Potential guests id

[Dean638]

I feel confident to communicate with potential guests who have photo on their profile, and who AirBnB has verified with proof of identity. How do I ensure that only those that fulfill those criteria can book / request to book?

Thanks

[Michelle2475]

I have that set but 100% of the time both the inquiries and booking requests go through anyway. 

[Dean638]

oh okay, I just saw your reply 🙂   I have emailed airBnB to ask about this. 

[Michelle2475]

I’m wondering if that’s only for Canada and not the US as there is no option for that without IB. It allows me to require all of the other things but that’s not what happens. I’ve talked to Airbnb about this in the past and all they can tell me is that it should work...

[Colleen253]

@Michelle2475 "I’ve talked to Airbnb about this in the past and all they can tell me is that it should work..."

The trouble with the (outsourced call center) Airbnb CS reps is you can't really put much stock in what they tell you. You can ask ten different reps the same question and get ten totally different answers. They  often don't even know Airbnb policy. Rarely will you get one who actually knows what they are talking about. 

It should be platform wide. I believe   @Dean638 says it works for him as a UK host. It also doesn’t make sense it would be a feature for CAN hosts but not US. So my guess is it's a glitch for you. You can add to your house rules and your listing 'things to know' section that guests must go through the verification process to book with you, and when you get a request or inquiry, direct them to that and say once they've done that, you will accept their booking. Be sure to emphasize that it must be done within 24 hrs, if a booking request. Clunky, but the only thing I can think of until you can get someone at Airbnb to look into this properly for you.

[Michelle2475]

@Colleen253 @I could be totally misunderstanding but my side says verified government ID is IB only. Is it possible that the US side of Airbnb doesn’t require them to have that option but other countries do?

[Colleen253]

@Michelle2475 To clarify, we’re talking about two different processes. Your screenshot is your IB settings page. I’m talking about verification if you have IB off. Follow the link I posted, or search ‘can I require guests to be verified before booking?’ in the Airbnb help pages. There you’ll see a ‘reservation requirements’ link. This takes you to a page where you can check the box requiring this.  Note that you have to have verified your own ID to turn this setting on. 

When these requests come through for me, they show as “awaiting verification”, and the booking is pending guest completing the process. If a guest has verified their ID before attempting to book, the request will be pending only my acceptance. Below explains what the verification process is.

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1237/how-does-it-work-when-airbnb-verifies-your-identity

Also note that Inquiries are different. There are no special requirements...anyone can ask a simple question. 

[Dean638]

@Michelle2475   I agree. And, the link that @Colleen253  suggested below worked - or at least I managed to get to that link and ticked on the requirement. Let's see if that works going forward.

Looks like it should work for all booking (requests) and not only just for Instant ones?

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/272/can-i-require-guests-to-be-verified-before-booking

[Colleen253]

"Looks like it should work for all booking (requests) and not only just for Instant ones"? @Dean638  Yes, that's correct. If it's not working for you @Michelle2475, there must be some glitch then. I do not do IB, I have that box checked, and guests can't request to book with me without having gone through 'verify ID' process first.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Dean638 I suggest you turn off Instant Book and then enter into a messaging conversation with any prospective guests. You will have 24 hours to accept a booking request - Enquiries just need to be responded to within 24 hours. You do NOT need to accept or decline an enquiry.

@Sarah977 is probably the expert in how to screen people.