response rate

[Emily9]

Hello, I respond to every request within hours if not an hour of receiving them. But for some reason I have a notification that my response rate is very low, 68 percent. I don't know what I am supposed to do to correct this. All the messages I have received have been responded to. Sometimes they leave a last message and I don't respond because it is a confirmation that they can't take the place because they made other arrangements. Does anyone else face this? How do I contact Airbnb to resolve this?

[Linda0]

Emily -
Just report as quickly as you can by the reply button on the email via phone or website. Don't use the text messages because they are only notifications to you and the guest will not get your respnse.

[Clare0]

Excellent question @Emily9.  The little understood fact of response rates is that your reservation acceptance is also a factor.  Just responding to an inquiry or reservation request in a timely manner isn't the whole picture.  It also includes how often you accept a reservation request or send a pre-approval on inquiries.  Assuming you have been hosting for the past 4 years it would appear that you have accepted reservations a bit more than 3 times a year on average.  That will affect your response rating.  You can read more about it here: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/430/how-are-my-response-rate-and-response-time-calculated

[Emily9]

Thank you for this @Clare0 ... I have only been hosting for about six months. Many, many people ask me for times outside my actual calendar time window so I have to decline their requests. I also have people requesting and then backing out. So I have actually never really declined anyone who has requested for time within a window--and this has only been one time! 

I feel helpless about this because I am actually playing by the rules and eager to host. I just wish this wasn't so black and white because if you really track the metrics closely, you see that these people request a booking and then in a message ask for a longer-term possibility, which I can't accept or honor. 

Uff ..I just wish I could approach Airbnb and correct this. It's not accurate and is causing my nerves to fray as I want to continue hosting. I also had to beg my first people to write a review, and they never did because they didn't see the point of it and are not regular users of the service so I am already trying to build against a grain. It's okay. I trust in time this will smooth out. Doha is not an easy place expect straightforward.

[Clare0]

I was just corrected by a more seasoned host than me (imagine that!).  So long as you respond to an inquiry or accept/decline a reservation request promptly and within th 24 hour period, your response rate will not be affected.  Apparently the number of declines has nothing to do with it.  My apologies if I led you astray!

[Jozef2]

Dear Clare,

Thank you for the Link. It’s a good resource.

However, I feel like Emily: helpless and I wish I could approach Airbnb and correct / discuss some things.

1. I am a ghost since about 4 months. In those 4 months, I got 36 enquiries / request. So far, I replied to every one of them. I hosted about 80% of those guest and eight of them wrote a review and each gave me 5 stars. However, when at times I may get 5 or more enquiries or reservation requests per a week, for a whole month, the next month I get none at all. It was like that in the 2nd month and again last month. For a test, I tried to make a booking myself on my listing last month (for dates when I knew it was available, and with suitable search parameters) and Airbnb showed me only 7 available listings… mine was not included. How can that be, unless they manipulate the search function?
2. At first, I had “instant booking” set to “on”, but on one occasion, I had to decline a guest whom “instantly booked”, although the room was available. The reason was that on the day of his arrival, unfortunately nobody was at home. Since we live here, we need to be at home when a guest arrives, even if only to give him the keys. I reacted immediately and the guest had no issue with it, but Airbnb penalized me. Even though they write: “Cancel penalty-free if you’re uncomfortable”. In fact, I had to stop using the “instant booking” option in order to avoid the same happening again.
3. Airbnb does not systematically send notifications when I receive an enquiries or request. I have all the setting right and systematically should get a message in my email and on my phone (SMS) when a potential guest contacts me. I should also see it on my mobile application. But in one case out these 36, I did not get any notification and therefore, did not see it and I did not answer within 24 hours. Instantly my response rate dropped from 100% to 90%. So I got penalized again.

What if I could enquire Airbnb about this? How would they reply?

Anyway, at we least we have Clare and Emily and other, to comfort me.

Jozef

[Clare0]

@Jozef2 I hear you.  I don't know for sure, but I think that there are more than one Airbnb servers around the world creating different host experiences.  Seems like Airbnb has grown faster than it's ability to manage.  Even some of the customer service centers don't really know what's going on.  Wish I had a magic wand to make everything better for you!  If it is any consolation, here are some exchanges on twitter and Facebook where hosts have complained about the notification issue.  You are not alone.   I'm sure these problems will get sorted out eventually, but I feel bad for those who's ratings are affected by the very glitches that Airbnb has caused.  Just do the best you can!

[Kaye6]

I respond to all inquiries almost immediately.  The guest was asking to book but was confused about what island my condo is on.  I responded within a few hours and yet necause I did not accept the reservation or decline it my rating took a beating.  This is ridiculous and has happened several times.

[Clare0]

@Kaye6 You need to read the help files to learn about the difference between an Inquiry where a guest uses the Contact Host link and a Reservation Request.  It is up to the host to know the difference.  

With an Inquiry all you need to do is respond.  You can send a Pre-Approval or a Special Offer if you want to.  On the guest side there is no comittment to book and their payment method is not affected in any way. 

A Reservation Request on the other hand is a commitment to book.  Airbnb places an authorization hold on the payment method and the guest is not able to consider booking elsewhere until the host Accepts or Declines.  Even though a guest may ask questions in a Reservation Request, the host must take some action within 24 hours.  If the discussion with the guest goes on too long, you should decline the request with a note to the guest that you would be happy to continue the conversation if they send you and Inquiry. 

Here a Community help guide that talks about the difference between a Reservation Request and an Inquiry: 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Hosts/Reservation-Inquiry-or-Request-What-s-the-Difference-A-Communi...

[Sam100]

Hi my response rate is incorrect it says that I have 0 response rate (I am new) but I respond within hours to my requests and guests. How do I change this?