Do I have to accept session requests?

No. You are never obliged to say yes. But every request needs an answer, and the answer has a deadline.

The deadline

A session request does not sit open until you get to it. It expires against the requested start time, not the day it arrived. How long you have depends on the minimum booking notice you set in Settings → Sessions:

• 48 hours or 24 hours notice: answer by 12 hours before the requested start.
• 12 hours notice: answer by 6 hours before the requested start.
• 0 hours (instant booking): 12 hours before the start for anything booked more than a day out. Anything closer closes at the session time.

With a booking notice set, you get a reminder 24 hours after the request lands and another 24 hours before the requested start. On instant booking there are no reminders, so the first email is the only one.

When the deadline passes with no answer, we close the request, refund the member and email you both.

Ask for more information

If a request is thin and you want context before you commit, ask. The chat sits on the same page as the request, so you can message without going anywhere.

Press Reschedule before you start that conversation. Talking to the member does not stop the clock. Reschedule does: it sends them back to your availability calendar to pick a new slot, gives them until two days after the original time to do it, and costs you nothing. Then take the conversation as long as you need.

Answering a question and then finding the request auto-declined underneath you is the most common way mentors get a warning email. Reschedule first and it cannot happen.

Not a good fit

Decline, and say why. The reason is required — the button stays inactive until you write one — and it goes to the member as a message, so they hear it from you rather than reading a status change.

If you know someone better suited, name them. A referral is the most useful decline there is.

Nothing is lost when you decline. The session moves to the Archived tab on your Sessions page and the conversation stays in your inbox, so you can still pick it up later.

What actually counts against you

A decline does not count against you. A reschedule does not count against you. Silence does.

The first request that expires on your account changes nothing — you get an email and that is it. If a second expires within 30 days, your profile is temporarily hidden from the mentor directory: mentees cannot find you in search and no new requests come in. Your reviews, history and profile content are untouched. Turning your session durations back on in Settings → Sessions puts you live again immediately.

If the schedule is the real problem, raise your minimum booking notice or set a weekly session cap. Both live on that same page, and there is no penalty for pausing.

For what each button does, see accepting, declining or rescheduling a session request.