How do you deal with questionable enquiries?‌‌

[Quincy]

Hello all,

Today, I would like to share one of the most reported cases on communication and fraud. There are sometimes guests who make enquiries to negotiate "off platform prices" or try to book a space for someone other than themselves. I’ve noticed that there’s an increase of said requests especially during the holiday and festive periods. 

Do you have experience with such enquiries? If so, do you have any advice for responding to such messages?

I look forward to hearing your answers. 

Quincy

[Barbara2329]

I can see the review of guests who have enquiries.  Many guests don't have reviews.  I am finding I am reviewing guests but then they aren't bothering to do the same.  Better than a negative review I guess.

[Michelle2532]

@Sara977 I turned off instant book to avoid double bookings while still going through a Real Estate Agent at the same time. It seems to prevent me from viewing a profile. I'd like to read someone's profile and reviews before accepting. And then there's a few that have just joined, they have to start somewhere and for the most part I've had really good guests.

[Anne9971]

@Quincy  I’m fairly new at this and am not sure if this fits in here, but I quite often get inquiries where the prospective guest submits booking dates (I assume just to be able to communicate with the host), but is actually enquiring about eg long stays, or discounts. Then after I respond and they don’t want to take it further, they don’t cancel their inquiry and I have to decline their request and ‘justify’ my reply to Airbnb. Does Airbnb only register  Accept/Decline responses or do they accept that it’s sometimes not that simple, and recognize that the host has responded with a message? I get the sense that I risk getting penalized as a host if I don’t either Accept or Decline.

[Sarah977]

@Anne9971  On an inquiry, never decline. All you have to do is answer the guest's message within 24 hours. Don't waste declines on Inquiries, as they lower your Acceptance rate. Only Booking requests require that you either accept or decline within 24 hours.

Don't confuse the terms inquiry and request, because they are handled differently. 

[Cheryl706]

I have begun to tell booking requests that they can withdraw their request so that they can quickly book somewhere else if I tell them I am not going to host them. @Anne9971

I have had too many bad experiences so I am getting nervous about who to accept. Such as the lack of details when booking mentioned, or booking for someone else, or wanting special circumstances, have had damage, marijuana smoke, messes, a romantic rendezvous, a dog brought in without notice, children left without adult supervision, etc. I finally raised my prices to avoid people who are using my place because they have nowhere else to go and try to play on my heart strings with their kids, then stay longer with no payment until I have to kick them out.

But I don't want to decline as I know I get in trouble for that. I don't know what happens to my host status when I send a message in time but do not accept or decline on time.

@Quincy do you know how that affects a host? How do we tell AirBnB that we are afraid to book a person but don't want the penalty for a decline?

[Sarah977]

@Cheryl706  You must either accept or decline a booking request within 24 hours, and no, Airbnb won't waive that. Declining lowers your Acceptance rate, but no big deal unless you do it a lot. Just letting it expire, even if you've replied to the guest will lower your Response rate, which is a bigger deal.

So if you can get the guest to withdraw the request before the 24 hour cut-off, that's the best, so you can avoid having to decline.

If it's an inquiry (as opposed to a request), which is the subject of this thread, you only have to answer, no need to decline. And it doesn't matter if the guest withdraws it, because inquiries don't block your calendar dates.

[Carol6081]

I'm not sure about declining either...Therefore I simply respond to the guest.  If they decline or not, I have responded...so it's not a problem as far as I know.  You can check with Airbnb Customer Service if so inclined.

[Michelle53]

Here's one I received last week :-   (certain details removed)

"I hope all is well. My name is (name) . You have an amazing place, and I am very keen to stay with you.

About me, so you know that your lodging will be kept clean (in addition to my great reviews from previous hosts): I am a (personal details removed)  and I have no kids, don't smoke, no pets, and very respectful (which you can see from my previous reviews). I am taking the coronavirus seriously so your lodging will be safe from that too!

I would love to stay with you, though my budget is (dollar amount) maximum for the dates. Would you be open to that? No problem if not, just thought I'd ask. I ama clean person, and will leave the place in good shape. I'm happy to pay cash/ ven mo/(pay pal) etc to avoid fees (or anything else that works for you). Feel free (3 digit number) to reach (3 digit number) me on (four numbers spelled out in words) either, or at "(name)" at the mail that begins with g.

Hope you are keeping safe and healthy,
Best,"

I responded back with:-

"Hi (name)

My listing is already good value, and I don't take any bookings that ask for payment outside of Airbnb.

Thank you"

The thing I found a bit unusual about it was that the person did, in fact, have some pretty good reviews, and the guest's intro seemed genuine enough, before it devolved into the request-discount followed by off-platform solicitation.  At least, the guest's description of themselves tied pretty well to their profile, and they clearly read my listing.  

Instead of just flagging the user, I reached out to CS to see if they could find out if the guest account had been hacked. 

[Bart68]

Quincy,

YES !  The Airbnb member booked the home for non Airbnb members; and they did a lot of damage!  They even abandoned the house for two days, leaving the home unsecured and garbage outside(that was strewn across the yard and neighbors, from wildlife getting into it).  We were left with the choice to contact local police or try to resolve through Airbnb.  Airbnb was very difficult to work with in resolving and did not charge contractual deposit to the member(or any amount).  We had hours upon hours invested in providing all documentation Airbnb requested/requires.  The full amount of damages was not covered; and did not even meet the contract deposit amount.  This just happened mid last year.

We have been Airbnb hosts almost from the beginning...

[Anne9971]

@Sarah977 Many thanks, that’s very helpful - I didn’t realize that!

[Anne9971]

@Sarah977 Sorry I meant to check: how does this work if the person enquiring has selected specific dates but has no intention of booking those dates and it’s just a general inquiry? I have one of those now, I’ve sent two replies, the person  is not going to book, but Airbnb still has Accept/Decline next to this person’s enquiry in my inbox.

[Sarah977]

@Anne9971  You are mixing terms, so it's hard to give you an answer. If it's an inquiry, the choices are pre-approve and decline, if it's a request, the choices are accept or decline. Which is it? 

If it's a request with random dates that the guest doesn't want, he sent it incorrectly, he should have sent an inquiry. When a host accepts a request, the dates entered are the dates booked and charged for.

If it's an Inquiry, all you have to do is tell the guest the dates he actually wants are bookable and to send a request with the correct dates for you to accept. If he's just asking questions, and you've answered him, ignore the pre-approve / decline buttons. 

[Carol6081]

Additionally if the guest has specific dates selected, but in a message indicates other dates, you can change the request/inquiry to the dates they indicate, and submit a message if you want to indicate the change of dates.  If they choose to accept it or not it's up to them.

[Kelly149]

I barely trust guests who actually book thru ABB; I sure as anything am not about to hand the keys to the castle to somebody who uses the platform to try to cheat the platform. My standard response has become "no" and I agree, I do wish report/block was still an option

and @Emilia42  you're a gem

[Carolyn40]

If any guest wants to book and wants to know if I would lower the price because they want to stay 

a month , I tell them I have already given them a discount and I don't lower the price. But I thank them

for looking at my apt.