Guest approval

[Alexandre58]

Hello!

I just listed my apartment on Airbnb, and received numerous requests already from people who have two verifications, no profile, and no reviews. I'm nervous about accepting offers from people who have no reviews. What do you suggest?

[Brian82]

Alexandre,
I suggest you do what is comfortable for you. I typically decline a request with no profile. If a profiled user has no feedback, I decide to approve or not based on their profile and their communication. I may dialog asking for some clarification before deciding. We all started as a zero feedback user in the beginning and need trust in each other to get started. I have found that last minute requests have never followed through.

[Heather32]

I'm fairly new to Airbnb as well (9mo), but I have been listing my units on another platform for years. Not being able to contact a potential guest directly does make me nervous, and there have been a few times I've turned social media just to get a feel for the person.

I haven't been burnt yet on Airbnb (knock on wood). First you should make sure your settings are such that you have to approve guests who have no reviews. I ALWAYS contact the potential guest and ask for info before pre-approving. Sometimes that just means asking about who will be staying in your home and why they are travelling. Open a dialogue. You can get a feel for who they are pretty fast, and that always helps.

It's also good to know that if you allow Instant booking for guests that are reviewed, you can refuse the booking if you are uncomfortable without penalty.

Keep in mind, you will be able to review them as well.

Welcome to Airbnb!

[Andrea9]

@Alexandre58

Well, wasn't it great that your first host didn't have that same attitude?  😉

You make sure that only guests with "verified ID" can book (that doesn't mean unverified inquiries and requests are blocked, they just have to verify upon booking), and you go into conversation with these ppl and find out more about them. Make sure your house rules cover as many problem situations as are often addressed in this forum, and it will get you a long way.

[Alexandre58]

Very true! 🙂

Is there a template for house rules that you would recommend?

Many thanks!!

[Andrea9]

@Alexandre58

No template but tons of things in this forum.

Sit down with a beverage and take the time to go through this forum and you will find loads of different situations (some pretty serious, often enabled through loops in house rules) and how to handle them. Type House rules in the search box.

Might seem like more work than a quick fix, but boy will you get a crash course in hosting, seriously!

[Helen56]

Just message them and start a conversation...... ask why they are coming to your town, when they plan to check in, when their flight arrives, are they on vacation......  You can really get an idea of what people are like by what they write.