Why doesn't answering a simple question NOT count as a response????

[James165]

It is very frustrating that an interested person can ask a simple question, you can answer it from your dashboard, but unless you pre-approve or decline, Airbnb acts like you've not responded. When a client simply says "hi" and all of a sudden they have a proposal in front of them, it kind of freaks them out - especially if they said "hi" to several properties. Why doesn't a response count as a response???? If they actually submit a booking request, then yes, I see that they should get an approve or decline within 24 hours. This is very frustrating as a host since it forces me to respond in ways that the potential guest is not asking and it makes Airbnb look silly!

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@James165 - a Reservation Request and an Inquiry are 2 different things.  They do not have the same criteria for responses.  If a guest requests to book, the assumption is that they are ready to do so and you have 24 hours to get any additional questions resolved.  If the guest does not respond to you, you should most definitely decline.  

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/363/what-does-each-reservation-status-mean

https://www.airbnb.com/help/search?q=reservation%20status&sid=d03737f3-420a-4901-81e9-d84f1105e873

[James165]

That's what I had thought. But I had a case where someone just asked a question - they did not request a reservation. I answered their question. End of discussion. Then the next day I get an e-mail from Airbnb saying I had not responded to them. That's happened twice to where now I just go ahead and preapprove even if someone just asks about the weather. 

[Matthew285]

@James165 you did what you were supposed to do.

Often the AirBnB system will prompt you to do more, such as Pre-Approve or Decline a guest who merely sent an Inquiry. You can ignore those notifications.

For me, those annoying and superfluous notifications stick around for about a week before they go away.

[Fred13]

  This is how mysterious my particular account works: ~ Inquiries~ (not Requests) that I already have answered within the 24-hour clock (via Reply), start appearing as 'Pending Requests' in the Host Dashboard. I can't get rid of them. Then  it causes my Response Rate to go lower and lower slowly in 1% increments, then when it hits below 50% then it resets up to 100% again, but it gets me kicked out of Superhost automatically for the 3-month current evaluation period, so I am and can only be Superhost only 50% of the time. Despite the fact Airbnb uses my listing to advertise in Facebook, magazines, etc. which it probably causes some to wonder, if this listing is so cool why aren't they Superhost. Not that I really care one way or another, but talking about strange account mechanics.

[Robin4]

@James165 @Matthew285 @Alice-and-Jeff0 @Fred13

What is happening here James, when a potential guest hits that 'Contact Host' tab, the enquiry will be handled one of two ways.

A/. The guest will be asked to submit dates they are interested in and tack a question onto it, and if they do, then a formal response on your part is required....either a pre-approval or a decline for those nominated dates.

B/. The guest may elect to not enter dates and just wish to ask a question! It's still just an enquiry but they haven't put a timeline on it!

If this is they way they have approached you, you can simply answer their question without pre-approving or declining because the automated program is not expecting a confirm/decline response....it is simply putting a question to you to answer.

I hope this helps you James.

Cheers.....Rob

[Fred13]

Isn't there a C?

An 'Inquiry' with yes dates, but only needs to be answered by a 'Reply' (option #3) within 24 hours, to not lower Response Rate?

[Lawrene0]

@Robin4, could you point us to the new "no dates attached" contact option? I tested it just now and, as @Alice-and-Jeff0 say, it is not possible - at least in Canada - to contact a host through the "Contact Host" link without attaching dates. Even our .ca Help Centre says so. I know you won't have pulled this out of the air, so it will be good to know how and from where prospective guests will manage to do it. Thanks for any help!

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Robin4 - unless something has changed very recently, when you select the option to "contact host" you must still enter in dates you are looking to reserve.  You cannot contact hosts without choosing a date. 

Inquiry: A guest sent a message to a host about certain dates using the CONTACT HOST option, but hasn't submitted a reservation request. In response, the host can send a message, pre-approve, send a Special Offer, or decline the dates of the inquiry.  

Reservation Request: A guest sent a message to a host by submitting a booking request for specific dates. In response, the host will need to either accept or decline the request within 24 hours before it expires.  If you don’t accept or decline a request within 24 hours, it expires and the dates of the request will remain blocked in your calendar. 

You can decline any booking inquiries or reservations that you can’t accommodate, but you should do so within 24 hours. Whether you accept or decline, the amount of time it takes you to respond to requests is factored into your response rate.

Your response RATE and response TIME (please note that these are different) measure how quickly and consistently you respond to inquiries and requests. You can view your response rate on your Dashboard in the Pending section.Your RESPONSE RATE shown on the Dashboard is the percentage of new inquiries and reservation requests you responded to (by either accepting/pre-approving or declining) within 24 hours in the past 30 days. Your RESPONSE TIME is the average amount of time it took you to respond to all the new messages in the past 30 days.  The Superhost criteria for RESPONSE RATE is calculated over the past YEAR and you must maintain a 90%.  

[Mrs--Donna0]

[link hidden]

Really, my thing is that I pre-approved them, I lower the price, then I do not hear from them again. I wonder if they can get back to my page. This is so fustrating to me, then to make it so bad is that they show me how much money I could make, then I do not hear from them again. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Mrs--Donna0

Many guests shop around - they probably got an even better offer elsewhere.  It is just the way things are and I know it can be frustrating, but really, the frustration is just a waste of energy.

If these guests cannot be bothered to come back to you, you are probably better off without them anyway.

[Mrs--Donna0]

That made me feel better, I know I am a good host.

[James165]

Hi,

So, it still appears a bit muddy, but the bottom line is that Airbnb tries to move people quickly into an actual booking, since that's where they make their money. The probably don't like us just chatting since they're worried we'll book outside of them. I just wish they didn't do that since IMO it makes us as hosts seem pushy when people just are gathering information and it forces potential guests to nail down dates when they really may not be to that point. Yes, they can ignore the offer, but it still gets in the way of the conversation. Kind of like forcing a guy to offer a ring to a gal on first date - sure she can turn it down then later change her mind, but it's creates an awkard situation!

[Marit-Anne0]

@James165

It used to be like you indicate in the olden days - with a ton of spam messages to match.  I would not want to go there again.

[James165]

I just wish someone (a registered, verified user) could ask me a question about the house without them or me having to make a decision on the spot whether we are a fit or not. All the sites want to be travel sites rather than connecting sites. I get that - it's where they make their money. We finally dropped VRBO for that reason. We aren't nor do we want to be an Expedia hotel!