Potential guest - fake reviews?

[Jack1543]

Hi.  Someone who's enquired to book my property has 6 reviews, two of which are from different people but the exact same wording, word for word.  Is this dodgy?  Could be fake reviews?

My gut feeling was that something seemed strange as they didn't tell me anything about themselves - just said "I will be arriving in the evening.  Where will the key be?"

Thanks

[Brenda328]

Could be legit if they stayed with the same host twice.  Some hosts just use the same exact wording over and over when reviewing guests.  It is fast and easy.  'X was a great guest and I would love to host them again. "

Can you see the host name or date of stay on those reviews?

That said, I wouldn't be giving a key location too quickly to someone who is going to arrive tonight.  With everything happening they might have a stolen credit card that won't show as fraudulent for a couple of days until their stay is over or they might be planning on staying and then requesting a 100% refund due to Coronavirus.  It appears Airbnb is passing out money (that should rightfully belong to hosts) like candy.

[Sarah977]

@Brenda328  He said the reviews were from 2 different hosts, not the same host.

@Jack1543  I consider all guests who send a message like that to be red flags, regardless of their reviews. I have gotten some exactly like that, which I responded to by asking if they had read certain crucial points in my listing info and asking them to tell me a little about themselves, and it ellicited more appropriate responses and the guests turned out to be fine. But those were booking requests, as I don't use IB, so that exchange took place before I accepted their reservation. 

As you say this was an Inquiry (or was it a booking request?) all you have to do is write back to the guest (who, if he has 6 reviews, should understand that until you pre-approve or accept, he isn't "arriving in the evening") within 24 hours, you don't have to pre-approve or decline. If it's a booking request, you can still message with the guest as long as you click or accept or decline within 24 hours. 

If you still feel uncomfortable with the guest's next response, or lack of one, don't accept the booking.

As far as the legitimacy of the reviews, you could click on the profiles of each of those hosts to see if they review all their guests with those standard ines.

[Cammie-And-Jason0]

We occassionally have one guest book 2 suites. I usually just write one review for both areas. This is probably how the same review is written twice for one guest.

[Sarah977]

@Cammie-And-Jason0 The OP specifically said the 2 identical reviews were written by 2 different hosts.

[Kath9]

@Jack1543 I 100% agree with @Sarah977. @Cammie-And-Jason0, like Sarah said, it is TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE who wrote the reviews. It's one of my pet peeves when people send a request to book with a message just telling you when they're arriving and nothing else. It happens quite a bit, but in this case, the biggest red flag for me is the question about the key. Frankly, it's pretty rude. Also, given that your cottage is for six people, it seems odd that they have said 'I'. This is raising some alarm bells for me. I would be getting some more information from the guest before proceeding and possibly contacting the hosts who left the identical reviews (maybe one just copied from the other).

By the way, your cottage looks fabulous! I love it!

[Dawn81]

@Jack1543 I require a 24-hour. Before someone can even request to book. I choose to do this to be more cautious so I can screen my guests. They're actually renting from me within my own home their own private bedroom and bath. With that said I also send them several questions to answer so I can learn something about them and have a more clear communication. The review you're referencing could have just had one host read someone else's review and copy and paste it. That's a plausible possibility. The information this potential guests gave you about themself is much too sketchy.

[Dawn81]

@Jack1543 Btw I love Scotland I spent several months in Nairn in the highlands years ago. I've looked at a lot of Airbnb listings but yours is my favorite so far. Perfect Getaway to write or play music. It would make a great movie set. You must have loved going there. Let us know how it works out with your guest.

[Jack1543]

I am so annoyed - I just wrote a really long reply thanking and responding to you all individually, but got an error message when I tried to post it and lost it all!

I'm at work now so can't type it all again, but the bottom line is that you have all confirmed that I'm right to be suspicious (gut instinct is worth a lot) and the suggestion to reply asking more questions is great, and that's what I've done.

Sorry my original post wasn't clear - he's told me he'll be arriving in the evening of the day he wants to book (in April), not this evening.  He also did say "we" not "I" - I just misquoted.

Many thanks again guys!

(also thanks for the lovely compliments about my cottage)

[Sarah977]

@Jack1543  I have come to copying all my posts before pressing "reply", since I know they often get error messages and erase, which is definitely frustrating. If you copy it, you can just refresh the page and paste it again.

[Jack1543]

@Sarah977 I know, I usually do that, but not this time!

Anyway, after I messaged the guest again, he replied and answered all my questions and so I have accepted him.

Once I did that, I could see his full name so Googled him and am confident he'll be fine.

Thanks for the advice!

P.S.  It crashed again but I'd copied the text first this time!

[Sarah977]

@Jack1543  I'm not sure if this is the case with this guest of yours, but I have noticed that the guests who send those short, uninformative booking messages tend to be young. Like in their 20s, early 30s They are a generation that has grown up using texting to communicate and tend to write in texting mode- i.e. about 6 word sentences, if that. That's normal communication to them, it doesn't seem to occur to them that something a bit more forthcoming might be in order.

I had a guest who was lovely, but kept sending me one-liner messages, several in a row. I asked her to explain, during her stay, why people do that, rather than compose their thoughts and write all in one message. She told me that people of her generation don't consider texting to be a form of writing, but of talking. I'd never considered that and it explained a lot.