I don't like this new Airbnb email and assumption.

[Dodie0]

And I can't find anywhere on the site to complain. So I am complaining here. I recieved this:

Hi ...,

Hosts make their guests feel welcome, even when they’re far from home. But before a guest can enjoy your hospitality, they need to book their reservation. The first step to helping guests feel like they belong is accepting their reservation or pre-approving their inquiry.

We noticed you haven’t accepted or pre-approved any of the 10 most recent requests you’ve received. You always have control over who stays in your listing, but if you consistently decline traveler requests, it may impact your search placement, and your space may be temporarily unlisted. To increase your chances of getting requests you want to book, keep your calendar up to date, set yourreservation requirements, and provide detailed house rules, with the most important information at the top.

Thanks,
The Airbnb Team

___________

I responded with this:

Dear AirBnb , This is an insane email.

First of all, I did NOT decline the last ten reservation requests. I responded to EVERY inquiry with answers to questions to guests that for some reason or another decided to not book a reservation.

I ONLY declined a reservation because I did not want to accept a two night rental on a long weekend.

An inquiry is JUST an inquiry. Sometimes they are asking if we would make exceptions to our rules, like accept a pet, or smoking, or they are light sleepers, so are there shared walls?, or have pets ever been in the room, or I am looking at several places, and does yours fit my needs, or my Mother is handicap, do you have a handicap bathroom.

You can NOT assume an inquiry is a lack of response or responsibility to hosting. And I hope you don't start writing your programs to penalize people like me that have a heavy inquiry inbox, as well as a heavy booking history. 

You need to revisit this type of email alert. Its offensive. 

Its a bunch of crap.

Name

5 year host, and super host, with over 100 five star reviews.

_______________

Anyone else have this kind of rude nudge? I have NEVER ignored a guest, and I answer EVERY inquiry - but there is a HUGE differenc between inquiry and reservation request. 

[Clare0]

@Dodie0 this must be some kind of mistake.  I didn't look too closely at both your listings, but the one in Palm Springs indicates a 100% response rate.  Did you get an answer to your reply email?  If it were me, I'd contact Airbnb to see what's going on. 

Seems like inquiries as opposed to reservation requests are definitely on the rise as Airbnb encourages guests to make multiple inquiries.  A pain in the you know what for hosts having to reply, but unlike you or me, some hosts take a long time to reply and then sometimes decline so making a reservation can take days due to the 24 hour response time.  

I'd be interested in what Airbnb had to say!

[Dodie0]

Hi Clare, 

At first I did think it was some sort of spam, but it has all the correct Airbnb signatures. I went back and looked at my "declines", and found three decined reservation requests because they wanted two night stays over the weekend, where i have a three night minimum. I just had a guest make a reservation request that I declined because her husband smokes - and that is a deal breaker. So I don't understant the email, or its intent. 

Also this is for my rental in Oakland, the Palm Springs one, is rarely booked through Airbnb, and I primarly use VRBO for that. It just seems to have a better interest rate than Airbnb. 

I did not get an answer to the reply. It got sent back. So I am not sure how to contact them through email, so I may call on Monday. 

I am fine with inquiries, but I don't want to be penalized in some way. 

Thanks for your comments. - Dodie

[Anonymous]

@Dodie0, did you know that you can use the calendar settings to adjust the Minimum Stay for a selected period of time? For example, you can keep a 1 or 2 night minimum standard for all dates but raise it to 3 or more for a particular weekend, or a certain time of year, etc. 

You should never have to decline a Request simply because you're holding out for a longer booking - these things are within your control, and it's better for everyone if you use the calendar features at your disposal. No telling how many perfectly awesome guests have been put off from using Airbnb after being disappointed by declines from hosts who failed to set up their calendars correctly.

Personally, I don't tend to pre-approve inquiries; I don't take a guest seriously until they've completed their verifications and submitted a binding request. But when it comes to Requests, I do believe in taking every available step to make them as rare as possible. I don't think you did anything worthy of penalties, but Airbnb has a vested interest in maximizing the odds that guests will succeed in their efforts to book a suitable place, and their efforts to help that process will also help keep the good guests from ditching the platform.

[Dodie0]

Thanks Andrew, I will adjust the calendar and see if that helps. I do accept two night rentals for fill ins, but try and avoid having four two night weekends in a month. And honestly I have had very few declines. It was like a flurry, then I got that email . Thanks for your comments.

[Deborah132]

Hey Dodie,

Same thing has happend to me. It was a booking request but they had not taken proper note of the location and I was a long way from where they said they wanted to 'look arround' I let them know and didn't hear back.  Surely that's their bad?  Would be interested to hear if there's been any developments on your front?

Cheers deb 🙂