Does dismissing an inquiry hurt my rating after I have responded to the guest?

[David613]

Hi,

I received an inquiry last night for a group that wanted to stay at our place for 1 night. We have a 3 night minimum and it doesn't work well for us to accept 1 night stays. I responded to the inquiry right away and informed her that we have a 3 night minimum and unfortunitely we could not accomodate her request for a 1 night stay. 

Now the request is still on my dashboard and I don't want to decline it and hurt my ratings. Does it hurt your ratings to dismiss the inquiry? Should I just archive the conversation instead? I have responded to the inquiry and haven't heard back. I think it is fair to say that they have probably moved on with their search. Please help with what steps I should take next so it doesn't impact my ratings.

Thanks so much,

David 

[Linda108]

@David613  If you received a booking inquiry, you have to pre-approve or deny within 24 hours.  If you receive just an inquiry where there is no request, you can just respond.  It sounds like you have a request and must pre-approve or deny.  You can do this with different reasons and there are no negative consequences.  You may receive an automated message from Air BNB, but don't worry.

You may be confusing decline with cancel where there are many negative consequences.  Good luck with your new business!

[Monica4]

I get many requests from potential guests asking for less than the mimimum stay, asking to pay less or asking to bring their pets, or even asking if those booked dates are "really booked?". I respond and then press the decline button. A drop down menu appears and you can select the reason so that Airbnb knows why you are declining. Not all reasons are there of course, and some of reason come with an admonishment from Airbnb.....for example "not a good fit" means that your description is not detailed enough! LOL - lots of guests don't bother reading all of the description and rules.

[Huma0]

@Monica4, very true. Many of the guests who send enquiries (rather than booking requests) are asking really basic questions that would all be answered if they just read the description, e.g. 'What is the location?', 'Is there a kitchen?', 'Is there a tube station?'

Why else would I put 'near tube' in the title?

I think a lot of them are sending a copy/paste message to several hosts.

[David613]

Thank you all so much for the feedback. 

@Linda108 I was under the impression that as long as you reponded to a inquiry within 24 hours it would not hurt your ratings. Are you saying if you don't pre-approve or decline in 24 hours that would have a negative impact? I have read that it would be ok to hit the "dismiss" button once the conversation completed (with no intent to book on either end) vs. decline which could negatively impact the ratings. Still just learning and just want to make sure I'm handling it in the best way possible.

Thanks so much for everyone's feedback! @Huma0 @Monica4

David

[Huma0]

@David613, from what I understand, it depends on if it's an enquiry or a booking request.

For a booking request (where, once you hit the accept button, it's booked) you have to accept or decline within 24 hours or your response rate will go down. I have read on the forums that if you decline a lot of bookings, this can have a negative impact, but I'm not sure if this is true or what that impact is exactly.

For an enquiry, if you respond within 24 hours, whether that is to pre-approve or decline the booking, or simply message the guest, the 24 hour restriction is then gone and you shoudn't be penalised. If you don't do any of these things, I think your response rate will go down.

If I am waiting for the guest to respond to my message, i.e. I need more info from them, I will wait. But, if it's clear that I can't accept their booking, I prefer to decline (explaining why) so it's cleared from my dashboard. I don't think I have 'dismissed' one before.

More experienced hosts, please correct me if I'm wrong!

[David613]

Thanks @Huma0! That is really helpful. I spoke to someone at AirBnB and they said essentially what you said. So, I declined the inquiry and politely explained why. It sounds like not taking an action other than responding to the message could penalize your response rate. 

I really appreciate everyone's reponse and feedback! 

Thanks so much,

David

[Linda108]

I am glad you confirmed with Air BNB @David613.  Part of the issue is language.  You refer to both an "inquiry" and a "request".  Big difference, but the fact that there was a "pending" designation suggested to me that you had a request and not just a message or inquiry.  Always good to ask!!