I'm combating Airbnb's guest anonymity... I think?!

[Donald28]

Tired of getting booking requests with nothing but a first name and no reviews... I just added this to my listing under house manual. I do not use instant book so all reservations must be approved by me. 

"House manual

WHEN REQUESTING TO BOOK: Tell me a little more about you and your guests please. Why are you coming to this area? How'd you find us? Ages of all guests & are you bringing pets and anything else Y-O-U would want to know about complete strangers if they were about to come stay at Y-O-U-R home. Airbnb tells me your first name, the city you're from and how many guests you're bringing. That's it. No picture of you, no last name... nothing. From that little tiny bit of info I am supposed to make a decision that people who I don't know are "OK" to come stay at our place and play in our arcade?! Imagine strangers are requesting to stay at your home. What would you want to know about them. Tell me that about you & your guests. THANKS!

 

IDENTITY The guest responsible for the reservation must be present at the time of check-in. We also reserve the right to ask and view government issued ID for any members of the guest party before entering the property."

[John2418]

What if the guest is a lunatic or deranged;  i have a requirement that matches the picture guest photo

on the booking with the ID photo presented upon registration; without a guest photo, I can accept any booking.

Cheers John

[Susan1028]

This new requirement has been in effect for enough time to address some patterns in my situation:

1- accepting a booking is taking 2-3x longer than before because there's more information to exchange

2- the guest has no idea anything's changed

3- I found a backdoor way to get to the guest photo if there is one, and it's sped up my booking rate back to the level it was before this ridiculous rule change for guests who have a photo and have been in the system long enough to have reviews.

It has nothing to do with race or ethnicity, and everything to do with my confort level because I have more information provided by a photo and reviews so quickly

With no photo or host reviews, every guest that is not a repeat takes as much time to deal with as a newbie I have to educate and the booking process has become tedious where it was once a delight.

[Paul584]

Hi Susan, I wish I had your problem. I just do not have any bookings for the past 6 months. It has been advised to reduce the rate to 50% below the rate for local dog kennels, lol... not.

It hurts as Airbnb guests are part of the family.

[Paul584]

Okay, my name is Paul *,

I was a super host and hopefully will be again [ I am not changing anything, hosting parties for all, people who love fly fishing, or relaxing infront of a open fire, star gazing, sowing in the organic farm, I don't mind].

But I do want to reach out to someone who helped me as a host last year on the Airbnb support network, her name is Kimberly, from San Diego, California, United States, really funny and quick witted, we did speak, we did communicate and we are both trying to touch base with each other at the moment to have a laugh . So if anyone knows her contact details please pass on mine: Ireland Mobile: **, Landline: ***, Area code : **** and then the number. I love Airbnb, and I wish that they would give us the opportunity of talking with each other..... email is ****.ie [like seriously - i THINK hosts should be able to talk to each other on the phone especially if it goes both ways?? There might be loving in the Air!! LOL Kimberly hopefully talk to you later!! All the best from Ireland

Anyhow I am not a soppy git. Told my many that I am a gent, chased by many, but do you know what.. I want to chase the dream of talking to Kimberly. So IF you can help.... It would be appreciated. Hey Kim...IF this works, LOL, won't it be cool.

Love to all on the network.

Regards

Paul

****

*[Personal information hidden for safety reasons–in line with the Community Center Guidelines - to use the Direct Messaging function here in the Community Center, hover over the post profile photo and click 'Send Message']

[Hilltop0]

Thanks for starting this thread.  I have the same issues with the AirBnb system I have a high end home with antiques and art, so I need to know who is staying there.  It's not enough to get a message from "Susie" saying, "I want to stay at your house.".  I cannot rent to someone who just joined AirBnb, has no reviews or history with AirBnb, and no last name and location.  

I also rent my house on the other vacation website (which AirBnb blocks me from naming).  That web site encourages travelers to disclose who they are ("tell the home ower a little about yourself...."   

[Ros-and-Chris0]

I don't have a high-end home, but mine's just as precious to me! Its a ridiculous and unsafe policy which could so easily be addressed by demanding Gov ID on joining.

[Ros-and-Chris0]

Hi All,  I have the same problem, Airbnb constantly send me un verified guest requests, despite my asking them not to. I understand that they think I might change my mind or that the guest will add their ID as soon as I ask, but this is not the case. When I reply to their enquiry, most people (not all) just disappear without answering. This then makes my response rate drop as, if they haven't responded within the 24 hrs given to me (not them), I have to remember to send a decline notice, whilst trying to explain the 24hr policy, and say that if they add ID I'd love to have them stay. no-one has come back to me after the decline notice, even though I explain the situation, the fact that its Airbnb's policy forcing my hand and that I would be happy to welcome them once they've added their ID.

All this could be avoided if Airbnb required all members, hosts and guests, to load a government verified ID onto the site on joining. In many places, this is a legal requirement anyway.

After a bad eperience with unverfied guests,  I will not budge on this policy.

I have no problem with the no photo policy as I thought you could see the photo once you  had accepted the booking, if this has changed too, then it makes a mockery of the ID process. 

We are told we should be aiming for hotel standards (non-discrimination policy and numbers of free infants policy), and yet there is no requirement for a guest to provide ID. this has got to change.

[Emilia42]

@Ros-and-Chris0, just FYI you do not need to pre-approve or decline an inquiry. You only need to respond. By not responding your response rate will drop. You can respond with EITHER a message, a pre-approve, or a decline. You don't need to do all three.

Try searching this topic and then following these steps. I am not 100% sure but all of my guests have been verified after doing this.