Guest booking request message totally uninformative

@Kayteeyvr I don’t mean to seem disrespectful, but would you know if the information provided is even remotely close to the truth? What difference would it make to you if the guest was coming to town for a job interview or to visit grandma?

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After reading all of your responses, I decided to try out Instant Book, with some parameters selected that may help to ensure guest quality (e.g., previous positive host reviews). Many of you have raised good points about the relative uselessness of the narrative that potential guests are often asked to supply (such as brief intro and trip plans), for helping a host determine whether they will be a “fit” . I suspect I will still struggle with getting guests to communicate well, but that is a problem for another day! Thanks to you all for the various perspectives.

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Yes, you’re right, you will. If a guest is uncommunicative then that is what they are.

It’s a complete pain, but what I will say is that our worst communicator this year (a fellow host!) turned out to be an excellent guest. Four hours late checking in, no response to messages but by the end of the week we were sorry to see them go!

JF

If you have in-house rooms it’s more complicated because “fit” includes getting along with others. If it’s a 3 word profile and they answer only a few basics, communication is not their strong point. Or they don’t care. But these are cheap and cheerfuls, and I don’t spend a lot of time asking twice.

I was wondering about that, Mandi - is it really necessary? When I did B & B, a lot of my guests were teenage military attending a local training facility. Others were young police trainees also attending training. Quite often I had guests who had a partner undertaking treatment at a local specialist hospital. Plus people travelling on business and sometimes tourists. I had nothing in common with any of those peope and I don’t think they had with each other either.

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This forum has been an amazing resource for questions like this! My listing is a private bed and bath in my home and I’m here as well, so it’s shared space and I allow full kitchen privileges and have a Bengal cat (#management) . I ask the same questions and if I send my automated “Please tell me…” and I get crickets, I move on and let the clock tick. If they don’t respond to the message or they cancel, then I figure that everyone knows it isn’t a fit. I stopped wondering “why” and sometimes, while I’m waiting for a reply, I’ll get another inquiry or request to book from someone who says “so happy to be visiting xyz and go to abc and we love cats!” and it’s an easy conversation and very quick acceptance of that request. Lots of newbies this year, so I ask them about themselves and tell them I want to make their first Airbnb experience a positive one and that usually opens the communication floodgates.

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@Kayteeyvr I really don’t understand why you’d need any information on the guests. Naturally, you need to know how many adults and children so that you can make proper arrangements (adequate number of towels, etc), but other than that, why do you care if the guest is coming to town for a local event, school reunion or business? You are really not going to be able to assess anything based on a short note, after all, the guest can write whatever they want but it won’t necessarily be the truth…

I agree with your concern. I don’t fault those who want to host blindly, as that is their choice, however that’s not my thing, as I want to ensure expectations for both parties are met. In my listing I’ve added some additional house rules that require:

- Guest Photo to be on ABNB profile
- Gov’t issued ID validated by ABNB
- Prior reviews *

*If you do not have reviews, please provide a description of who you are and who else will be accompanying you, the purpose of your visit, and confirmation that you have read and will comply with the house rules.

If I get an inquiry without information I send the following response.

Thanks for your interest.

ABNB is a review based business and as such I do my best to ensure that my guest house and my guests expectations are in synch. Since you are new to ABNB and have no reviews, I would appreciate it if you would provide some information about yourself, your 2nd adult, and what brings you to Phoenix. I’d also like to confirm that you have reviewed the listing and house rules. In addition to the information about yourself, let me know what questions you have for me.

I also need to advise that ABNB evaluates me on how quickly I respond to your inquiry. If I don’t hear back within 24 hours, I will need to cancel the inquiry to avoid my own ratings getting lowered."

Most have then provided some additional details and are understanding of why I’m asking.

I have, however, had several prospective guests not respond to my message; and then I decline their inquiry, with a explanation message:

“Thanks very much for your interest. Since I didn’t hear back to my last message, and without the information requested along with the ABNB validated information on file, I’m not able (at this time) to accept your inquiry forcing the decline because ABNB expects me to respond to your inquiry within a 24 hour period. I wish you well in your search. Should you have questions about ABNB and what I was requesting, I recommend that you contact the ABNB Help Desk at 855-424-7262.”

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My most recent booking was my first inquiry with no info. He had a clear picture but no reviews, and although was from another state, just wrote “I would like to check in around 5 after work if that’s ok.” I was initially going to decline because it was for 30 days and with no info and no reviews it seemed fishy. But I just responded that a keypad makes checkin flexible and that I was confused because his profile said Nevada but he mentioned coming from work. He immediately responded with a much more in depth answer and ended up being a traveling professional and was a really shy and sweet guy who left the place fantastic. I think being new to air, he didn’t realize that initial contact is to make the host comfortable.

@HH_AZ You presume that your prospective guests will be truthful in their response; I can’t imagine that a stranger’s response could possibly give you peace of mind, but maybe I’m too jaded…

@HH_AZ Please forgive me, but how would a guest writing to you that “my wife and I are teachers in Tampa. We are coming to your area to visit our son and his girlfriend who just had a baby; they live in a trailer park a couple of miles from your place; we think the photos of your home are really cool; I’m sure we will love our stay”. How is any such information from a guest make it less like hosting “blindly” or how would you ensure from such information that “expectations for both parties are met”?

I do what I can … Between answers and googling I usually have a pretty good idea of who and what to expect to expect. Doing so has resulted in only 5 star ratings. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been guests I’d not want back but at least they were happy.

I’m sure eventually there will be a fail but so far it has worked for me.

If it ever gets to a point where I get jaded (like you say you are) I’ll limit my guests to prior guests only.

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It might be to open ended and guests may not understand why. I hear Airbnb is getting rid of this feature. I imagine guests felt odd about it. Just means I will have to explain and teach. “Welcome to my place. May I ask who is coming and what brings you to Seattle? I always want to provide you with the best experience, and this helps me prepare and customize any recommendations. Looking forward to your stay!”

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What would be a bad fit, would be someone who has booked it to use as a brothel, to have a party, or to steal.

Hey Londoner,

A quick heads-up. Once a post is 6 months old we “should” see a warning like this before “reviving an old post”:
image

I am not sure if this is not visible when using a phone instead of tablet or pc.

Hi Jefferson. No, I haven’t seen that message at all. I am using a computer.