cancelled - no profile pic, reviews and cash offer

[Áine10]

Hello, just started hosting.

A guest asked for a discount and offered to pay cash. We said no to the cash. She paid the discounted price via airbnb. However when her profile was shared there was a blank profile photo. She also had no reviews (but I knew that bit beforehand). Anyway I cancelled the booking.

Maybe I am being too newbie-scared. Would you have done the same?

I had set our booking policy that you needed a profile picture - of course these can be fake anyway, but that combined with the cash request and no reviews put me off.

[Emiel1]

@Áine10

it is not a good start for new host to cancel a reservation. It will also be penalised by Airbnb.

Host-penalties-for-canceling-reservations

A guest asking for discount and wanting to pay cash is a "red flag" to be taken seriously.

(did Airbnb not display the "waning" message when the request came in, so you can choose to report the guest ? )

[Áine10]

Hi Emiel1, no there was no warning message. She did type the cash request using some symbols like c @ $ h so I knew she was trying to get by being detected, but I thought she was doing that to try get her discount - which I gave via Airbnb. I am glad I cancelled (within 5 minutes as I noticed the missing profile pic) but obviously annoyed they will charge me. 

Do you think I could request no charge because I had a requirement that her profile pic be provided after booking but there was none?

[Nishan0]

Try explain yourself to the airbnb, the airbnb has a way of warning host if they seemed not following the airbnb rules and regulations. this guests of course trying to  bypass airbnb so I think the case will be in your favor.

[Áine10]

Thanks for your advice Nishan, I have messaged them 🙂

[Mark116]

@Áine10  You should never, ever, never cancel a booking yourself.  Airbnb will charge you a penalty, the cancellation appears on your review page and they charge you a fine.

Contact them ASAP and ask them to take mercy on you as a new host and remove the penalties.  Yes, you were right to be wary of this booking, but you have to work the system to your advantage by getting Airbnb to do a penalty free cancellation on your behalf.

What we say in our listing is that if guests do not have a profile photo that we will check their ID when they arrive, this works well. Most guests will upload a photo and if not, we check their ID when they get here. 

[Áine10]

Thanks Mark, I will contact them right away!

[Loni56]

@Áine10. olá já tive convidados 

q a foto do perfil e sombra,isso nao me causou nem um problema ,tambem com hospedes que nao tiveram avaliação anterior,

nao fico focado nisso,

agora quando oferece dinheiro por fora boa intensão nao tem, nao aceito ai tem problema!

att Loni

[Jo793]

Hi

my booking settings are also set up to require a profile photo but my most recent guest does not have one & has no reviews either. 
Is this a glitch in the AirBnB booking system? 

[Christine1]

@Jo793 

@No it's  not a glitch. It's  the new way that Airbnb does things. That way you cannot judge a book by it's  cover.....

And no reviews may mean no stays, or no hosts have reviewed their stays....

[Helen744]

@744 Jo793, Airbnb remember has the guests details already ,plus their credit card so do not get too frightened . Ask the guest for what you need to feel comfortable and remember that if there is a flag to be a little wary . We did very well one year from guests without reviews. they were generally just families who could not get out to events etcetera and decided to try Airbnb. nothing suspicious  H

[Sarah977]

@Áine10  I don't think you understand how any of this works. You should never have to cancel a booking request. You need to dialogue with the guest before you decide whether or not to accept a booking, and if you don't feel good about their answers or communication, you decline the booking. Then you never have to cancel.

And do you understand the difference   between an Inquiry and a Request? Most of these scammy attempts to book off-platform or ask for a discount come in the form of an Inquiry message. On inquiries, you do not need to either pre-approve, nor decline- all you need to do us answer within 24 hrs.

So what happened here? You got an Inquiry, pre-approved it, and then cancelled it?

FYI discount seekers are red flags and there is no reason for you to agree to discount.

Someone who asks for a discount and  to pay off-platform is a huge red flag and never should have been accepted in the first place.

[Christine615]

Our listing requires a profile picture (Airbnb hides it until booking) 

We don’t allow new guests to instant book. They have to chat with in messaging first.

[Helen744]

@Helen744, a couple of things going on here , firstly not everyone has been the responsible person booking the airbnb before . There is always a first time even for us.If you asked for a profile pic there should be one . If not one u like, simply ask for a photo Id from the guest or an up to date pic. You must have something turned off because the guest cannot book without a pic if you request that their profile have one. I notice some hosts have lots of reviews from the faceless who seem fine . there is a lot of talking to guests that you need to do.do not simply cancel . Save that for when you really have to because you will run out of freebies H