"Response Rate" really means...

[Brigid1]

You accept or decline, right? 
I've been conversing wtih someone since yesterday afternoon who requested to stay at my place. 

I have a convo with ppl before I accept them. 

So, I'm responding, he's responding to me. 

AirBnB says I only have two hours left to "respond" 

24 hours is not enough time for the communication to complete. 

I don't want to do any of the options - Accept, Decline or Send Special Offer. 

Am I misreading something? 

[Andrea9]

@Brigid1

It's flawed, but many hosts work around it by telling the prospective guest that they are forced by Airbnb to make a decision within 24h or else the days are blocked. They will thus for that reason decline, but that the guest only has to re-enter the request when answering the question to pick up the conversation again.

[Brigid1]

Thanks, Andrea!

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Brigid1 While you can't change the 24 hour period, perhaps you can streamline your communications so that it doesn't take as much back and forth. Consider posting in your listing everything you need and ask that guests send this in their first communication. See if there is any unecessary information being requested and pare it down to just the absolute minimum information you need to make the decision.

This will make guests happier, as they are busy and time is valuable, so it can help them to quickly make their travel arrangements, and it can save you a lot of time as well.

[Jude7]

Good thing you noticed that ticking clock, @Brigid1, as it is very real and has very real consequences.  I have also occassionally had the frustrating experience of wanting some additional information from the guest (anyone else noticing more and more incomplete profiles?), followed by a delay on the part of the guest in responding, as that clock keeps ticking away.

Thankfully, I've managed to receive the information requested and then repond each time right under the time limit, but had the requested information not come across, I would have done as @Andrea9 suggested, and declined the request, followed by a message to the guest as to my reasons why, and an invitation to request again.

The one question I have had, which is related to this original post, is what is considered response time? Whether I'm receiving an inquiry or a request, I almost always respond with at least a message in an hour or less.  But as Brigid just shared, sometimes an actual decision takes longer than that.

Can anyone add to this conversation and shed some light on the question of calculating response time as well?

Good luck, Brigid!  And just in case you've missed the thread that's been repeated over and over again - if you accept this guest's request, and then the information changes, do not be the one to then cancel that request, as that will create an entirely different problem!

Jude

[Brigid1]

Thanks, Jude!

I did not know about the cancellation thing - after an arrangement has been made. 

What happens, if you don't mind giving me the big picture on that.

Best to you!

[Lisa36]

24 hours is not long enough if someone hasn't completed their profile, is in a different timezone and doesn't answer your emails properly.  I had a request to book recently but the only thing she said was 'hello' and profile was not completed.  So I had to ask the obvious questions, who are you, who are you coming with etc.  By the time she responded with scant information, it was just over 24 hours but Airbnb had not nagged me at all, so not quite sure if it was a glitch or a change.  I ended up pre-approving later on even though she had not completed her profile but the booking has now lapsed as I notice she still has done nothing with her profile. 

[Brigid1]

I'm not sure how often they recalculate the response rate, but I wonder if your rate got dinged by the lapsed reservation.