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Inbox not feeding

Boyd K
Aug 24, 2020 7:51 AM
Joined Jun, 2020 4 posts

I am getting bookings and email notifications from vrbo, Also get pop-ups on the vrbo dashboard to use my owner rez account. But my inbox isn't receiving messages from guests. Airbnb I get but not vrbo? Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks Boyd

Ken T
Aug 24, 2020 8:13 AM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1472 posts

Hi Boyd,

This is normal - OwnerRez does not currently have a connection to the VRBO messaging system, just Airbnb. You need to continue to use VRBO tools to deal with their internal messages.

Boyd K
Aug 24, 2020 8:47 AM
Joined Jun, 2020 4 posts

Thanks

So if I communicate with the guest through owner rez will that discussion then show up in the inbox?

Ken T
Aug 24, 2020 8:51 AM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1472 posts

That depends.

- If you reply using the Airbnb message system, then those messages will show up both in OwnerRez and in Airbnb.

- Emails sent from OwnerRez do not show up in the channel inboxes, and replies from the guest do not show up in OwnerRez.

Boyd K
Aug 24, 2020 9:13 AM
Joined Jun, 2020 4 posts

Wow Ok: Let me start fresh> I need to get automated emails setup for new guest > Ive used smart bnb in the past>owner rez has some ability to do this ? Correct? What will be the least amount of resistance to get this accomplished> Checking multiple inboxes is not what I want to do.

Chris L
Aug 30, 2020 1:32 AM
Joined May, 2017 199 posts

Automated emails are just that--*emails.*

Emails sent to Airbnb guests from OwnerRez (either via the automated triggers or via the Email tab in a booking) will show up in the guests' email accounts, NOT in Airbnb's messaging.

I have a welcome message I manually send to Airbnb guests after they book clearly instructing them to look in their *email account*, not Airbnb, for my full check-in information and other communication, and I'd say 95% of guests are successful at finding it.

Someday OR will support automatically sending messages to Airbnb guests through Airbnb's messaging system, but until then, this seems to work mostly OK.

Valerie R
Sep 17, 2020 10:56 AM
Joined Sep, 2019 119 posts

I've wondered why the emails I send to guests through OR to an Airbnb guest do not show up in the Airbnb messaging for that booking...I was never 100% positive the guest received my email.

Chris, it sounds like you are saying that if we send an email to an Airbnb guest through OR it goes to their personal email address? Even though we can't see their personal email address on the Airbnb booking, OR must somehow have access to that information and sends it there?

Ken T
Sep 17, 2020 11:02 AM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1472 posts

Sort of... Airbnb has a temporary "proxy" email address that OwnerRez sends the emails to. Then, Airbnb forwards them on to the guest's real email address, which they do have even though they don't reveal it to you or to us. So email doesn't connect to the Airbnb messaging system at all - they're totally separate.

Valerie R
Sep 17, 2020 1:17 PM
Joined Sep, 2019 119 posts

I see...so you are saying that our emails to guests sent through OR are forwarded to the guest's personal email box by Airbnb, but not documented in the Airbnb messaging center. Thanks!

Ken T
Sep 17, 2020 1:31 PM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1472 posts

Exactly!