IB Guest Requirements

[Wendy1405]

I'm a new host - just started in February 2022.  I have had wonderful guests and been booked solid since. My question is in regard to my Guest Requirements. In addition to providing the usual email address, phone number and profile photo, since I'm on Instant Book they also need to provide a Government-issued ID and be recommended by other hosts with no negative reviews. Last week, a man requested to book for a week with no ID, no location on where he's from, no reviews. So I called ABnB Support to question how this happened. First they tried to put it on me to request that the guest to provide the appropriate details , which I refused since from my understanding, that's not part of the process. I just now received a poorly written response (as the support person is from some call center not in the U.S.) saying that they had contacted the man and asked him to update his info. So we'll see. But this shouldn't have happened, right?  

[Lorna170]

@Wendy1405   Anyone can request to book.  Only those who meet your requirements can instant book without communicating with you first.  They just book.   

You have to reply to, accept or decline a booking request.  So when you have a request from an unknown individual with no verification or reviews, you can ask them to withdraw their request to book or converse with them to see if they might be a good guest.  The new folks have to start somewhere. 

[Wendy1405]

Thanks Lorna for the confirmation that "only those who meet your requirements can Instant Book without communication with you first." He did not since there was no Govt.-issued I.D. provided. I'm not against hosting someone with no reviews - but he/she does need to follow my Guest Requirements.  So how was he able to even book in the first place?  What are my next steps?  I've heard that if I cancel, I get dinged by AirBnB, which affects my algorithm. Advice please.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wendy1405 I am confused. Did the guest book or did he request to book. If the latter then I assume you just turned him down? If the latter and you accepted then you will be penalised if you now cancel him.

[Wendy1405]

Via Instant Book, I accepted without thoroughly checking it out. I’ll blame that on  my inexperience. But how was he even able to reserve without meeting my Guest Requirements?