Guest asked for early check in and then disappeared

[Kouky1]

Hi everyone, I have a booking request from a guest on Airbnb and the guest sent a message saying he will be checking in at 10am even though it says on the listing check in is at 2 pm. I replied immediately saying it won’t be possible to check in at 10 in case someone booked the night before that gives me no time to clean the room and suggested best I can do is 11:30 am. They haven’t replied to me since last night and I haven’t accepted or declined the booking yet. I sent him another message to let me know if that’s ok with his so I can take action but no reply yet. Should I just accept the booking or decline? What do you suggest? Thanks

[Pat271 · Accepted solution]

@Kouky1 

I have a guideline that I follow that I don’t accept bookings if I have been unable to establish 2-way communication with the guest. I let 12-24 hours pass depending on the particular guest, and then I deny the booking with a note that the booking request expired because requested information was not provided (in this case it would be confirmation that 11:30 pm is ok), and invite them to resubmit with with the requested info. I try to make it clear that I am not really denying the request and would love to host them (if it’s true).

Most of the time, the guest really did want to book, but didn’t have notifications turned on and therefore wasn’t alerted to the communication attempt. At that point they usually resubmit their request with the info I asked for. I then advise them to turn notifications on, if they haven’t already.

[Kouky1]

Thanks so much Pat for your answer! May I know what kind of documents should I ask the guest to provide? Some guests don’t have any reviews. Should I ask them for proof of identification? 

[Martin3344]

@Kouky1 

If you don't resolve the booking request either way within 24 hours your booking response rate will be prejudiced on Airbnb. This has the potential to adversely affect your listing profile within the Airbnb algorithms.

In a situation like your one where the guest hasn't replied I usually write a polite follow up message and say that I need to hear back by a set time (well within the 24 hour window) in order to be able to complete the booking. I explain that I will be adversely affected on Airbnb if I do not complete the booking either way by that time.

If that follow up message still has no effect I then decline the booking a short while after my deadline has expired. The guest still of course has the opportunity to put the booking request through again if they have inadvertently missed the messages. It is amazing however how the formal decline of the booking request frequently spurs a guest into an immediate response and a new booking request !

[Kouky1]

Thanks so much Martin! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kouky1 Are you sure it was a booking request rather than a booking inquiry? The former requires you to accept/decline within 24 hours. The latter just requires you to respond in some way (as you have).

Booking requests, when approved, automatically generate a booking. Inquiries (if you do accept/decline) do not.

Hope this helps

[Kouky1]

Hi Mika and Jane, it was a booking request and he sent a message saying he will check in at 10 AM. I managed to contact him on WhatsApp and he said he wasn’t able to reply as he was at work. Thank you! 🙂