Post by High Priestess on Nov 6, 2015 3:53:30 GMT
Recently there was a long and somewhat tense conversation on another forum, regarding the difference between noticing red flags (red flag = adjective/noun) in a guest's presentation, versus "flagging" (verb) a message or profile for Airbnb to review.
Please note there is a HUGE difference between you as the host being aware of certain "caution" signs in the guest's presentation, and you as the host taking the action of flagging a guest's profile or message(s) for Airbnb to review!!! You may find several things in any guests' presentation that concern you -- this does NOT mean you should be "flagging" the guest to Airbnb to review the guest, as if they were some sort of danger, or were violating terms, etc.
Here is the conversation that occurred on this --
Jane shared Nov 3 2015
To Red Flag or Not, is the question?
Hi folks,
I have had a request from a guest for 1 night and have a bad feeling about it, this is the conversation.
Hello Jane, this is ____, I am interested to your house you supplied, but I still have few questions, would you mind to give me any more information?
Hi ____.
What questions do you need answering? Hopefully you will have read the house manual and the description of the property, if not, please do so. Happy to help with your enquiry. Why are you visiting the area and how many people are staying? Thanks for your interest. Jane.
Hello, my boyfriend and I will visit here for about six weeks, maybe less, and we are both students, just for travel. I just want to know that how many people will stay in the house except us?
Actually if possible we want to rent five or six weeks, is there any discount if we rent for a long time?There's myself and my husband and 1 lodger who has been with us for a while.
Are you booking the 1 night only? Jane.
Actually if possible we want to rent five or six weeks, is there any Ok thanks discount if we rent for a long time?
No. There is no discount and I don't rent for more than 2 weeks.
Ok thanks
There is no clear profile photo of the guest and a name written in Chinese on her profile page? She has one verification from Weido. She joined Airbnb in October 2015 and has no reviews. I do take resevations for more than a week but do not have a monthly price.
Am I being overly cautious? I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it.
Any help greatly apprieciated.
Clare
If you are not comfortable don't accept, which you didn't. I'm not sure I would flag the guest. Asking about how many people will be in the house could be an innocent question about how crowded the space might be. Could be a language barrier issue. After multiple rejections, which I'm sure she'll have, she will learn to post a profile photo and get more verifications.
Nic and Rach
I am with Clare on this one, most Asian's has this cultural way of asking discounts my approach to these are simple. I wore different type of hats, so I level myself to each guests enquiries..communication is vital and it is the very first step to know your guests and how you will relate to them.but anyway, Like what Clare said, if its not a good fit then just let them know. and no need to flag the enquirer- they were only asking for a discount, but If they wanting to pay you directly in cash, then that's a " RED FLAG " that you can send to Airbnb.
Rosanne
I have been asked discounts by all nationalities.
Rosanne
If she is Chinese its very possible there is a language barrier. I think if she wants the place for 6 weeks and you only rent for 2 weeks, she will look elsewhere anyway. I see no need to flag it.
Deborah
Janet, to clarify terminology: "red flag" is a term which refers to something in a guest's presentation that may make the host nervous/cautious/concerned. "Red flag" is a term only in use among the host community to talk about the process of screening guests. THis term has NOTHING to do with flagging guests, flagging profiles, or flagging messages for Airbnb to review. One should absolutely not officially "flag" a communication from a guest for Airbnb to review, based solely on your concerns that you don't think you want this guest.
Please make sure you understand this, because it would be an abuse of the Airbnb system to officially "flag" for AIrbnb review those guests whom hosts were simply cautious about and not sure if they wanted to accept. It would be like a guest "flagging" your listing and reporting you to Airbnb because you , for instance, didnt' offer free coffee or tea and breakfast with your accomodations.
Clare
Good job, Deborah, as always.
Ekaterina
A bit strange... What kind of students can afford traveling for months in the middle of an academic year?
Clare
Maybe they have wealthy parents.
Rosanne
The Chinese always seem to have money to travel, and usually in groups. Nothing wrong with that.
Kelly
Maybe their academic year is different from other countries? They are taking a semester off? - and yep, a lot of Chinese students have rich parents (especially the one who is willing/capable of traveling abroad)
Nic and Rach (Nic & Rach)
I think China is the number one tourism source market in the world and I think China has become the largest spender in international tourism globally... and so far, we hosted 3 families and a wonderful Chinese guests this year.
Deborah (High Priestess)
As to the question of feeling uncomfortable about this guest -- I don't really understand your concern. Maybe you can elaborate on what you are concerned about. It makes sense that a person whose name is written in another language may not understand everything you say 100% clearly. If I received this inquiry, I might be concerned about how focused this guest was on getting a discount, so that is something to consider. Also, I am not clear -- was it you or the guest who said her party consisted of herself, her husband, and one lodger? I would find it very odd if a guest stated that she wanted to come with her husband and a "lodger" -- definitely need to ask more about what that means, possibly a language issue. But guests need to be very clear about who exactly would be coming and what is their relationship to the other guests coming. "Me and my husband and another warm body" doesn't suffice.
Jane
I am concerned about certain points in your thread that a potential guest was
Queenie & Ted (queenie&ted)
I see no reason to flag the communication. You have an inquiry that you will decline for at least 2 reasons - they want a longer term stay than you permit, and they want a discount that you don't offer.
Deborah makes an important point about the use of airbnb's red flags. It is important to differentiate between an inquiry that you don't want to proceed with and an inquiry that is somehow dangerous to all or many hosts.
There is an opportunity to help this guest through the airbnb process. You can recommend a complete profile, including a clear photo of herself, and providing offline ID verification. Every host will want that. You could also tell her to limit her searches to places places that do longer term stays by putting in tentative dates exceeding 30 days. Even with the 'wrong' dates, her search would be more efficient and she wouldn't be contacting hosts who do short stays only.
I do feel that part of our jobs as hosts is to create good, well informed guests, even if they don't end up being our guests.
Rebecca
Completely agree with your last point, Queenie. I spend an awful lot of time educating newbie members and telling them what is expected of them even if they don't end up booking with me. I see it as part of the job.
Rebecca
Wish we could edit posts! Just realised I basically repeated exactly what you said. Oh well, it's a good point and deserves to be repeated!
Rosanne
As I said, its really a moot point. You dont rent for longer than 2 weeks. Just forget about it and move on. Allow the next Host that is willing rent for 5 or 6 weeks decide on what's important to him.
Jane
Thanks for all your comments and replies. This is a new host forum, of which I am one. I am asking the questions that I posted because of this. I am still on a learning curve and obviously do not have the experience of certain hosts. Thanks again.
Jane
I have read the thread by Deborah on Red Flag for hosts. It seems that my enquiry from the above mentioned guest, would indeed be classed as a Red Flag on more than one point. Which was the simple question I asked in the first place. Some of you have short memories about being a new host. Deborah, you should READ your own thread and wind your neck in. Ta very much.
Michelle
Wow..that was quite rude. Deborah was only trying explain the red flag vs flagging of a guest to you. I saw nothing wrong in what she wrote or much of a problem in what the guest wrote other than asking for a discount. Maybe you need to wind it in a bit.
Louise
Janet, 'red flag' is consists of an adjective and a noun. You can't 'red flag' someone, that's a verb.
Jane
Yea yeah. Holier than vow. You have forgotten the original question as a new host asking experienced hosts for advice. Can you all read Deborah s thread.
Francisco
Wow so rude
Jane
Yes. She was!
Anne
Jane, this is a pretty tight knit group and you are out of line with a highly respected member who is very generous with her talents. Don't expect too much in the future.
Bruce
Wow Louise! If the yapping television face can get away with asserting that someone will "gold medal" in the Olympics then a host can "red flag" an unwanted guest. It is all equal in the language corruption process.
Rosanne
I think its time to close this subject down and start somewhere else with something new.
Louise
Agree.
Deborah was kindly giving her time and using her experience to patiently explain to Janet the difference between 'red flagging' a communication (an action) and a 'red flag' in communication (an attribute), to which Janet's somewhat less than gracious response was 'wind your neck in'.
Whatever the cause - crossed wires? bad day? - I think shutting the thread down via deletion by the OP might be the most sensible course of action.
Rebecca
To be fair to Jane, it is possible to see how the tone of Deborah's post could be interpreted as...how can I put it...a little imperious? No offense meant to you at all, Deborah, I just think it's easy for regulars on here to forget that new members are not familiar with the group and that Deborah is considered by many to be a hosting guru (!). That's all.
Jane
Thank you Rebecca, polite and civil response, just what I had asked for, xxx
Deborah (High Priestess)
I think it is natural and understandable that we all can get a little annoyed with each other from time to time, and there is no reason to close down a thread on that basis -- I really want people to have their freedom to be annoyed, with me or anyone else. I say this too in concern about the future of Airbnb groups, and how those will be moderated -- I would hate to see little spats or slightly heated exchanges that rise from time to time be deleted. It seems healthy to me to let people have some "space" as long as it doesn't descend really into nasty name-calling.
I do see Rebecca's point that I could have come across as "imperious" in telling Jan to "please understand" the difference between being cautious about some of guests' presentation, and the action of flagging a message for AIrbnb. WHen Jan spoke of "wondering to red flag it", since Jan used "red flag" as a VERB, rather than a NOUN, I took that to indicate she was contemplating an ACTION, namely the action of flagging something to Airbnb via the "flag" tool on posts. Flagging either messages, listings or profiles is the only kind of flagging action (verb) that I have ever heard of on these forums. When we speak of "flagging" something, we always mean, so that Airbnb can look into the matter. Neither in my post on red flags nor anywhere that I recall in many host discussions on red flag issues, have we used the term "red flag" as a VERB. The term as I used it, and in its common usage, is a NOUN. I have never seen anyone say, as Jan did, "I will red flag it" and am not actually sure what that would look like or what that means.
We speak of an issue as a "red flag" , and we may count red flags in a certain inquiry -- always (adjective +) nouns.
Rebecca
Very good point, Deborah, about the freedom to disagree. The trouble is that the written word can so easily be misinterpreted - it's the nature of social media, I guess. I was just trying to make the point that a new member doesn't necessarily know about your experience and all the hard work you have done in guiding people on here with such patience, care and consistency. So your authoritative words might take them aback, you know? I share your concerns about the future of the groups. On the one hand, I think it will be good to see the end of some of the "keyboard warrior" style of posting that is sometimes seen on here but, on the other hand, the prospect of only lovely happy clappy exchanges being allowed is very unappealing.
Kelly
What is going on these days....way more conflict and drama than before. It happened in other forums as well.
Jane
Do bora. I have never said in any part of my text "I will red flag it".
Anne
Kelly, might you be referring to Mr. turkey bacon? Lol.
Cathy
Jane -it's the title of your post.....! You specifically used the term as an action as you close your query "decided not to accept the reservation, but wonder whether to red flag it' ? I think Deborah's replies did directly address the issue and usefully clarified the difference between 'a red flag' (in one's mind's eye) and 'red flagging' (the action of turning the little flag red so that Airbnb checks someone/some issue out). That is a distinction worth swing - for you, but also for other new hosts reading the thread. Please know that the group here is a safe and useful place for new - and experienced- hosts to bring issues (every new challenging situation faced for the first time makes 'newbies' of even the long time host) and the you'll attract the generous input of really skilled folk here....especially if you assume goodwill from those trying to help rather than see disrespect where none was meant.
Cathy
Sorry 'swing'
? Where did that come from?! That should have been 'distinction worth stressing'
Kelly
As I have had similar situations before, I could guess - that guest might wanted to book for 1 day and pay separate for their 5~6 week stays in person - to avoid fee. But in this message, she hasn't mention it clearly about paying separate part, I wouldn't click the red flag on the message.
Jane
Thanks Kelly for your sensible and civil response to my questions. That is all I asked to the group in the first instance. One of the few to do so. Best wishes.
Jane
To Red Flag or Not, is the question?
This was my title Cathy, nowhere in my message do I use the words, "I will red flag her". Am I being overly cautious? I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it. This was my question. Some responses have been constructive and appreciated, others are not. Not long for this group anyway but wouldn't like to say that I wouldn't be comfortable asking any question or query to this forum again. Sad, I think.
Jane
Anne; Don't expect too much in the future. (Your quote), MMM, that sounds like a threat. Nice, very nice.
Deborah (High Priestess)
Jane, I do appreciate that you are sincerely trying to address a real guest issue, and more, that you are considering "red flags" , and finally, I do appreciate that you have read my post on red flags. So I congratulate you for putting all that time and thought into this question of yours.
Where I find it (very) confusing, is that on the one hand you say, "Debora. I have never said in any part of my text "I will red flag it",
and then on the other hand you say, "I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it"
I think many of us are confused by what you are saying, as described above, because of the concern about the possible misuse of the feature of flagging a message to Airbnb for review, as described above .
You are welcome to bring your questions here and participate on this forum, and other groups, and also to express your annoyance here if you feel annoyed, but something for you and all group participants to keep in mind is that something which both Andrew and I are known for on this group is our thoughtfulness and thoroughness, how we value clarity in communication. We both believe that hosts who can communicate clearly with each other, stand the best chance of being able to communicate clearly with guests. So we, as well as other group participants, will often encourage or even pressure hosts who ask questions or give answers, to communicate clearly.
I think several of us have clearly communicated what our confusion with your statements has been.
Please note there is a HUGE difference between you as the host being aware of certain "caution" signs in the guest's presentation, and you as the host taking the action of flagging a guest's profile or message(s) for Airbnb to review!!! You may find several things in any guests' presentation that concern you -- this does NOT mean you should be "flagging" the guest to Airbnb to review the guest, as if they were some sort of danger, or were violating terms, etc.
Here is the conversation that occurred on this --
Jane shared Nov 3 2015
To Red Flag or Not, is the question?
Hi folks,
I have had a request from a guest for 1 night and have a bad feeling about it, this is the conversation.
Hello Jane, this is ____, I am interested to your house you supplied, but I still have few questions, would you mind to give me any more information?
Hi ____.
What questions do you need answering? Hopefully you will have read the house manual and the description of the property, if not, please do so. Happy to help with your enquiry. Why are you visiting the area and how many people are staying? Thanks for your interest. Jane.
Hello, my boyfriend and I will visit here for about six weeks, maybe less, and we are both students, just for travel. I just want to know that how many people will stay in the house except us?
Actually if possible we want to rent five or six weeks, is there any discount if we rent for a long time?There's myself and my husband and 1 lodger who has been with us for a while.
Are you booking the 1 night only? Jane.
Actually if possible we want to rent five or six weeks, is there any Ok thanks discount if we rent for a long time?
No. There is no discount and I don't rent for more than 2 weeks.
Ok thanks
There is no clear profile photo of the guest and a name written in Chinese on her profile page? She has one verification from Weido. She joined Airbnb in October 2015 and has no reviews. I do take resevations for more than a week but do not have a monthly price.
Am I being overly cautious? I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it.
Any help greatly apprieciated.
Clare
If you are not comfortable don't accept, which you didn't. I'm not sure I would flag the guest. Asking about how many people will be in the house could be an innocent question about how crowded the space might be. Could be a language barrier issue. After multiple rejections, which I'm sure she'll have, she will learn to post a profile photo and get more verifications.
Nic and Rach
I am with Clare on this one, most Asian's has this cultural way of asking discounts my approach to these are simple. I wore different type of hats, so I level myself to each guests enquiries..communication is vital and it is the very first step to know your guests and how you will relate to them.but anyway, Like what Clare said, if its not a good fit then just let them know. and no need to flag the enquirer- they were only asking for a discount, but If they wanting to pay you directly in cash, then that's a " RED FLAG " that you can send to Airbnb.
Rosanne
I have been asked discounts by all nationalities.
Rosanne
If she is Chinese its very possible there is a language barrier. I think if she wants the place for 6 weeks and you only rent for 2 weeks, she will look elsewhere anyway. I see no need to flag it.
Deborah
Janet, to clarify terminology: "red flag" is a term which refers to something in a guest's presentation that may make the host nervous/cautious/concerned. "Red flag" is a term only in use among the host community to talk about the process of screening guests. THis term has NOTHING to do with flagging guests, flagging profiles, or flagging messages for Airbnb to review. One should absolutely not officially "flag" a communication from a guest for Airbnb to review, based solely on your concerns that you don't think you want this guest.
Please make sure you understand this, because it would be an abuse of the Airbnb system to officially "flag" for AIrbnb review those guests whom hosts were simply cautious about and not sure if they wanted to accept. It would be like a guest "flagging" your listing and reporting you to Airbnb because you , for instance, didnt' offer free coffee or tea and breakfast with your accomodations.
Clare
Good job, Deborah, as always.
Ekaterina
A bit strange... What kind of students can afford traveling for months in the middle of an academic year?
Clare
Maybe they have wealthy parents.
Rosanne
The Chinese always seem to have money to travel, and usually in groups. Nothing wrong with that.
Kelly
Maybe their academic year is different from other countries? They are taking a semester off? - and yep, a lot of Chinese students have rich parents (especially the one who is willing/capable of traveling abroad)
Nic and Rach (Nic & Rach)
I think China is the number one tourism source market in the world and I think China has become the largest spender in international tourism globally... and so far, we hosted 3 families and a wonderful Chinese guests this year.
Deborah (High Priestess)
As to the question of feeling uncomfortable about this guest -- I don't really understand your concern. Maybe you can elaborate on what you are concerned about. It makes sense that a person whose name is written in another language may not understand everything you say 100% clearly. If I received this inquiry, I might be concerned about how focused this guest was on getting a discount, so that is something to consider. Also, I am not clear -- was it you or the guest who said her party consisted of herself, her husband, and one lodger? I would find it very odd if a guest stated that she wanted to come with her husband and a "lodger" -- definitely need to ask more about what that means, possibly a language issue. But guests need to be very clear about who exactly would be coming and what is their relationship to the other guests coming. "Me and my husband and another warm body" doesn't suffice.
Jane
I am concerned about certain points in your thread that a potential guest was
Queenie & Ted (queenie&ted)
I see no reason to flag the communication. You have an inquiry that you will decline for at least 2 reasons - they want a longer term stay than you permit, and they want a discount that you don't offer.
Deborah makes an important point about the use of airbnb's red flags. It is important to differentiate between an inquiry that you don't want to proceed with and an inquiry that is somehow dangerous to all or many hosts.
There is an opportunity to help this guest through the airbnb process. You can recommend a complete profile, including a clear photo of herself, and providing offline ID verification. Every host will want that. You could also tell her to limit her searches to places places that do longer term stays by putting in tentative dates exceeding 30 days. Even with the 'wrong' dates, her search would be more efficient and she wouldn't be contacting hosts who do short stays only.
I do feel that part of our jobs as hosts is to create good, well informed guests, even if they don't end up being our guests.
Rebecca
Completely agree with your last point, Queenie. I spend an awful lot of time educating newbie members and telling them what is expected of them even if they don't end up booking with me. I see it as part of the job.
Rebecca
Wish we could edit posts! Just realised I basically repeated exactly what you said. Oh well, it's a good point and deserves to be repeated!
Rosanne
As I said, its really a moot point. You dont rent for longer than 2 weeks. Just forget about it and move on. Allow the next Host that is willing rent for 5 or 6 weeks decide on what's important to him.
Jane
Thanks for all your comments and replies. This is a new host forum, of which I am one. I am asking the questions that I posted because of this. I am still on a learning curve and obviously do not have the experience of certain hosts. Thanks again.
Jane
I have read the thread by Deborah on Red Flag for hosts. It seems that my enquiry from the above mentioned guest, would indeed be classed as a Red Flag on more than one point. Which was the simple question I asked in the first place. Some of you have short memories about being a new host. Deborah, you should READ your own thread and wind your neck in. Ta very much.
Michelle
Wow..that was quite rude. Deborah was only trying explain the red flag vs flagging of a guest to you. I saw nothing wrong in what she wrote or much of a problem in what the guest wrote other than asking for a discount. Maybe you need to wind it in a bit.
Louise
Janet, 'red flag' is consists of an adjective and a noun. You can't 'red flag' someone, that's a verb.
Jane
Yea yeah. Holier than vow. You have forgotten the original question as a new host asking experienced hosts for advice. Can you all read Deborah s thread.
Francisco
Wow so rude
Jane
Yes. She was!
Anne
Jane, this is a pretty tight knit group and you are out of line with a highly respected member who is very generous with her talents. Don't expect too much in the future.
Bruce
Wow Louise! If the yapping television face can get away with asserting that someone will "gold medal" in the Olympics then a host can "red flag" an unwanted guest. It is all equal in the language corruption process.
Rosanne
I think its time to close this subject down and start somewhere else with something new.
Louise
Agree.
Deborah was kindly giving her time and using her experience to patiently explain to Janet the difference between 'red flagging' a communication (an action) and a 'red flag' in communication (an attribute), to which Janet's somewhat less than gracious response was 'wind your neck in'.
Whatever the cause - crossed wires? bad day? - I think shutting the thread down via deletion by the OP might be the most sensible course of action.
Rebecca
To be fair to Jane, it is possible to see how the tone of Deborah's post could be interpreted as...how can I put it...a little imperious? No offense meant to you at all, Deborah, I just think it's easy for regulars on here to forget that new members are not familiar with the group and that Deborah is considered by many to be a hosting guru (!). That's all.
Jane
Thank you Rebecca, polite and civil response, just what I had asked for, xxx
Deborah (High Priestess)
I think it is natural and understandable that we all can get a little annoyed with each other from time to time, and there is no reason to close down a thread on that basis -- I really want people to have their freedom to be annoyed, with me or anyone else. I say this too in concern about the future of Airbnb groups, and how those will be moderated -- I would hate to see little spats or slightly heated exchanges that rise from time to time be deleted. It seems healthy to me to let people have some "space" as long as it doesn't descend really into nasty name-calling.
I do see Rebecca's point that I could have come across as "imperious" in telling Jan to "please understand" the difference between being cautious about some of guests' presentation, and the action of flagging a message for AIrbnb. WHen Jan spoke of "wondering to red flag it", since Jan used "red flag" as a VERB, rather than a NOUN, I took that to indicate she was contemplating an ACTION, namely the action of flagging something to Airbnb via the "flag" tool on posts. Flagging either messages, listings or profiles is the only kind of flagging action (verb) that I have ever heard of on these forums. When we speak of "flagging" something, we always mean, so that Airbnb can look into the matter. Neither in my post on red flags nor anywhere that I recall in many host discussions on red flag issues, have we used the term "red flag" as a VERB. The term as I used it, and in its common usage, is a NOUN. I have never seen anyone say, as Jan did, "I will red flag it" and am not actually sure what that would look like or what that means.
We speak of an issue as a "red flag" , and we may count red flags in a certain inquiry -- always (adjective +) nouns.
Rebecca
Very good point, Deborah, about the freedom to disagree. The trouble is that the written word can so easily be misinterpreted - it's the nature of social media, I guess. I was just trying to make the point that a new member doesn't necessarily know about your experience and all the hard work you have done in guiding people on here with such patience, care and consistency. So your authoritative words might take them aback, you know? I share your concerns about the future of the groups. On the one hand, I think it will be good to see the end of some of the "keyboard warrior" style of posting that is sometimes seen on here but, on the other hand, the prospect of only lovely happy clappy exchanges being allowed is very unappealing.
Kelly
What is going on these days....way more conflict and drama than before. It happened in other forums as well.
Jane
Do bora. I have never said in any part of my text "I will red flag it".
Anne
Kelly, might you be referring to Mr. turkey bacon? Lol.
Cathy
Jane -it's the title of your post.....! You specifically used the term as an action as you close your query "decided not to accept the reservation, but wonder whether to red flag it' ? I think Deborah's replies did directly address the issue and usefully clarified the difference between 'a red flag' (in one's mind's eye) and 'red flagging' (the action of turning the little flag red so that Airbnb checks someone/some issue out). That is a distinction worth swing - for you, but also for other new hosts reading the thread. Please know that the group here is a safe and useful place for new - and experienced- hosts to bring issues (every new challenging situation faced for the first time makes 'newbies' of even the long time host) and the you'll attract the generous input of really skilled folk here....especially if you assume goodwill from those trying to help rather than see disrespect where none was meant.
Cathy
Sorry 'swing'
? Where did that come from?! That should have been 'distinction worth stressing'Kelly
As I have had similar situations before, I could guess - that guest might wanted to book for 1 day and pay separate for their 5~6 week stays in person - to avoid fee. But in this message, she hasn't mention it clearly about paying separate part, I wouldn't click the red flag on the message.
Jane
Thanks Kelly for your sensible and civil response to my questions. That is all I asked to the group in the first instance. One of the few to do so. Best wishes.
Jane
To Red Flag or Not, is the question?
This was my title Cathy, nowhere in my message do I use the words, "I will red flag her". Am I being overly cautious? I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it. This was my question. Some responses have been constructive and appreciated, others are not. Not long for this group anyway but wouldn't like to say that I wouldn't be comfortable asking any question or query to this forum again. Sad, I think.
Jane
Anne; Don't expect too much in the future. (Your quote), MMM, that sounds like a threat. Nice, very nice.
Deborah (High Priestess)
Jane, I do appreciate that you are sincerely trying to address a real guest issue, and more, that you are considering "red flags" , and finally, I do appreciate that you have read my post on red flags. So I congratulate you for putting all that time and thought into this question of yours.
Where I find it (very) confusing, is that on the one hand you say, "Debora. I have never said in any part of my text "I will red flag it",
and then on the other hand you say, "I have decided not to accept their reservation but wonder whether to red flag it"
I think many of us are confused by what you are saying, as described above, because of the concern about the possible misuse of the feature of flagging a message to Airbnb for review, as described above .
You are welcome to bring your questions here and participate on this forum, and other groups, and also to express your annoyance here if you feel annoyed, but something for you and all group participants to keep in mind is that something which both Andrew and I are known for on this group is our thoughtfulness and thoroughness, how we value clarity in communication. We both believe that hosts who can communicate clearly with each other, stand the best chance of being able to communicate clearly with guests. So we, as well as other group participants, will often encourage or even pressure hosts who ask questions or give answers, to communicate clearly.
I think several of us have clearly communicated what our confusion with your statements has been.