Guests who dont turn on messages when booking

[Frances3408]

Why is it that guests can Request to Book but when you try to communicate to gain further information they dont reply, then when you are forced to decline, they suddenly reply and (sometimes) apologise that they didnt turn their messages on so didnt get them in time.

Surely it should be automatically on in guest booking settings, not something that can be turned off, or is off by default? I am guessing it happens when guests have a while between their bookings?

[Helen744]

Frances3408 Having just booked a property lately Frances , I can tell you that a few things are missing on the guests end. There is no reminder or place to alert guests to either add the app to their phones or in fact to see or read rules. Its all emails until the app is downloaded and your messages simply go to email where they may become lost and not checked as the guest is not told to communicate in any fashion. Its a reason why guests turn up with a look of bemusement on their faces sometimes because they have neither the App or their emails . They may have driven you to distraction long before arrival ,but do as I do and call if it all gets a bit much. Airbnb do need to correct this pronto because the info guests need is not immediately available ,so we are not all on the same page. This means hosts spend a lot of time trying to communicate with guests .... H

[Frances3408]

@Helen744. Thanks Helen, thats great feedback. I would have liked to call them but as you know you dont get their number until you accept their booking (I stopped using IB).

When I get a booking with lots of grey adult guest profile pics I know its prob going to be one where they havent travelled together before but now trying to save money by squeezing into a smaller place because its cheaper. Had a recent experience where the Request was for 2 families of 7 combined: 4 adults, 2 young kids and 1 infant for Easter. House max is 6 and yes could have squeezed 7th as an infant but one toilet, one bathroom and no dishwasher in a cottage for 4 days? After getting no details on the other guests I then tried to suggest they look at other listing max 8 (clearly slightly dearer) but no reply so decided to decline.

 I'm a big fan of communicating: over communicate rather than assume is my motto. 😉

[Laura976]

Hi @Frances 3408,

Are you sure you have to accept or decline?

Especially if they have not answered your questions?

Can anyone else confirm that you must accept or decline?

Thanks all!

Laura

[Pat271]

@Laura976  You really should accept or decline a “Request to Book”. It will affect your standing with Airbnb if you don’t.

You don’t have to accept or decline an “Inquiry”. To keep your statistics high, you just need to answer in the chat, preferably within 1 hour. 

[Pat271 · Accepted solution]

@Frances3408  I’m pretty sure that when a guest’s account is set up for the first time, he/she is asked if they want to receive notifications. If they are anything like me, most guests will say “no” automatically, like we often do, to avoid the inundation of notifications we receive in today’s world from every app we install and every account we create. Little do guests know that they *will really want* notifications turned on for Airbnb!

I totally agree that notifications should just be turned on by default. Guests can always turn them off if they don’t like it. Guests already have the ability to specify the type of notifications they want to receive - they can turn off everything but “Guest and Host Messages” if they would be annoyed by the other options. At least having to turn notifications off for certain categories will help them learn the different types of notifications that they could receive.

[Frances3408]

@Pat271. Yes! This guest had 5 previous reviews but not within last few months so yes I think she turned them off or the other hosts didnt ask any questions beforehand. Lol!

Maybe its a major programming change to make? I guess we can only keep giving Airbnb our feedback...

[Helen744]

Frances3408. I understand for sure, but remember oldies do know how to wash dishes... H