When your guest fails to respond w/in the 24-hour period....

[Jason227]

Greetings all.  I received an inquiry from someone who said in his email that he lives in another state on the other side of the country and wants to rent my place, along with three other people, for 2 weeks.  However, the actual reservation request shows one person for ten days.  Plus, according to Airbnb, he just joined this month and lives some 15 miles away from my place.

Because he is new, with no references/reviews, I responded by saying we'd love to have him stay, but asking him to clarify the number of people, dates, etc.  I haven't heard back, and the 24 hour response period is almost up.  What do I do?  Or rather, what would you do?

[Paul154]

NEXT!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I'd just forget about it and hope for better luck next time. Being new shouldn't really be a problem. Everyone starts somewhere right? I was (still am) a new host - I have no reviews. My current guest was also new to Airbnb and also did not have any reviews. But we are a great fit and are getting along so well! Trust your instincts, and if I were you, I'd hold on to the messages you exchanged as evidence, just in case. Even if this guest were to contact you again, I suggest you decline unless you are 100% comfortable with him. I know that a lot of people think being fully booked is important, but personally I'd rather have an empty room than host someone who tries to take advantage of me. 

[Monika64]

@Jason227 Decline. You HAVE to act within 24 hours and if you aren't comfortable with tje potential guests you putting yourself into a stressful situation. He didn't respond, you have the right to make a decision at that point. 

He can always contact you again. 

[Valerie192]

So this just happened to me.... The guest did not provide info upfront as to why she was visiting Los Angeles and when she didn't reply to my friendly inquiry about the reason for her visit within 24 hours, I ended up declining under "Other" reason and stated "Guest didn't answer question." Apparently today (about a week later) she sees this and writes me a nasty note about declining her when she didn't answer a question. I replied very profesionally that unfortunately Airbnb requires us to answer within 24 hours and without all the information I could not make a determination to accept and that I hoped she had a nice day. She sent another follow up saying very aggressively that I was in the wrong. I guess I dodged a bullet on that one.