Why are my guest now Lack communication?

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Why are my guest now Lack communication?

I have been a host for over 5 years now and until recently have usually received a short message about their booking. I like it as it gives me some insight into why they are staying and who is staying. I’d say that 99% of instant bookings are now blank.

 

It’s a bit awkward messaging them to ask who is in their party and why they’re staying. You never know; they could be using it to party in. What can I do to get round this? Some guests haven’t typed a word from time of booking to leaving. I don’t want to switch off instant book but perhaps that is what I need to do. I believe it should be set up so that all guests must type something about their stay at the time of booking. 

Top Answer
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Sophie457 

I can see that you've added a pre-booking message requirement. Now guests will now get the option of a text box to send you a message. But keep in mind that in your current message, you aren't really asking anything specific which can result in some vague communication.

 

 

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9 Replies 9
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Sophie457 It's because you no longer require a pre-booking message. Airbnb changed the booking process last spring. Go to your instant book setting and update your settings:

 

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sophie457 

 

I agree with @Emilia42 that you firstly need to make sure your pre-booking questions are enabled.

 

However, I have also found that lately, more guests are sending very short messages when they IB, or even when they request, with no information about themselves or ignoring my pre-booking questions.

 

Recently, I had a guest who messaged with simply 'can you confirm?' even though it was just an enquiry. I responded asking him to tell me something about himself and answer a few questions. Instead, he instant booked and responded with 'Looking forward to staying in your home!' I asked him to please answer the pre-booking questions and tell me a bit about himself. He responded by asking me to decline. After a lot of back and forth explaining that he had IBed and I couldn't decline, that the booking needed to be cancelled, having to call Airbnb etc. etc. I got them to cancel and fully refund him (it was a last minute booking so he wasn't entitled to any refund). He then messages "I'm a student in the course,19 years old.Can I check in".

 

Unfortunately, some guests just don't know how to communicate. 

@Huma0 “ I have also found that lately, more guests are sending very short messages when they IB, or even when they request, with no information about themselves or ignoring my pre-booking questions”.

 

This has been my experience also. 

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Sophie457 

I can see that you've added a pre-booking message requirement. Now guests will now get the option of a text box to send you a message. But keep in mind that in your current message, you aren't really asking anything specific which can result in some vague communication.

 

 

Screen Shot 2022-01-09 at 1.43.37 PM.png

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Emilia42 

 

Do you know if guests are required to write the message in order to proceed with their booking (it's supposed to be a 'requirement' after all) or if they can just leave it blank and continue?

 

The reason I ask is because so many guests do not answer mine and I'm not just talking about clueless guests or bad communicators. Many (including my current guest who is a real details person) have said they didn't see the questions at all.

 

I have checked my settings and the questions are still there...

@Huma0 

It appears that I am able to click "Confirm and Pay" without typing a message but I don't dare test it since it may auto confirm. A few months ago, when Airbnb introduced "100+ new tools, features, and upgrades," one of them was to create "A simpler and more inspiring guest experience" (as Brian calls it) which allowed guests to book with one click. This meant that the pre-booking message was no longer shown to guests unless the instant book host went into their setting and specifically checked the box to require it. If your guest booked during this time when the feature was rolling out, it is quite possible that the questions were simply not there. But they are there now on your booking page. Here is an old thread where IB hosts were discussing this at length. The end conclusion was that IB hosts needed to "reset" their settings/requirements.

 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/No-first-message-from-guest-when-booking/td-p/1454165

 

 

 

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Thanks @Emilia42 

 

To be honest, this is something I've been experiencing since I started using IB and am still experiencing now. I suspect that guests can just skip answering and go ahead and book, in which case it's hardly a requirement, is it! 

 

I do remember a while back (maybe three years ago?) going to check my settings and my pre-booking questions had disappeared, so I added them again, but I have checked today and it's still checked as a requirement.

 

The guest currently staying checked in on 27th December. I asked her just yesterday about this and she said she definitely did not see the questions. As I mentioned, she is pretty detailed and sent me information about herself anyway, so it didn't matter, but it's not great to repeatedly here that guests are not seeing the questions, nor actually required to answer them when they do.

 

Maybe we have to keep resetting them, which is annoying.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Sophie457  Telling guests that it's always great to hear from them is not the way to solicit a message from them. 

You have to specifically state what info you require.

Thank you all for your help and advice. I really appreciate it. I’ll make sure I ask more precise questions.