I had to decline one guest two times -- glitch?

1

I got a late night message from Tamera last night requesting a reservation for one guest:

Is parking available? Last Friday at 11:08 PM (that was all she said)

Hi Tamara, and thank you for the inquiry. Yes, unassigned parking is available in the south parking lot of my townhome complex. If that happens to be full, there is another parking lot, which is adjacent to the north. Will it be just you staying? May I ask the nature of your visit? Thank you, again. Sandy

Myself and my husband. We will be visiting Rocky Mountain National
Park. (Which is over an hour away – lots of Airbnb’s in Estes Park, adjacent to RMNP)

Tamera, your inquiry listed “1 guest”. You will need to resubmit (or alter) your number of guests. May I please ask your age and your husband’s name and age? Just so you know, I ask these questions of all my prospective guests. Thank you. Sandy

I’m 55 as of 9/23/16 and my husband’s name is Michael Stanley abdominal he is 56. Please alter the reservation to reflect those changes since I’m not familiar with that process.
Tamara

Hi, Tamera, thank you for the information. Unfortunately, I cannot change the reservation particulars on my end. I hate to be a pain, as I would love to have you and Michael as my guests. I will try to search this site and see if I can find out how you can change the number of people. Airbnb is getting very particular about following all of the rules (big news over the last couple of days) so I feel obliged to be compliant. Back in a few.

To change a reservation request:
1.Go to Your Trips on airbnb.com
2.Find your reservation request under Pending Trips
3.Click Cancel Request and then OK to confirm
4.If you want, send a new request with your changed dates or number of guests
Hope that helps.

No further communication, which was alright with me since her photo looked like it came from a Victorian era tin-type; I was not getting a good vibe from Tamera (no prior reviews, either).

Tamera, in order to unblock my calendar, I have to decline your request, since I did not hear further from you. Sandy

So, I declined her request this morning. Just a few minutes ago, I got another email from Air saying I needed to either accept or decline her request. I had already declined. Now I have two declines for the same inquiry. I think I should call Air, as I’m sure this factors into the dreaded algorithm.

Anyone else with this issue?

#1 Declined Sep 28 - 30, 2016
Sunny Hip Quiet 2 Bedroom Townhome
xxx Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
Tamara
Tamara K
$465 total Message History

#2 Declined Sep 28 - 30, 2016
Sunny Hip Quiet 2 Bedroom Townhome
xxx Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
Tamara
Tamara K
$465 total Message History

2

Sorry – never mind. I just looked at the email – she resubmitted the request for two guests. I already declined and I am going with my gut on this one because I received no message with the second reservation. Sorry to waste your time!

(It was one of those weird requests that just didn’t sit right).

3

Hi @sandy2,

You followed the correct procedure. However, just FYI, in this kind of situation, if you have a guest who can’t figure out how to alter the reservation correctly, an option from your end is to make a “special offer”. This isn’t necessarily a good idea - I think it’s better to have the guest do it from his/her end, but it is an option.

Frankly, if a guest is so dumb that he/she can’t figure out how to alter a reservation correctly, you are probably better off not having him/her stay. I had one guest who accidentally made a reservation for one person when two were coming. Then asked me if he could pay the difference in cash. When I said no, he cancelled the reservation and made two more attempts (I think) before getting it right. He wound up being something of a nightmare guest. There’s a thread about him on this forum. But you might already be familiar with that case - it’s hard to keep track.

In general, if you get messages from nutty-sounding people, you’re better off declining if you can afford to do so.

1 Like
4

Yas @Faheem. Had she asked, "how do I change the reservation?, instead of basically, you do it because I can’t be bothered, I might have accepted her the second time around. Clearly, she didn’t read my listing because I state that there is plenty of parking, and I also ask for that they tell me their age, the ages of any other guests, and the nature of their visit. I sent her a follow up email on “How to send an inquiry”, such as, the ages, reason for visit, and something nice about the listing. She seemed too high mainentance. I’ll keep track and see if she turns out to be someone else’s nightmare. Thanks for the tip on “Special Offer” – didn’t know I could change the number of guests, there. But, this might be a good way to vet out someone who I really don’t want, anyway :slight_smile:

5

You didn’t remove your address from the second decline.

6

Thank you! Done! :slight_smile:

1 Like
7

Well, technically you aren’t changing anything. You’re making the guest a new “offer”, with whatever terms you choose. If the guest accepts, then he/she is booked. And I suppose the booking request the guest made, if it exists, fades into oblivion.

8

It went into this Air :wink: