I need URGENT help - guest refuses to complete his profile

[Lada11]

I received a request to book 1 night for 2 people by a user who just signed up for Airbnb and has only profile picture and phone number. They did not provide any information about themselves and their group. I was little quick to confirm a reservation and noticed my booking guest doesn’t have any reviews. After that he asked me strange questions as that in someone in the Airbnb at the moment, etc.

Next day he requested to extend it for 1 more day. I took that moment to request him to complete his profile and add his ID of give me more information about him and his guest and he refused to do it and saying that he is nice guy and will show me his ID on arrival. My host is self-check in in and usually I don’t meet guests. I have tried to find support from Airbnb advisors and they said that they escalated my case, but I don’t have answer yet. If I cancel the booking I will need to pay a penalty. I am frustrated…

Can someone help me – the reservation is on this Friday?

[Anonymous]

@Lada11   You can't force the guest to complete his profile, nor do your House Rules require it.  And you did have the option of declining the request, which you chose not to do. So i guess your options would be to a) accept the cancellation penalty as the cost of a mistake, or  b)  inform the guest that you (or a designated co-host) will be conducting an in-person check-in and asking him to present his ID in order to access the home. 

Of course, you can still continue asking questions about the group, such as the full names of all guests, as part of your registration process. If upon check-in you discover that the group has misrepresented itself, you are within your rights to turn them away and refund their money (although I won't deny, the process for getting penalties waived for that is not a smooth or easy one).

[Dale711]

Hi @Lada11 

I am sorry to hear you’re frustrated about your experience.

Do message or live chat with the team in Airbnb  Support Help Center, chat with the team [ not an Airbnb not ] click to the end ‘ I STILL NEED HELP ‘ box. Usually, someone with responding to you within few minutes.

Acknowledge to the team about your concern, and it is URGENT!

Request the case manager to cancel on Airbnb's behalf because you’re uncomfortable hosting the guest.

I hope it helps,✌️

[Lada11]

@Dale711  I have tried this as well, and I am still waiting for case manager response 😞

[Dale711]

@Lada11 

Keep sending a message to the team every few hours to acknowledge the case manager to respond to you.

I believe it is in progress, as they need to contact the guest as well. 

Be passionate. It's is okay to remind them you need an update.

[Emilia42]

Why did you accept the booking?

[Lada11]

I know that was my mistake, after very long lockdown I lost my routine, I realised that after sending the pre-approval🙈

[Alexandra316]

@Lada11 I had a really similar experience about a year ago: I accepted a booking, then saw that their photo and name were basically a joke - obviously made up. I tried to contact the guest about it, but they didn't/wouldn't respond.  I went to Airbnb and they told me too bad: I had accepted the booking, so I had to either cancel with full penalties applied or go ahead and host even though I was uncomfortable. The guest did have other positive reviews so I went ahead and hosted, and it was fine, but getting help from Airbnb was a non-starter. I would advise that you try to talk this out with the guest, because Airbnb likely won't intervene. 

[Lada11]

@Alexandra316 You are completely right, they don't reply, but the guest stopped answering, I now he has already all checking instructions and my address... I haven't extended his booking yet and I have no idea what to d

[Anonymous]

@Lada11  It is completely within your power to decide whether the guest gets to enter your house, and under what conditions. The guest is not yet in your property, so this has not yet escalated to an "urgent" situation that would require the intervention of whatever rando Airbnb has outsourced customer service to (and trust me, they usually make matters worse)

As I already said above, your options are either to take responsibility for your own mistake and accept the penalties, or to take control of the situation and tell your guest what information you will need directly from them in order to complete the registration and check-in. It should be abundantly clear that guests can only enter the home when this step is completed to your satisfaction. The guest has already volunteered to present ID upon arrival, and there's no reason that you can't amend the check-in instructions that you've sent in order to accommodate that. In the worst case scenario, the guest reports denial of access as a Travel Issue and is granted a cancellation with full refund - same outcome as if customer service cancelled the booking for you. 

Airbnb's "verified ID" is a joke, and anything in a completed profile can still be fake, so this is a red herring - Airbnb's verifications are a false sense of security and no substitute for your own precautions.  Never forget, it's your home and your business - Airbnb is no more than a tool you use to list it, and those who expect more will be forever disappointed.

[Mark116]

@Lada11  In the future put it in the house rules whatever information you want to require, full name, location, reason for trip or whatever else, etc.

In this case, I would say you should probably meet the guest, check ID and go from there.