No Response from a Guest before Accepting a Reservation

I have been communicating with my guest to ensure he wishes to add on extra linen for a fee, this is noted on the Airbnb listing. I have not had a response and the reservation request will soon expire. Should I just accept this request on the basis he will be happy with the extra charges or should I cancel it due to him not responding to my messages. Thanks

ACCEPT!! You will lose the listing otherwise and be penalized… You can always ALTER the reservation at any time before they arrive… So ACCEPT!

How will I be penalized? I have been communicating with him but had no response as I dont want to be put in the situation where they dont pay for the extras and I then have to cancel their request after I have accepted it.

What kind of charges are we talking about in relation to the cost of the accommodation? Has this guest been responsive to other questions?

You may want to shoot off a quick email saying you only have such and such time to accept the reservation before it expires. Let the guest know you haven’t received a response to your question regarding the linen fee, and you want to be sure you can meet all guest expectations before accepting the reservation. If you choose to decline the reservation then let the guest know they would need to make a new reservation if they want to book.

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LAMA–Oh if you just let it expire without making a decision, you’ll be penalized. Your calendar will be blocked for those days and your search ranking will plummet… so you have to either accept or decline. Cabin is right… that’s another way you could do it.

This is unsolicited advice, but you might want to consider just adding the linen fee into your listing, making the cost invisible, and don’t give guests a choice. The easier you make the booking process for them, the better.

Kona, o my god, I did not know that!!! I thought if I just answer and not decline, and they don’t book then the calendar is still empty.

There is an option that I use: answer before approving. Will it still hold the the dates?

Yana, this is only if they already sent a reservation request and you ignore it.

If they just send an inquiry, you DO have to respond… but I am not sure what the penalties are if you don’t “answer.” That is relatively new… I don’t remember that being a thing before. I think all they do is hold your calendar until you have either responded, declined or accepted.

Does anyone know?

Thanks, The fee was only minor but I was more concerned that the guest had not responded to any of my messages with the clock down to only an hour to go. I decided to Waiver the fee to get the booking but he found accomodation closer to his destination so I have declined his request but it would have been nice if he let me know sooner. If you click Accept straight away can you still negotiate any extra fees?

LAMa-- Yes, you can change the any aspect of the booking after it is accepted via the Reservation page. Find their reservation and click on “Alter or cancel reservation.” It allows you to add more days, for example, or make other changes that you want to make. So he sent you a request and then changed his mind? You really were not under any obligation to Decline him… That was nice of you!

But again… I think asking the guest to make choices about optional fees is a bit of a turn off… Personally I try to keep it simple…

Maybe discuss it with them once they arrive… ??

Kona - I thought it was the hosts responsibility to Decline the request because what happens if your 24 hours time limit is up and the guest has not withdrawn their request, will.that not affect my Airbnb status if I let it sit their in pending. Reading all.the help centre info it seems that it would do more harm to you listing if you Accept it then Cancel it rather than confirm all the details before you accept it. I do make it clear on my listing about these extra charges I just think people viewing the listing dont read it properly hence why I confirm they are happy with these extras before I accept. This is the only case where I have not had a responce from the guest. I will amend my listing to include these extras for weekly bookings to make it easier.

Well… without seeing your listing in detail it is hard to say… if everything, such as the extra charges for linens, are stated up front, and the guest requests to book, then they would seem to be bound by your terms, whatever they are. In my case, I have to collect accommodations tax in CASH… it’s all over my listing I have to collect tax and still, when I get a request, I tell them this up front…“Tax will be added to my payout amount and is due upon arrival.”

Yet, I still ACCEPT. I don’t wait for them to write back and say “yes, we agree to pay tax…” I just accept, and then I send them the amount due on arrival with the information documents.

If You cancel… you will incur some penalties… such as your air fees and I believe your calendar block. You don’t want to be the one to cancel first.

I would think ACCEPT. And if they don’t want to pay whatever is extra it is their problem because you disclosed it.

If I have any material changes to the listing… such as more days, more fees (aside from tax) or anything else, I just do an alteration. Much easier I would think.

Thanks Kona, I have only recently started using Airbnb so I am still working on the finer details, I appreciate your advice and im sure as I get more requests I will use the information you have given me. Trying to be friendly and accomodating and still making sure that the guests understand the terms of the booking is something I will try and work on, it would be nice if when you respond in a timly manner that they would do the same aswell but as I have just learnt this isn’t always the case. Have you had an experiences where you have accepted a booking and then they cancel because they don’t like your tax/fees you have charged? and if so does this reflect badly on the guests profile?

La… Have never had anybody cancel because they didn’t see or don’t want to pay the tax. It’s all over my listing a million ways from Sunday so they cannot miss it. I tell them again when they enquire and yet again when I accept. I had one guest grouse but he was a FlipKey guest not Airbnb so that is par for the course.

One time I booked a Canadian guy who needed his hand held for every little thing. Asked a million questions before hand. I even planned his itinerary in Hawaii for him, and sent him to some of my contacts for activities because I’m a travel guidebook writer for a major publisher. How did he thank me? With a review chock full of a laundry list of complaints… Including that he had to pay tax and couldn’t leave the studio in a mess because he had paid “cleaning.” Everything he had smacked me for had been disclosed so it was entirely unfair of him to bring it up in a review. It was one of the few I responded to. Idiot. Sometimes bad guests just happen.

But I’m just thinking if you have too many questions or too much for the guest to answer and think about before booking, he may think you are a fusspot and move on to an easier listing. I would anyway!