Someone local faked booked 3 nights not because she wanted to book the room; she wanted to ask me whether we needed cleaning services! I had to pre-approve the request in order not to get dinged by Airbnb for declining it. Does this type of thing happen often? What could I have done better?
You mean she sent an enquiry rather than a booking? Oh, itās just occurred to me that maybe you have IB switched on so perhaps I donāt understand the situation. But if it is just an enquiry, I donāt think youād get ādingedā for declining it.
Yes, it is IB and I have the option turned on that guests must have at least one positive review from a host or I have to pre-approve. Itās good to know for future reference that I can decline inquires without being dinged. Iām new so trying to do everything right. Thanks!
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Please donāt take my word for it! Iāve never had IB switched on so it might be different in that situation. Thereās plenty of good folk here who can be more helpful than I on this occasion so Iāll go back to my cup of teaā¦ 
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Was it an Inquiry? Or a Request To Book? If an Inquiry, there is no penalty for decliningā¦
I would never use IB, no matter what Air tells youā¦ Weāve heard a lot of sob stories here from folks who have used itā¦
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You should report this user to Airbnb. If it was only an inquiry you need only reply and ignore the pre approve and decline buttons.
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You should have clicked āacceptā and then let them stew a few minutes about it before saying, āoops, didnāt read the message, youāll have to cancel.ā 
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With a strict cancellation policy, this could be fun ā¦ And a strong deterrent to them doing it again. It would be interesting to listen in on their explanation to ABB as to why they wanted their money back. 
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Iām so new Iām not sure what it was. It said pre-approve or decline. So I pre-approved. I didnāt want to decline for fear of being dinged by Airbnb. Iāll call them later today to find out what I could have done better.
It sounds like it was an inquiry as there was no option to accept which is what you see with a booking request. You didnāt need to do anything except answer their question but it did no harm to pre approve
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I get this quite often, and it doesnāt bother me. I appreciate the hustle of someone who is trying to offer their services. Itās no bother for to reply and I donāt think that you actually need to accept or decline, you can just reply.
As a host, there is no way for me to contact any other host without a fake inquiry, even if I want to invite another host to lunch. So Iām pretty sympathetic to someone having no other way to contact me other than submitting an inquiry.
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It would be useful if you let us know what Airbnb say when you call them about this.
I always pre-approve because I think somewhere in Airās calculations there would be something that keeps track of declines because they focus so much on hostsā availability.
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Thatās exactly what concerns me.
I use IB but have āinquiriesā that are from cleaning services or people who want to sell me something. I have always simply replied.
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Iāve probably had 400 instant bookings, no problem.
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Iāve had 2 of these in a month. I replied thanks but no thanks, and that was it. As it was an enquiry it went no further, my calendar was unaffected, no declining or cancelling necessary
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I also use IB and would not want to deal with every booking. I would approve and block them.
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You could have dinged it under āguest wants dates different to what was requestedā which is what I use when people send a booking enquiry for the minimum 2 nights and then ask if they can stay for just the one or really want dates that are marked as not available on my calendar. No reason not to use it for spammers as they donāt provide a spam option.
All you have to do is reply to an inquiry. You wonāt get dinged for not accepting/declining. I rarely accept or decline an inquiry. Usually its about a discount. I always reply that I donāt give discounts, donāt have a weekly rate, etc. I always leave it open in case they decide to book, knowing that they will just move on to a host they can gain the upper hand with. I do use instant book, so anyone who is serious will just book. I rarely get spam, but when I do, I report the person to Air.
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You donāt have to decline - just respondā¦ I made heaps of mistakes like that due to not understanding how it works at the start but now on top of it all. Good luck brighteyes00ā¦