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

[Emmanuel711]

Not monetary, it hurts our super host status.

[Emilia42]

@Emmanuel711 Acceptance rate is not a factor in determining super host status. The four contributing factors are: Overall rating, Response Rate, # of stays or nights, and Cancellation rate.

[Emmanuel711]

Thank you for enlightened me on that matter. For some reason it shows that, it could negatively impact my listing. I probably misunderstood it.

[Jerry-And-Natasha0]

@Emilia42  So just for clarification on this.  If you decline a booking request your percentage under basic requirements goes down.  If the 88% booking request acceptance in the basic requirements is not met it changes to "things to work on".  If you don't get your percentage up by the next time you are reviewed for superhost, then I would assume you would not qualify as a superhost due to not meeting the basic requirements for that 3 month evaluation period.  Am I wrong on this?  Again, just looking for clarification as I have only been hosting for a few months.  Thanks.

[Sarah977]

@Jerry-And-Natasha0  Acceptance rate is not one of the stats factored into the Superhost criteria. So while you may get some bot messages from Airbnb chastizing you if you decline too many requests, it has no bearing on Superhost and in fact some hosts who have Acceptance rates of 70% have said there were no repercussions.

You have to learn not to be intimidated by Airbnb's warnings and endless assessments of what you need to "work on". If your guests are pleased with what you offer and you get bookings, and you run your business in the way that works for you, that's what matters. 

Air bnb would like every host to use Instant Book, never decline or cancel a booking, allow guests to get away with whatever outrageous behavior they choose, never block a date so the host can enjoy a vacation themselves or use their place to welcome non-paying family and friends, and drop their rates to insulting levels in order to get guests to book fast and furiously.

Just consider them a listing service, try not to run afoul of policies that could give them reason to delist you, and ignore the rest.

[Jerry-And-Natasha0]

Thank you for the replies!  I really appreciate it.  I am still within all the perimeters for both basic requirements and up for superhost this April.  I just didn't want to lose our shot at superhost because of having to decline some booking requests.   Thanks again!

[Sarah977]

@Jerry-And-Natasha0  Try not to get too wrapped up in attaining or retaining the dangling carrot of Superhost status. 

While it's nice to have that on your profile, there's only so much hosts have control over in the criteria. You can certanly answer every message on time and easily keep up a 100% response rate, you can only take short time frame bookings, so you get enough in a year to qualify, you can make sure you keep up high cleanliness standards, etc, so you get good reviews and ratings, but all it takes is one guest who gets their knickers in a knot about something leaving 1*retaliation review, to knock your 5* rating average down so you lose Superhost, which is something you don't have control over.

And you don't want to fall into the trap of letting guests get away with breaking house rules or other objectionable behavior, thinking that if you pussyfoot around and don't stand up for yourself you can avoid a bad review. All reports indicate that never works. Hosts who do that end up feeling like doormats, and bad guests almost always leave bad reviews, no matter how much you bend over backwards trying to please them.

[Julieanna0]

So true, @Sarah977 !  In addition to your excellent advice, I also try to set expectations “under” rather than “over” if that makes sense.  

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0  I'm not sure if you mean expectations of guest behavior, like assuming all guests will leave the place spic and span, and take care of all your stuff like you would, or expectations as in not talking everything up so much to guests in your listing description, as if it's the most perfect place on the planet, that they will feel justified in being highly critical, but both of those things make sense.

[Julieanna0]

@Sarah977I actually meant setting expectations as in letting them know my place isn't perfect,--it's a pretty simple space.  However, yes, it works both ways!  😀

[Emilia42]

@Jerry-And-Natasha0 Sarah is correct. Acceptance Rate does not matter for Superhost status. Your response rate is what is important. 

[Julieanna0]

@Kevin1897  It took me a little while to catch on to the difference between an inquiry and a booking request.  What @Sarah977  says is currently accurate.  As long as you reply to an inquiry, you don't have to do anything else.  Airbnb only factors in the time it takes you to respond to their inquiry.  Personally, I rely on auto-responder messages for my initial reply to an inquiry.  You can set one up that's as simple as saying, "Thanks for your inquiry, I'll get back with you as soon as I review it."  This way, you never get penalized by Airbnb for taking too long to respond.

On the other hand, if it's a request to book, you must accept or decline it in order to avoid being penalized.  Also, it's in your best interest to do so as soon as possible, as a request to book automatically blocks your calendar.

[Colleen253]

@Julieanna0 "Personally, I rely on auto-responder messages for my initial reply to an inquiry.  You can set one up that's as simple as saying, "Thanks for your inquiry, I'll get back with you as soon as I review it."  This way, you never get penalized by Airbnb for taking too long to respond".

Are you talking about using a saved message template? That's a great idea.

[Emmanuel711]

I used the saved messages. I have been able to setup for the inquiries yet.

I have multiple  listings, the wrong messages with names are getting picked. I have not quite master it yet. But yes it is handy.

[Julieanna0]

@Colleen253  Actually, I use a service, (well worth it!), called "smartbnb".   Their website is at:  https://www.smartbnb.io and you can try it out for 14 days at no charge.  There are other benefits that come with this,--all making it well worth $18 per month, in my opinion.