What constitues a response?

[John139]

Why is asking a potential guest reservation a question not considered a response when it comes to response rate &  timing?
You threaten me with: turning off my listing?  I've been a most graceful and grateful host and all you do is send me negative messages
when I "fail" to meet your (sometimes) confusing and again (sometimes) unreasonable requirements.

I cannot ACCEPT, DELCINE nor MAKE SPECIAL OFFER, until I ask my guests appropriate questions.  Why am I penalized for this basic
business concept?  And from my prespective, that IS a REPLY to a guest, and they always appreciate it and completely understand.

So responding to a guest with logical questions, such as: are there all adults in your party?  How many dogs will you be bringing?
Do they sleep in creates or on furniture?  How can this NOT be considered responding to a guest?

Threaten me with "turning off my listing"? seriously?
Please someone from Airbnb call to discuss and clarify for me this most simple of concepts, your 'response' would be most appreciated.  I respectfully ask for a bit of respect and understanding ....

Sorry, tired and tired of getting these messages.  I hope you will revisit your requirements on "replying" to guests...

best
John

[Dede0]

@John139, Answering your original question only and not getting into your misdirected rage (this is a "Community" forum, not an AirBnB support site), here, cut-and-dried, is what constitutes a response:

If you've received a Pre-Approval inquiry (not a full booking request), then simply pre-approving or declining is considered a response. Asking the user a question is NOT considered a response. Think of it this way: the user asked for either a pre-approval or a rejection of the request. You're free to ask as many questions as you want (I ask some myself), but within 24 hours you need to do one of two things: pre-approve or decline. Not so hard. In case you start to panic, keep in mind that Pre-approval requests don't block your calendar or prevent you from renting to other guests.

If you've received a full-on Booking request, it's really almost the same. Ask all the questions you want (I often ask a few) but within 24 hours, whether or not you've gotten answers to your questions, either Approve or Decline the request. Again, not so hard. For one thing, if the user hasn't gotten back to you in that 24 hour window, doesn't that tell you all you need to Decline? Personally, I don't even wait 23.99 hours. If I haven't gotten a response to my question(s) within about 6-8 hours, I decline to remove the block that the Booking request had placed in my calendar.

[Dede0]

A correction to my above posting. It turns out that, in the case of a Pre-Approval inquiry, a mere message to the requestor (a question, for example) probably *does* count as the "response" that AirBnB wants the host to make within 24 hours. That said, I still always approve or decline well before the 24-hour deadline. As I've said, a non-response after a number of hours from someone who sent me an inquiry really tells me all I need to know.

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @John139,

Please take the time to read my Help Guide on the difference between an "inquiry" and a "request": https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Reservation-Inquiry-or-Request-What-s-the-Difference-A-C...