Pre-booking Message - no longer available?

[Cristina--And-Cody-0]

I've had a pre-booking message since I started hosting in 2017. I love that guests get engaged and they tell us what bings them to our area and I also stress the importance of reading the arrival instructions. I also do co-hosting and my other listing has two bedrooms - and that is the perfect place to alert guest to tell us if they need both beds made.

For some reason that message disappeared from the app - the option to add the message is there - but shows a blank message and that i need to add it again. On the desktop version - there's not even an option anymore to add it (under Guest requirements)

n the desktop page.

[Huma0]

@Cristina--And-Cody-0 

Well, I guess it's positive that you can go back in via the App and add the pre-booking message again, but then why did Airbnb delete them in the first place (by the way, this is not the first time - happened to me a few years ago when I was still using IB). 

While Airbnb has been making a big song and dance over the new updates that supposedly improve things for hosts (questionable), they have kept quiet about the changes they have been making to the IB filters.

What I find confusing is the screenshot you have posted shows that the filters for Government ID and recommended by hosts are still there, whilst others have shown screenshots where these two filters no longer exist, nor does the pre-booking message, just a filter for 'good track record', which is not the same thing. That basically says that a guest can't IB with you (when that filter is selected) if they have broken Airbnb policies or a host's house rules recently...

[John5097]

@Cristina--And-Cody-0 @Huma0 

Great catch! 

I'm not even seeing request Gov ID. 

If you click on the Learn More under Good Track Record it says. "Pre-booking message requirement is no longer an Instant Book Setting." 

Scheduled messages only has option to send a message after booking. 

I changed my setting to Request to Book. I'm not having people stay at my house with zero communication. 

Unbelievable! 

And this one 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

Okay, so it IS happening. They must be rolling it out and @Cristina--And-Cody-0 's settings haven't been completely updated yet.

@Cristina--And-Cody-0 seems you might be wasting your time re-writing that pre-booking message seeing as Airbnb are scrapping it anyway.

[Cristina--And-Cody-0]

Oh noooo!!! Dang I really liked that feature! 

[John5097]

 @Cristina--And-Cody-0 @Gillian166 

@Huma0 was right. I also checked my phone and there wasn't any option to include a message guest when booking, and Gov ID was no longer an option. No option for ID verification either. Just the Track Record. 

I only requested a very brief message, and gave example, "Me and my husband will be in town for a short visit and looking forward to staying at your apartment!"

We have discussed this before. About 75% of guest will include a brief message when booking and a "thank you!" for message before check in.  Thats it. 

Now it will be difficult and frustrating for host to get any communication from some guest. A lot only respond a week or month after booking with a follow up thank you response. 

But I was planning to turn off Instant Book anyway. A few guest don't communicate after booking, and would just prefer not to have them book again, or other minor things. 

I've mentioned that I've never gotten below a 5 star review and don't coach guest on reviews, and never gotten below a 5 star ever for Communication in 255 reviews. Not boasting. I think if there was a problem with including a brief message we would be reading about it in reviews. Guest have no problem voicing there concerns and will let you know about the slightest inconvenience, and host have to work very hard for 5 star reviews.  

Airbnb policy should be more considerate of both host and guest time. Why base policy on such isolated vocal hysteria from kooks on social media? Even the billionaire CEOs are total wack jobs on Twitter. Just saying my guest are totally different and really appreciate good concise communctioin and structure. 

[Cristina--And-Cody-0]

Absolutely! Communication is key in trusting someone with your personal space. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

I agree. My guests do not seem to mind at all having some communication prior to their stay (or booking). In fact, most appreciate it, and often mention it to me or in their reviews. The few that don't want to have that correspondence before booking don't book and that's fine by me. I don't need guests who have issues with basic communication or can't appreciate why I would want to know who would be staying with me in my own home.

[Gillian166]

@John5097  oh snap I posted the same thing. 

the takeaway here is that IB should probably be turned off..... 

[Huma0]

Also, I could be wrong, but it looks to me like Airbnb are scrapping verification of government ID completely (another thing they have kept quiet about whilst announcing the recent updates).

On the one hand, they could argue that there is no need to have the government ID filter for IB now that ALL guests have to be verified to book, but what does verified mean?

Check out the profiles of your current and recent guests, or those that have sent enquiries... I can't see Govt ID verified on any of their profiles. There is email address and phone number and 'identity'. But what does 'identity' mean?

Well, if you look more closely at the article where Airbnb explains this: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1237

there are some interesting things to note...

1. They use the word 'may'. We 'may' ask you for, not we 'will'.

2. "Some Hosts only take bookings from guests with verified identity. This may include a confirmed Government ID – for example, where there are restrictions on the building where the listing is located." So, when there are no restrictions on the building, does that mean they won't ask for Govt ID?

3. It seems that guests can upload their Govt. ID if they want to, but it's optional.

4. "When you're booking a stay that requires identity verification, this step occurs during checkout and usually takes under a minute to complete. If we are unable to verify your identity using the details you provide when making the booking, we’ll ask you to verify your identity in another way – such as with your Government ID." So, they only ask for govt. ID when the other methods fail?

5. The most important point to note: "Legal name, address and/or other personal information. Often, these are sufficient for us to verify your identity." THAT is what they normally ask for and deem as 'sufficient' to say the ID is verified. At no point does it specify that the guest will need to offer any documentation to PROVE their legal name or address.

So, while Brian Chesky is telling all those lovely potential new hosts that he would like to attract that they don't need to worry because Airbnb will make sure all guests are verified before booking, what he hasn't mentioned is that government ID has been removed from IB and is not even required for bookings with hosts that have specified that they require verification. In theory, according to the wording in the help article, a guest might just be asked to provide their name and address...

It seems to me that the verification process is being stripped back, not strengthened. 

[Gillian166]

@Cristina--And-Cody-0  you know i've never even filled that box in before on the phone, I'm sure I did it on the desktop but there's nothing there now. 

Was this available before and has it been removed? I'm thinking it's been removed because the Info page on IB still has this: 

 but currently my IB does not include ID verification. I have this checked for all guests (need to double check that now), but "ID verification" seems to mean email and phone, and these are not legitimate forms of ID. I am feeling like we've been lied to here. Chesky promised that all guests would be ID verified, but silly us failed to ask what "ID" means in ABB-speak. This is so sad, that every time a new "upgrade" is rolled out, there's always a catch. 

Can someone please confirm that ID check means a govt verified ID is uploaded to ABB.

not someone using an email address like:  temporaryguest  at  geemail do t comm., and a burner phone number. 

also, @Jenny  there's a tech issue with that text box on the phone. if you try to edit it, the cursor only goes to the end of the message, you can't fix a typo in the middle without re-typing the whole message. 

t-e-d-i-o-u-s to say the least. Did they break something or was it always like this? 

[Cristina--And-Cody-0]

I actually use that box all the time and recommend it to my co-hosts. 

it looks like it’s going to be taken away by the update. I’m pretty bummed. But I guess I’ll have to adjust my message to guests and hope they read it. 

[Sybe]

Hey everyone @Cristina--And-Cody-0 @John5097 @Gillian166 @Huma0 

It's true that some changes have been made to the Instant Booking settings, one of which is the pre-booking message. You can use the scheduled messages feature to send the guest a message after they've booked.

You can read more about this, and the other changes, in our post here. 🙂

Thanks, 

Sybe

[Gillian166]

@Sybe  so they gave us 10 "updates", are there also a matching 10 "changes" we don't know about and will have to learn about, or can someone just disclose them all now? 

Changes:
removing ID verification  
removing the pre-booking message

moving kids/infants note to the Health and Safety section

what else is coming? 

thank you for taking the time to respond to all these questions. 

[Sybe]

@Gillian166 I can imagine there's a lot of information going around right now which can make it a bit difficult to follow!

Some updates happen throughout the year and others, like the Summer and Winter releases, have multiple updates bundled in a "package". If I could tell you all updates and changes at once I would, although we do want to keep it somewhat digestible as well. 😉

Do keep in mind that the ID verification hasn't been removed but rather replaced by a more thorough verification process. Hosts can now choose to require Airbnb's multi-step verification instead, which includes a Government-ID, a selfie, and a legal name, address, and/or other personal information.