Ronan

[Ronan138]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone else from the community is experiencing the same problem? Lately, I keep receiving inquiries for an eye-catching one month stay from what appears to be a bot. It is always from a name without AIRBNB history and they always seek to prolong the conversation by asking a question about the property (what they ask is always clear from the description). The replies are also extremely quick as though processed electronically.

They are not genuine inquiries it is clear (I have even tested this by pre-approving the requests and they never book). However, ignoring or declining effects my response rate and/or my decline frequency.

Has anyone else experienced the same and how best to handle?

Many thanks in advance.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ronan138 just respond with a dot and do not decline or accept. Airbnb does seem quite good at deleting these profiles.

[Ronan138]

@Mike-And-Jane0 thanks so much for the advice. Will do.

Separately, do you happen to know what the objective of the bot is? What do they gain by these random requests? Thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ronan138 I have thought long and hard about this and see no way the fake guest could benefit. The ONLY thing I came up with is that it could be a local host using a foreign service to damage your search placement which would succeed if you either didn't reply or declined to accept the inquiry. Highly unlikely but you never know - The host could be innocent and just paying a supplier to help improve their search position.

[Joan2709]

@Ronan138 

@Dave-and-Deb0  wrote a great thread on this topic and explained one possible scam motive:

Common Scam

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help-with-your-business/SCAM-ALERT-Host-s-Beware-Common-Scam-Targeting-Airbnb-Hosts/m-p/2038305#M78296

[Ronan138]

@Joan2709 thank you so much. I look forward to reading.

[Ronan138]

Hi @Joan2709 , great article. However, I assume it comes with an impact on your response rate and/or decline rate. Surely by declining it impacts your profile negatively. I started to pre-approve and they never book but at least that's on them I assume. Any thoughts on that? What do you do?

Many thanks once again. Ronan

[Joan2709]

@Ronan138 

Inquiries are very different than an actual booking request. 

For inquiries, you only have to respond within 24hrs by simply sending a response to the inquiry message. You don't have to click any of the 3 options displayed. Many Hosts think they need to tap "Decline". You don't have to:

If you think it's a scam, just click flag this message, and report you think you're being scammed. This stops any further messages:

[Ronan138]

Hi Joan,

Thanks for this. It seems like a good idea to keep your response rate up. However, is there not a separate test regarding how often you accept or decline? Does AIRBNB not monitor that too?

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Ronan138 

Not for inquiries.  All you need to do is respond once.  You do not have to pre-approve, send a special offer or decline and you will not be impacted.  Here is a video I made a long time ago about this.  The screenshots are outdated however the information has not really changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSdrEU5xT8A

[Dave-and-Deb0]

I have actually sent special offers for a very high amount, like $30,000.  Of course, they never become a confirmed reservation.  

[Ronan138]

Hi @Dave-and-Deb0 , many thanks for your reply. I'm reluctant to continuously decline as that will impact my profile so I have started to pre-approve. They never book. Any thoughts on that and also how to keep up your response rate up?

[Lisa9820]

Yes, I get those all the time and I respond so my response rating doesnt go down. Sometimes its the same exact name with just a different middle initial. Annoying and I no longer get excited by the long stay lol. 😏