Declining Inquiries compromises your listing views?

[Heidy14]

Hi dear hosts! A guest send me an inquiry for a few days, since I have stated on my listing I need at least 2 days notice to book a new reservation, I apologized to the guest and told them, I wasn’t able to rent them that same day. The guest said I needed to decline in order for them to look somewhere else, since I wasn’t sure about it I called customer service and explain the situation, I asked,  If I decline will that have a negative effect on my listing? the agent said no, so I did decline. Days later I wasn’t able to find my property on the maps on the platform so I checked  on my calendar, the days that the guest made an inquiry for where still blocked… does anyone know how long til this get to be normal again? 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Heidy14 

That's really odd because a booking inquiry does not block off dates on the calendar but your two day advanced booking time will block off dates on your calendar if you search too close to the dates you want to book.

You say that the 2 day notice to book is in your descriptive and I imagine you have also configured this requirement in your calendar availability section?

Have you tried to unblock these dates manually?  There seems to be conflicting information from what you have written and what the guest asked you to do.  If the guest sent you a reservation request or request to book, then yes you have to decline so that they are free to book elsewhere as a request to book means that the guest has to enter their payment details to book.  No payment method is required with an information request.  Just to be clearer, take a look at the guide below:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Guides/GUIDE-Handling-Enquiries-and-Bookings/m-p/18958...

What are the dates that are blocked on your calendar?  I can't see any dates blocked off on the calendar for your two listings? All dates are free as of today so it looks like you haven't set that two day advance notice prior to booking!!  So guests can book which means you are going to have to cancel a lot of bookings which will impact your stats if you have too many cancellations.

[Heidy14]

Hi Joelle!  Thank for you response, are you an agent? I did unblocked the days myself while talking with a customer support agent. Usually when someone sends me an inquiry they message first. In this case it said accept or decline. The agent didn’t know either why the days had been blocked alter I declined the inquiry. Since I have stated  on my calendar I need 2 days in advanced  for reservation guests can’t make a reservation right away. They need to message me first, so it shows as inquiry

 Thank you for your help. 

[Joelle43]

Hello Heidi - no not an agent just a humble host like you with too much time on her hands😂  

If you only saw accept or decline in the message then this was not a reservation inquiry but a request to book and this blocks off dates on your calendar.  A reservation inquiry has pre-approve that you don't see on a reservation request.

That two days in advance notice is only active for the Carolina listing not your other one, unless that's what you want of course in which case I'll just go away now😉 

[Heidy14]

Hello @Joelle43 ! Thanks for your reply,  I’m still learning on this journey! It’s  so great to be part of this community center! I have one last question if this was you, would you let the guest withdraw the request or would you would have declined  the request? 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Heidy14 

And yes there is so much to learn when you start out and still learning from other hosts every day!

If I receive an information request I always reply obviously as quickly as possible and just leave it at that despite the reminders you get after.  It's so much easier in this case as all that is expected of us is to reply.  I'm a bit cagey  of that AI and wonder if I press that decline button even if it's only a booking inquiry where that information is stored and it might come back and bite me one day😂

However if it's a booking reservation, it's another story as the amount of declines does get processed and our acceptance rate shows up on our listing.  If we decline too many bookings, we receive an email from Airbnb. So when I have a guest who wants to come with small children (I accept kids from 12 upwards) I explain the situation and why  and ask them to withdraw their request so that they are free to book elsewhere and no hard feelings.  If they don't reply within that 24 hour window which can be a problem when dealing with transatlantic bookings, I have to act my end.  If I'm in doubt about something - no profile information added, no reviews, something against the house rules I will refuse and explain why.  

There has also been the case when the guest just hasn't taken the time to reply but I would have liked them as a guest so in this case I  explain that I have had to take refuse their booking as I hadn't heard back from them  but should they wish, they can send another booking request.  I'd rather refuse a guest because I haven't had the necessary information to make a decision than be in a position where I have to cancel a reservation because that is the utmost sin in the Airbnb world and is full of negative consequences for both host and image of the platform.  Make sure you read about this!  

If you want a crash course on things to know, there is a guide section that is really handy.  On the CC, where you see your profile picture, click on that and in the drop down menu go to Host Guides

All the best Heidi and we're not far if you need any help😉  

Joëlle

PS.  You didn't say if it was normal to have a two day advance notice only for the Carolina listing?

[Heidy14]

Hello @Joelle43 ! I did check about what you said on my calendar and I changed it to one day instead of two. It looks it’s there.  Not sure if still doesn’t show to guests  I got to check on that. 
In respect of request and inquirys I totally agree with you, this was my fist time declining someone, I wasn’t sure that’s why I called and spoke with an agent,  she said it will  be fine for me to decline. But now I have my doubts 
I just try to follow instructions that way I don’t get in trouble lol! 

Thanks for the offer, you may hear from in the future haha, I appreciate you giving me all this information. All the best to you too Joelle! 

Have a great weekend!!