The old wisdom about not needing to Pre-Approve or Decline Inquiries has changed

The old wisdom about not needing to Pre-Approve or Decline Inquiries has changed

In the past, for new hosts who were worried about maintaining their Response Rate,

experienced hosts told these new hosts that a host did not need to either Pre-Approve or Decline an simple Inquiry (as opposed to a Reservation Request).

In the past merely sending any sort of message back to the guest was enough to fulfill your obligation regarding Inquiries.

 

This has now changed.

 

Sometime recently, AirBnb modified its policies so now hosts DO have to either Pre-Approve or Decline Inquiries to maintin their Response Rate.

The new policy is outlined here:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/430/what-is-response-rate-and-how-is-it-calculated

 

I have contacted Host support to specifically ask about the policy change, and they did verify that the currently active policy is different than it was in the past.

 

So the new advice is this: hosts DO have to either Pre-Approve or Decline Inquiries within 24 hours to maintain their Response Rate.

(Just like they have to with actual Booking Requests.)

 

 

85 Replies 85

@Matthew285

Thanks for the update!!!

I had my doubts like @Marit-Anne0 - if host's really don't have to pre-approve or decline an "inquiry" why is that there and why is there a countdown????? So I usually clicked approved followed by a message that my pre-approve is conditional upon the understanding that the guest has read and agrees to comply with all my house rules, and that it's the GUEST responsibility to read, acknowledge my rules and know what I provide before making a reservation and so I won't provide any refund if the guest missed something stated in my description  🙂 None of the people that got this type of message ever ended up making a reservation.

Ria16
Level 10
Northland, New Zealand

Are you positive on this @Matthew285 because whilst I do send a reply message I don’t hit the button instead I archive itso I never actually see a countdown marker, My response rate is still 100%

@Ria16 I have no direct experience with the new rules. The only thing I am basing this on is a report from another host, which prompted me to ask AirBnB host support. AirBnB host support said this:

"Yes, there was a time in Airbnb's history when the response rate was related to responding to messages an inquiries in general. This also measured the overall response rate for your all-time hosting history.

Now, you have a time limit of 24 hours to respond to either requests or simple inquiries. If you have a request to book, you either need to decline or accept in 24 hours. If it's just a message and not an inquiry, you just need to respond to the guest in the thread within 24 hours."

 

I am aware that AirBnB host support has been wrong in the past. If you have something that works for you, I say keep doing it.

 

 

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

@Matthew285

"If it's just a message and not an inquiry, you just need to respond to the guest in the thread within 24 hours."

This gets more and more confusing as "just a message" using the "contact host" button is in fact an inquiry as dates have to be entered.  There is no such thing as "just a message" until a booking is confirmed or there is a pre-approval or special offer in place. I quite like it just like that as it keeps most of the spammers away.

As @Jessica-and-Henry0 points out, as soon as there is "just a messaga" aka inquiry, the countdown clock is there followed by the airbnb prompts to pre-approve or decline.  

As I have been on IB for the last 16 months, I do not have the latest experiences, there also used to be an option to send a special offer.  Instead of declining, many just sent a special offer for a ginormous amount to avoid declining, especially to those asking for discounts.  My method used to be to pre-approve, then quickly withdraw the pre-approval to get rid of the countdown.  Not sure if this method still works.

Many have reported the same as @Ria16 says, declining an inquiry does not count against their response rate, but I suppose we do not know how far in the past "back in the olden days" is in the eyes of airbnb.  Back in 2012 when I started out it was like the CS rep explains and then suddenly one day the countdown clock appeared.

And now we have discovered there is something called acceptance rate, an invisible force that has been counting against us for an unknown amount of time. Hopefully only for declining reservation requests. But what if you have IB that turns into a reservation request because the guest trying to book does not meet your requirements ? Had such a case last season - someone wanting to bring 5 persons when max occupancy is 4.  Decling this request I would assume would count against the acceptance rate.

 

@Marit-Anne0 that is a very cogent analysis.

 

Apparently, with regards to Response Rate, we have gone from a slightly opaque and often misunderstood system to different system that is vaguely opaque, and not clearly understood... but at least it is different.

 

I will try to continue the questioning to the support person I am messaging about this and see if I can get more clarity.

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

I have IB so the inquiries I receive are from those who do not meet my IB requirements.  I always respond with a question or requirement first.  Then if I do not get the needed response in a timely way, I decline the inquiry.  

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Matthew285,

 

When the policy did really change, than this would really be bad news!

Because that's what I also always used to do: Just a message back within 1 hour - and move on.

We have IB on (no restrictions), So they can book as they like. And therefore no real need for any Pre-Approval? It just doesn't make sense!

 

We get quite often inquiries, and indeed for many different reasons:

- Haggling/Requests for Discounts, Can we hire only 1 bedroom iso the whole accommodation?,

- Requesting date-range A, but actually wanting to stay during date-range B (Which is already booked)

- Just weird requests, such as: Do you provide a Chef cook-Service in your self-catering accommodation for our honeymoon? In what town is your accommodation actually?

- All sorts of requests, which are either not in line with our house rules, or that fit our accommodation, or doesn't fit our check-in/check-out schedule, etc.

- People seeking advice on investments

- People trying to sell something

- Any example, you name it, and it will occur

 

And now basically the only option, we have left: Is to Pre-Approve them?

Because a rejection, will have a negative impact on the acceptance rate, right?

 

One could say, there is no difference between a Pre-Approval and an IB-Booking without restrictions.

But there is!

When people make an inquiry, that does either not fit the accommodation, or is not in line with the house-rules or doesn't fit the check-in/check-out schedule.

But despite that, and you would still pre-approve them. Then you are not supposed to decline them, when they actually book!

With an IB, you can always contact Airbnb Host Support. And get them to take action with regards to such a booking, when it doesn't fit the listing!

 

I already did, but from now onwards I will keep an even closer eye on the Countdown Clock, and whether it does disappear. After a simple reply.

With an inquiry, in by far the majority of all cases. We do not hear anything back anymore.

I replied to an inquiry very recently. And the countdown clock still disappeared (Upon refresh).

 

Thanks Matthew for making us aware of this!

Because when I read the help text, it is really as you state.

 

Ps @Marit-Anne0,

Last year we had 2 new messages, which weren’t either a request or an inquiry.

I'll take it, that these must have been glitches in the system (as we received them on 2 subsequent days).

 

Pps.

I've always had some mixed feelings about the button: Contact Host (Just asking any question).

Because on receipt it has been translated to an inquiry (Real intention to book).

And now the commercial impact of such a 'simple' message, does even increase?

I would not be surprised, when any user pressing this button. From now on, will be bombarded in the coming 24 hours with automated messages: You only have nn hours left to accept the Pre-Approval of host xx.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Matthew285   So did you take this information to mean that even if we respond by message to a guest's inquiry without pre-approving or declining, but at some future time within the 24 hour window either pre-approve or decline, that that still is "bad", and is counted against us?

@Sarah977 hm... you clearly read the text of the help page more carefully than I did.

 

What language gives the impression that responding via message and then later (within 24 hours) Pre-Approving or Declining would have negative effects?

 

(Mind you, after hearing more from other hosts on this topic, I am not entirely sure what to think.)

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Matthew285   You give me more credit than I deserve 🙂 I was just wondering, when I read your post, if airbnb would penalize us if we didn't hit pre-approve or decline in response to the guest's first inquiry message, but waited until getting a response from the guest (still within 24 hours of their original inquiry) before pre-approving or declining?

@Sarah977, oh! I get it.

My impression is they only care that one of the buttons gets pushed before 24 hours is up.

I don't think the messages (or lack of messages) affects the Response Rate.

 

But don't forget: in this thread we have something like 10 experienced hosts with 11 different thoughts on how Response Rate works now.

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Matthew285   So essentially, none of us can understand clearly what the policy is.  I sure don't understand why airbnb can't just send out automated messages to hosts when they change a policy. It would seem common courtesy. The system doesn't have any problem generating automated threats or reminders.

@Sarah977 that was the most disappointing thing about this: why did I have to find out about this change in a random discussion on a Facebook group?

 

If I hadn't happened to dig into the long thread of comments on a STR host group (and I usually don't) I never would have found out about the policy change.

 

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Matthew285 Thanks for the intel. One area of confusion for me: Was there a community announcement or some kind of email notification that went out to all Airbnb hosts so that we would know of this very critical policy change? Did I miss it somehow? Seems like many hosts had no idea about this. Odd.

@Rebecca181, apparently not. As I mentioned to @Sarah977 just above, I only found out about this by reading a random comment thread on Facebook.

 

And, for all we know, all they did was update the "Help" page but keep the actual way it works the same.

I think at least one host here has said the old way still works for them.

 

We just don't know.