Anyone else experiencing this? Recent influx of requests from guests who just joined, without reviews, or profile pictures.

[Christina142]

Hello,

I'm an experienced Airbnb Superhost.  I have a couple policies in place due to past bad experiences.  I host guests who have a minimum of three (3) positive host reviews, and no negative host reviews.  I state this on my listings, and these policies have made my Airbnb hosting career much better.

However, the last couple days I've received six (6) requests to book from guests who just joined the platform, with no reviews, no profile picture, and minimal verification.  This is a high number of requests for me, and is coupled with the previously mentioned lack of qualifiers.  I gently declined all six (6) requests as they didn't meet the guest qualifications.  But, it strikes me as odd to have such a large influx of requests, all new to the platform, all lacking reviews, with minimal verification,  and without profile pictures. 

Why would this be happening?  Is anyone else having a similar experience with requests/potential guests? 

My Airbnb's are in Sacramento.  I thought it might be Covid-19 eviction related due to the Corona-virus reversal  of the moratorium of evictions.  But, evictions in Sacramento are upheld until the end of November.  I'm just curious if any other folks are experiencing similar requests and understand why they are occurring at such high rates.

[Sally221]

According to another Sacramento area host there is a fair amount of this going on at present, she mentioned some pretty skeevy names used by potential guests. There are lots of people at loose ends right now and some of those folks are going to be covidiots looking for a place to party. I'd be extra special about vetting in this moment, best of luck.

[Emilia42]

I've seen this too. I think this is the new normal. People want to 'get out' even if it within a few hours from home. Private homes/apartments are seeing a big increase in activity since people may not yet be comfortable with staying in a hotel amongst other people and dining out in restaurants every night. This will mean a lot of new people joining Airbnb to shop around. 

Personally, I do not think that having previous good reviews is any indicator of whether or not they will be good guests. It always surprises me that some of my most annoying guests were experienced Airbnb users with 8+ reviews. And there are so many hosts who don't honestly review their guests. For me, the guest's communication and initial booking message is everything. We all have to start somewhere.

[Emilia42]

P.s. I will also add that ALL request to books are going to appear without a profile photo. Airbnb hides the guest's photo until the booking is confirmed. So just because the profile appears photoless doesn't mean that is actually is.

[Huma0]

@Emilia42 

In theory, yes, but I can still see the photos on the phone App. Maybe it's because I've not updated it or something, I'm not sure, but they are there...

[Emilia42]

@Huma0 Really? Wow, it's been over a year since I could see them. Maybe they are still rolling it out slowly . . . ?

[Huma0]

@Emilia42 

I don't know. It's weird. Ever since Airbnb made that change, I've not been able to see the photos on a browser, but I don't remember now if they vanished on the phone and then reappeared. I only noticed some time later that I could see them on my phone.

Looking at it now,  there is no photo from my most recent enquiry (but she is a first time user with no verified ID either so I assume she hasn't uploaded one). I scroll down and can see photos for all the previous enquiries this year and earlier, even though a lot of those stays are now showing as 'not possible' or even for ones I declined. They are all there.

[Huma0]

@Christina142 

I agree with @Emilia42 . I've hosted loads of wonderful first time users. I've also had guests with several good reviews who were a nightmare. My least favourite guests had 25 positive reviews but I would not wish them on my worst enemy.

But, yes, I have also noticed a big change in the guests who are approaching me. I am getting a lot of enquiries rather than booking requests, i.e. not the normal ratio. Everyone is enquiring first. Then, everyone, and I do mean everyone, is asking for extra discounts. A lot more are first time users or users without reviews. Many don't seem to understand how an Airbnb works and expect stuff that I am just not going to agree to, e.g. having boyfriends stay over as and when they please with no notice. It's clear these people have not read my house rules even if they say they have.

I find that I am not getting any bookings because, either the guests disappear as soon as I say no to extra discounts, or they are put off because I ask them questions. That's fine by me. I could certainly use the money, but there are so many red flags. I just know that a lot of these people are going to be trouble. That's not to say they are scammers or bad people, they just don't seem to get it. They think they can pay next to nothing and that the house rules don't apply anymore.

These are the kind of people that could potentially drive one up the wall. It will start with them ignoring the check in time. They will not clean up after themselves. They will put the washing machine on for two hours every day to wash a t-shirt and a pair of socks. They will forget to close the front door.

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but this is based on experience. We have all gotten used to spotting those red flags right? Just because times are tough, that doesn't mean it's wise to ignore the red flags. It may bring in some money, but it will only make times tougher in other ways!

[Cheryl464]

Here in BC we are getting lots of guests who do not have reviews and I think it is because they cannot travel to the US or overseas. They are exploring home territory for the first time. So far it’s been a great experience. Lots of families. 

[Debra300]

For me, I've received about the same number of inquiries requesting a discount as before COVID-19, one here and there.  In Atlanta, the Airbnb rates have not gone down, and the demand has been consistent (as Donald is always bragging about how full his place stays).  I attribute it to the fact that the state of Georgia has only a few restrictions, e.g., patron capacity at bars, restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters, but everything is open.  This comes at a price.  The state currently has the fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases in the US.  

[Anonymous]

@Christina142  Are you noticing an additional trend among these requests? For example, are they coming in at the last minute? Or lacking useful text in the correspondence?

[Christina142]

Yes, and yes.  Of the six (6) I mentioned above, all wanted a booking within a day or two; so they are last minute bookings.  And, the correspondence is minimal.  

I

[Russell49]

They are either 0 review guests or new to AirBnB. I wouldn't accept them as they obviously haven't read your description let alone house rules.

[Stuart177]

You are not mistaken it is happening to me too. Do your own vetting. Im going to start checking ID's myself.

[Christine615]

THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS! I am really sick of getting requests days before booking for new users with only a first name, no photo, and only email and phone verified. How about (deleted expletive) credit card verified and photo ID on file? How about that?

But honestly - almost ALL of my recent guests have been first time users. I won't allow them to book unless we talk by message or by phone (and we're having to be creative about how to work around the AIrbnb censoring).

I think it's people wanting space to spread out and have family under one roof. And the option to cook. So far everyone has been lovely. But like I said - Airbnb sends no photo and minimal verification and I'm having to vett because Airbnb isn't doing it. I don't think they should collect more than 5% in fees from guests if they aren't doing more than moving bodies through the virtual system. If they don't clean up their act that IPO is going to tank the day after it releases.