Declining a low-ball offer without damaging my acceptance rate

Of course a PS,

In this case if @doughpat did get a booking “request” for a low ball offer, I would decline and send a special offer at the same price or down $1 so that the decline was not on my stats. It is a bit kinder than accepting and putting them in the position of having to cancel and then waiting for their funds to go back on the credit card.

Lisa

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I’ve read this elsewhere on many threads. I got dinged on response rate because I replied to a REQUEST but did not decline. She had a toddler, not suited to this place at all. Inquiry just needs a response to the message. Send a special offer on “requests” for double the price or something outrageous $$$ wise and according to forum members, this works.

How does this work, exactly? If a guest makes a booking request, then the booking request would be made on the basis of the listed price. Are you saying the guest states a different desired price in the message? If so, that seems a bit wacky. Since making a booking request means you are accepting the listed rate. Fortunately, I’ve never experienced that.

@faheem,

Yes, the guest states a different desired price in the message. A message in a booking REQUEST to top it off. I believe @doughpat the OP had a request/inquiry for 50% off the listed price so a classic case in point if it was a request.

We have only lately had a “REQUEST” for 4 extra guests to stay free for 1 night or if I book 6 nights can I have the 7th night free. Oh, and another one - we have a 2 night minimum - the request was if I stay for 2 nights can I get a discount.

Some hosts might consider the other requests and accept (we did not) which could be what is perpetuating guest behaviour and perhaps encouraging them to ask for more and more discounts?

Who knows, guests might have seen online somewhere that hosts are a pushover if you ask for a discount. When it is a last minute booking for multiple nights, particularly only for one person travelling for business, I have offered a discount which could also be contributing to the problem - especially when the guest did not ask for a discount. Did I help to create another discount entitlement monster?

Not sure. But in any case, yes, there are guests who want to check in at 3 am when it is not self check in or bring 2 dogs to a no pet property or have 8 guests in a place that can only sleep 6 or one poor host who was set up to have all the free infants and toddlers from a wedding party (5 or 6 if memory serves) and a baby sitter at her place. Good grief, this would be payment for one guest only with potentially 7 to pick up after… YES, they send a “booking request” instead of a “booking enquiry”.

These are very real and very detrimental and you are lucky that your listing has not attracted enquiries of this nature! One poor host had 6 requests like this very close together and got suspended for declining all of them.

As the New Yorker said, you can just not respond to the REQUEST at all if it doesn’t happen too often and monitor that you stay within the 90% for your basic requirement on response rate. If this is not viable, you can just decline and send a special offer and show it as pre-approved. For the babies and toddlers from the wedding party with one adult I would have asked an astronomical price without any qualms.

Anyway, if you do get such a REQUEST, you know how to respond - so you may wind up using this tip someday after all. Fore-warned is fore-armed and all that. I will be away from tomorrow for a couple of days so please forgive my absence if you write. Very nice chatting with you and I thank you for the replies and appreciate and admire your willingness to learn about an idea that does not seem to sit right from the onset. Lisa from across the water in Australia

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Thank you very much for the clarifications, @beachsidecottages. Usually if people have special requests, they send an inquiry first. I relatively rarely get booking requests with special riders attached. And indeed, if I started getting a lot of those it could be a problem. And then the method you and others suggested, namely declining and then making a special offer they were unlikely to accept, would indeed come in very useful.

But I must say, this procedure would never have occurred to me on my own.

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