Strange Message

[Ann72]

Last night there appeared in my inbox a name and a picture, nothing more.  This morning the woman wrote a message, claiming she had messaged me last night, adding that she wanted to stay this weekend, but not saying which place she wanted to stay in or the exact dates.  I told her I hadn't had a previous message and asked her to enter dates.  She wrote again, at greater length, but still could not bring herself to enter dates or tell me which house she wanted.  Long story short, we went around this at least once more, and she finally said she would do that.  Never heard from her again, but this weekend isn't available at either place anyway.

Questions:  How can someone send me a non-specific message, i.e., not tied to a specific listing and not tied to any dates?  And why did her picture come through when it's not a booking but simply an inquiry?  

This was the first communication.  It's weird, right?

[Anonymous]

@Ann72   It used to be that guests had to enter booking dates to send an Inquiry, but it looks like they've changed the contact form. Now, this is the screen that appears if I click the Contact Host button on one of your listings:

Not sure how long it's been like that, but it seems a lot easier now for this random stuff to get through. 

[Ann72]

@Anonymous  That's the new page design all right, but after entering a message in the box and clicking "Send message," you still can't proceed without entering dates.  The calendar you're given is the one for that particular listing.

I just tried to message myself with the word "test."  After choosing dates, I hit "send message" and got a white screen.  When I refreshed it, I was brought back to the contact host screen.  The dates were still highlighted, but the message had not gone through.

It's not good to discover that requests are going into the ether.  @Nick @Quincy I think we have some kind of tech issue that needs attention.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Ann72  @Emilia42  @Michelle53  Please make sure you are logging these issues with Airbnb

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1640/how-can-i-give-feedback-about-airbnb

This helps ensure that any new code pushed is showcasing the errors.  Airbnb has been notorious for not doing great testing prior to launch and are okay with "known issues".  We just experienced another one ourselves of not being notified of an inquiry despite having notifications, text, and emails turned on - they haven't figured out what line of code is causing the problem. 

[Ann72]

Good idea @Alice-and-Jeff0.  I've submitted feedback with a link to this thread.

[Lawrene0]

Thank you @Sarah977 for pointing me here. Thanks @Ann72 for posting it!

Same thing happened to me this week. Photo was grainy and goth-looking with first name underneath, "new event" but details section blank and nothing about whether it was an inquiry or request or how to deal with it. Usually only the photo is held back, but this time only the photo was showing. 

It was a bit of panic on top of finding that my property type had been changed to "castle"...

Without this forum, I would be a basket case.

[Ann72]

@Lawrene0  While I'm sure many of your guests feel your place is a castle, the idea that categories can change willy-nilly is alarming!

[Sarah977]

@Ann72  I wonder how many low accuracy ratings the poor host whose cabin in the forest that is presently categorized as Houseboat (saw this 2 days ago on the main site) is getting.

[Lawrene0]

0 stars for accuracy when you list your camping treehouse as a castle...

Alarming indeed, @Ann72 , @Sarah977 !

[Ann72]

@Michelle53 @Emilia42 @Lawrene0  Because I heard more from my lady and corresponded with her, I reached out to her after seeing the booking request I'd never been notified about.  I explained that she'd apparently uncovered an Airbnb glitch and apologized for the inconvenience.

This afternoon, she wrote that she's still considering the stay, but added, "I must admit, that thus far, I am not impressed with AirBnB!"

I'm jumping through a few extra hoops for her, not because I really want the booking (it would be squeezed between a checkout tomorrow and my arrival Thursday), but because I don't want to send new customers away from Airbnb!  I let her know that I would send her an offer if she decides to come, so she wouldn't have to navigate the booking process again, with its potential for frustration if she encounters the same glitch (or a new one).

@Drew-B @Alex  We've used the Feedback form to report this, but can you suggest other people to flag?

[Lawrene0]

I wrote to mine just now, @Ann72 , now that I know it is a glitch and the guest might be real..., and she answered immediately. She had been trying to book, but there was a problem with her credit card. So she is going to work on getting that sorted and will try again. Messages from her in my email account show up as "message" rather than "request", "inquiry" or "booking". No dates attached. 

So strange. 

[Ann72]

@Lawrene0  I definitely wondered if there was a payment method issue with this lady as well.  Perhaps incomplete details entered before attempting to book or some such.  We'll see if anything happens but I do feel better that I reached back out to her and she seemed to appreciate it, as I'm sure your person does, too.

[Sarah977]

@Lawrene0 @Ann72 Did you ask the guest whether she sent a booking request or an inquiry? That would be good to know.

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with all the host complaints about their calendars being held hostage for 24 hours on requests where the guest's info and credit card payments are being held up. 

Maybe Airbnb is trying to do a (failed) experiment where that doesn't happen?

[Ann72]

I didn't ask @Sarah977 but saw in my "activity" report that a booking request had come through and then, probably because I didn't respond, been cancelled 12 hours later.  I haven't had time, between work and landing this reservation, to check my response rate now...

[Emilia42]

@Sarah977 

My suspicion is that these guests are trying to book (whether it be request or instant book) but they are getting held up by the automated process (verification? confirming payment? etc) and so the 12-24 hour hold applies. This used to happen all behind the scenes and the hold could be seen on the calendar but there was no way to contact the guest so hosts/guests sat in limbo while we waited for the system to either push through the request/instant book or drop it. So I don't really think this is a glitch but rather an enhancement where hosts can now communicate to encourage the guest to stay with the booking (as @Ann72 did.) Although not perfect, it is definitely more transparent. 

[Ann72]

@Emilia42  That's a really good point.  My only questions would be, Why is the non-message not tied to a particular listing and why does the photo come through before the booking is complete?  I could see which listing had received the request only under "activity."

In addition, my guest had clearly written a message to accompany the booking request, but it has disappeared for good.

And by the way @Nick could you scribble out my guest's face in the screenshot I posted?  Should not have posted without doing that.