what it is, not always ideal, yet we are given tools and we have to learn to use them creatively.

[Rachael26]

Thanks @Andrea9 that is a very sensible way to deal with this - I had an inquiry about bringing a large young dog to my no pets cabin - I responded saying the dog would not be OK but the couple would be welcome. They never replied but I was worrying about whether hitting decline would prevent them from booking. So I have learned something new from you and will definitely do this the next time it comes up.

Thanks!

[Andrea9]

@Rachael26 hi,

Yeah, happily learnt that trick quite early on from another host 🙂

Can I ask you something, since you probably get more inquires than I do? 

A few  days ago on another thread a regular host said that replying to an inquiry but not pre-approving or declining did not make the ticking clock go away. I have not noticed this, even with a recent inquiry. And though I'm in the Netherlands I still always use English-language version of the site (though in Euros).

So I'm curious - what are you experiencing? A ticking clock that stops with a reply (and possibly a dismissal on your dashboard? Or do you HAVE to pre-approve/decline to feed the monster?

Cheers, Andrea

[Rachael26]

@Andrea9

Thanks for your reply! Well hopefully others might help answer this one - as actually I don't get that many inquiries that don't turn into immediate accepts.... just that one about the 1 year German shepherd dog (can you imagine what damage a young excitable large dog like that would do in a small cabin!). Anyway - there was no ticking clock - just several reminder messages from Airbnb to decline or accept... but since they stopped after 24hrs maybe there was a clock somewhere?

Sorry I can't be of more help... 

Best Wishes.

[Andrea9]

@Rachael26

yikes, the whole cabin would have become a doggy bone!

Those annoying reminder messages from Airbnb to decline or accept aren't the ticking clock (just feel like one) and can be stopped by dismissing on the dashboard.

Thanks for getting back to me!