I just had my first run in with a last minute skecthy reservation that got weirder by the minute. I ended up waiting on hold for 30 minutes to tell AirBnB to cancel the reservation.
I'm finding that the safeguards AirBnB puts in place are not verified and AirBnB should put in more. We are sharing our homes with strangers and the fact that we can't even get a copy of their DL or ID sent to us via the web is unfortunate. Telling us they are verified by a Google Account doesnt mean crap. It feels like we have to hound these guests for minor details so we are more comfortable hosting them...simple arrival and departure times are hard to come by, the reason WHY they are visiting our city, the exact names of people and the number of people visiting, what are their FB names, what is their real phone number or exact email address these are just some of the key pieces of information that we need to feel comfortable. All hotels collect most of this information why aren't we allowed access to these details? If left up to guest they will provide nothing until prompted.
I had a guest book today and it was weird because they booked 5 days at the last minute and he only stated it was 1 person for a 2 bedroom house when he could just book one room out of the house (first red flag). Before I approved I wanted to know details about his stay as he just opened a profile on AirBnB. It took him an hour to respond and everything seemed to lack specifics which most guest would provide to some degree (red flag). Most honest guests seem to overshare vs not provide enough details. I eventually approved and sent him arrival instructions. Well he gave me a time frame of his arrival and I was debating all day if I should wait around for those 3 hours. I found a movie and just decided to wait it out. The movie ended and I decided to leave and hoped he could figure everything out when he arrived in my absence. I eventually called him to see where he was, turns out the number listed was a local number, but on his profile it stated he was arriving from NY (red flag). The person picked up and they had no idea who I was or who the person was who I was looking for (another red flag). I jetted back to my listing because the whole scenario was wrong. One young guy came to my door in jeans and tshirt- no luggage to be found and he had a XTS waiting for him with tinted windows and the engine still running. I asked for an ID and it clearly wasnt the guy who had booked and his ID was from Oklahoma and I told him that the person who booked had to be here to check in. I never check IDs but this reservation just seemed off. I made him wait at the door while he called the person who booked the reservation and he just left that person a VM. I told him I noticed it was a local number and he said "we just got a new phone with a local number." If youre coming for a convention and for business you don't need a new phone number. He eventually got back in the XTS and they sped off. I did a reverse search on the number and it doesn't belong to either of the two people I interacted with. Perhaps, a stolen ID, phone and CCs.
I wrote in the AirBnB message for him to clarify what was going on and I didn't receive a response. I didn't want to deal with them showing back up at midnight with a new story so I had AirBnB cancel the reservation due to being uncomfortable. Oddly enough, I had lowered my rates the same morning to get the rooms booked and this is what happens. This is why I don't charge low rates. If a person wants a cheap rate to do something shady go to a Motel 6.
The AirBnB rep could not have cared less. After stating the shady dealings going on, she simply stated "what do you want out of this?". I want you guys to do your jobs and verify that people are who they say they are so I can feel safe giving my house keys to a **bleep** stranger or letting a stranger sleep under the same roof as me.
