Guest who just joined, no reviews, lots of adults

[Justin-And-Sarah0]

Hello.

We just got a booking from a guest who just joined Airbnb, has no reviews, and booked with 5 other adults, none of whom are listed. Their opening message had no greetings, just a one liner about arrival time.

We don't do Airbnb professionally, it's just our home we rent sometimes when we're gone. I'm inclined to cancel the reservation (made only an hour ago) and deal with the penalty if there is one. (currently on hold for customer support for the last 30 min trying to sort it out)

I suppose I could be too cautious, hence the conversation here for others opinions, but my gut says no way.

thanks!

[Colleen253]

@Justin-And-Sarah0 A one liner about arrival time is telling. Not a great start. Was it an instant book? Do you ask guests to tell you the purpose of their stay/trip, and ask for other guest info? Are they local? (big red flag).

Bottom line, if your red flag senses are tingling, this is your family home, and you are going to be out of town, then err on the side of caution. 

[Justin-And-Sarah0]

Hi Colleen. Yes it was instant book. They are sort of out of town, about 3 hours away. I don't usually ask guest to elaborate on purpose but in this case I have asked for more profile info on guest and additional guests and haven't heard back.

Per customer support, the lack of profile info allows me to cancel the instant book without penalty since this is the first one.

I'm planning to cancel and I might switch back to non instant book, although I like that feature.

[Helen427]

@Justin-And-Sarah0  welcome to ABB CC

When advertising one's property for rent, especially if it's an entire home and there's obviously more than one person coming to stay, you are within your rights to message back and ask for the names and details of those people so  you know who will be on your property.

It's important to keep channels of communication open and sometimes people take a wee while to reply for whatever reason, maybe they lead busy lives, have a full on lifestyle etc, it's not to say they are avoiding answering questions.

Maybe ask a few more questions of them, and future guests.

Keep an eye on your property and remember to disclose any security cameras etc you may have to protect it.

Keep a watch from time to time on it when your home is rented out for Peace of Mind.

There's much helpful info here in CC if you use related keywords in the searchbox

All the best