IMHO, I think 4 days is a bit short for an automatic decline. Member can be on vacation, away from a computer or smart phone, busy with work or life, or simply forgetfull. I think about 7-10 days would be a better range.
Thanks
3 Likes
When I am traveling abroad I donāt always have access to full email as recently when in Chinaā¦I would like to be able to turn off the automatic refusal or let me set the duration of when to pause or allow me to have a personalized automatic response saying Iām traveling and will response upon my returnālike an out of office auto notice.
To me IT IS MUCH MORE important that hosts that have ā0ā response rate be deleted from all searches.
4 Likes
Barry W, you are correctāI never want strangers to know that Iām out of town since I live alone. Having a ānot available to reply at this timeā with a date range that would automatically trigger this response (like gmails āout of officeā auto response) would be IDEAL.
2 Likes
I agree with all the people who said it is a bad idea. I have on multiple occasions received refusal months after my requests, and it feels quite ridiculous, however, if I do not receive an answer a few days after I send it, I just move on. I think it is just common sense.
I personally do not like the idea of an automatic reply. This 4 day automatic reply proposal will make the HomeExchange experience feel more like a chore or a job than something pleasant and fun in a collaborative community, as it should be.
I usually reply very soon, and if I am not sure, I say so and keep the conversation open. But I donāt want to feel that I HAVE TO do it.
In any case, if you really want to implement this new feature, I strongly suggest that it will allow for more time, at least a week, or even better two weeks. After that, perhaps it would be acceptable.
3 Likes
4 days is too short. Working people often must wait until the weekend to catch up on correspondence. I just had several exchange requests automatically refused and now itās MORE work on me to try to reach out again. Please reconsider this policy.
2 Likes
Iāve found the big downside to Homeexchange is trying to keep up responding to all the offers we get as itās a lot of work. I like to write a polite reply as the default response is worded in a way Iām uncomfortable with. But a lot of the offers we get are from people who havenāt read what weāre looking for so arenāt possible for us. I would like to see more encouragement to people to read listings fully and only apply when it looks possible that the host might be interested in an exchange.
If I find the four day limit makes me feel under more pressure to reply, I may end up restricting the offers I can get to a few particular dates. This is likely to mean we miss out exchanges that might have interested us which seems a pity.
4 Likes
I donāt like this because I feel like it ignores the fact that many of us are travelers or just plain busy and quick responses are not always possible. Rather than a ādeclineā I would prefer if there was a way to have a message that is like an out of office message that says we were not able to apply in 4 daysā¦
1 Like
I agree- We work hard to respond in a timely manner but it isnāt always feasible and 4 days seems very quick.
1 Like
Maybe you could update your calendar to block requests for a while or put your listing offline when you know you wonāt be available to answer ?
1 Like
I am very mixed on this update as I DO think itās good to be able to move on when you donāt get a response so to know thatās one I can cross off is helpful. However, Iām wondering if it will allow members to become lazy and simply let the system do the refusal and I believe it should absolutely affect their response rate.
I have recently been attempting to find places in Scotland and had 4 responses, to the numerous requests I sent. Fortunately for me 2 of them said yes. I wonder why people are on the site if they donāt want to participate? There are many ways to indicate unavailability either on the calendar or in the body of your site and I understand that there may be places that get more requests than others soā¦ be specific about what youāre looking for so people know if you might be a good fit. I always read their listing and check their calendar before I send a request.
I think that if a members response rate drops below a certain level (I have seen some that have 0 response rate) that their listing should be removed (with no refund). It doesnāt take long to push the button that says āno thank youā.
I am an Ambassador and that is one of the most frequent comments I get from newbiesā¦Iāve tried so many in XX city and either got only a few or no responses even from those indicating my city is a place theyād like to visit. Itās not a great introduction for people just starting to be part of the community.
1 Like
I am concerned - this is the first time I have been moved to write. 4 days IS WAY WAY TOO SHORT! Sometimes I leave on hold a week - as I am working and then accept a person to stay - some of us have busy lives - and we ādo not WORK for homeexchangeā - I work for others.
If I write something in 4 days I may not have time to consult flights etc or even my wife (she is working too) - it will pressurise the system. I thing 8 - 10 days would make more sense. I like the delete no replies idea but not after 4 days! Not all of us spend our time 24/7 on chats - and here I am writing at 00:47 hrs as I consider it important, but have not had, until now, time to get onto this chat to express my sentiments!
1 Like
24 hours response time - you must be (a little) nuts surely. Unless you believe in instant, ill considered responses!
I must agree - if people are too busy to reply - then they are too busy to reply! Simple, the system could delete after say 10 days, but not 4d.
Nope, I did this and once recently, one guy thought I was definitely going to offer the exchange - when I couldnāt, he got snotty with me! I find minimal, clear simple responses are better than encouraging āfalse hopeā and āunnecessary chatter on the airwavesā ā¦ like this possiblyā¦
Welcome to the Forum and thank yo for your thoughts on these changes. Iāll certainly pass them onto the team
Welcome to the Forum! Iām so glad youāre pleased with the changes that the team has made 
Welcome to the Forum! So happy to hear you like the changes and iāll pass that suggestion onto the team
Welcome to the Forum! Thanks so much for this suggestion - can I recommend that you post it to this section of the Forum š³ļø Suggestions box - Forum HomeExchange
Iām very sorry to hear that youāre not happy with the changes that have been made to the site. The team do react to suggestions and feedback from members so all of these changes have been requests from members themselves.
Welcome to the Forum and thank you so much for your comments. You have put this in such a thoughtful and considerate way, which is so nice to see I will of course put forward your suggestions to the team. Changes are being made all the time to these improvements