I got this email from airbnb today and I don't think I like it. Usually people don't read the few pre-booking questions I have for them in my listing as it is. I ask basic things like how many in your group, how many kids and what are their ages, any dog/s coming, what is the breed and are they friendly with other dogs. Very basic stuff that I NEED TO KNOW.
How many times has a host had a guest book for 1 person and then many more show up? It happens to me weekly and sometimes daily. I've had people try to book with kids under 6 years old. I don't host kids under 6. I've had guests say NOTHING about dogs accompanying them and then they show up with a dog. One guy even showed up with 3 BIG dogs! I need to know beforehand if the dogs I'm allowing on to my property (to be near my) dog are friendly.
Early on the day of the reservation I always use a saved message and ask the guest when they plan to arrive today. Sometimes people forget they even have a reservation or forget the check in time.
This message airbnb sent me today makes it seem that we can no longer ask any question BEFORE either accepting or denying the booking?! So, if I blindly accept the guest request to book for 1 person and he shows up with his family of 6 (two of the kids are under 6 years old) and his 3 dogs (who don't get along with other dogs), I'm stuck?! I cancel the reservation & lose my superhost status. Airbnb expects the guest to read and respond to questions in the welcome message AFTER BOOKING?! That's just not going to happen. I just think this is a bad bad bad idea.
For Tiny House & Huge Arcade just 5 miles To Six Flags, we noticed that you use a feature to ask guests questions about their trip before they book.
On October 02, 2019, we’re consolidating this feature with the welcome message. This will streamline the experience for hosts by offering one place to set your greeting and ask all your questions.
What you can do
If you want to keep asking guests for their trip details, you can copy and paste your original questions over to your welcome message, or add new ones. We’re increasing the character count of that message to fit the questions and everything else you want to say. Nothing will change for guests—they’ll still have the opportunity to respond to your questions before confirming their reservation.
