@Mike1034
I have made some very solid and common sense suggestions directly to airbnb executives. I really hope they start taking this more seriously to avoid dangerous situations. I have one listing that is titled Toronto Mansion. 6 bedrooms, 5500 square feet. It is prime target for local guests who want a "party house". I am always the most careful with this listing. We have 2 cameras outside and have had 3 known cases of parties being thrown their and if there are more, it will lead to trouble because airbnb may consider this a "party house" even though we are very clear that no parties are allowed. And even though airbnb does not take my valid suggestions to avoid such incidents.
The suggestions I made were that not only should a host see the full name of the guest after the booking but also during the request to book phase. Whenever I have a local booking, i always search their number on google but I cannot search their name so hopefully I can find enough info about them by their number. For instance, I have a guest checking in today this listing (Toronto Mansion) and he is local. He told me he is booking it for his family but after I googled his number, I saw that he was a promoter for night clubs and events. But it is too late now because I was only able to see his number after I accepted. So now I am very worried he will host a party even though I asked him to confirm he is not throwing any parties. So what I did was tell him that our maintenance manager will come by at night to shovel and salt the property just to let him know that there will be eyes on the property. As well, I will have to drive by at midnight to verify there isn't 20 cars and check the cameras every 30 minutes tonight to verify because I am about 50/50 that he will throw a party. It has all the markings of it. This could have easily been prevented had we had more info.
If they allowed hosts to screen guests prior to bookings, it would avoid so much drama and would actually save airbnb money from having fewer resolution requests and fewer demands on their customer service department when guests break house rules. It would also improve their credibility.
The other suggestion I made is that all guests MUST submit a government issued ID when they sign up for an account and that the name they put on their profile must match their ID. This will prevent the bad apples from joining which is what you want and promotes guests to be accountable. As someone who uses airbnb's when I travel, I have no issues with this because I know that I come with good intentions and will not cause issues. Those are the type of guests airbnb should want to have.
These suggestions do not breach privacy laws because if a guest wants to book someones private home, the host has the right to more information before accepting. In the case of Long term rentals, it is standard practice to obtain 2 forms of the tenants government issued ID on file as well as check their credit history. We are not asking for any of this. Just their names so we know what were getting into. It really isn't too much to ask.
I think executives should really start taking these suggestions seriously. I really hope I do not have an issue tonight but if I do, I will reach out to airbnb again around midnight to ask them to tell the guest to leave. and then I will tell them, why aren't you take my suggestions seriously, I am on the front lines and