Frighteningly easy for guests to book an ABB

[Laura2592]

We have a place in New Orleans that is not open for ABB. During a recent visit, a gentleman who works in a local shop there regaled us with a story about booking an ABB. He has been in some trouble legally and did not want to reveal his identity lest someone google (this was all unsolicited commentary but he really went into detail.) Yet he and his romantic partner wanted a weekend away and he wanted to surprise her.

He signed up with zero info. He used his phone number which he described as a "flip burner phone at that time." No contract. No verification.

He used an Airbnb gift card to pay for his stay. He found a host that did not require ID-- he said they are surprisingly plentiful...and created a user profile. Had a successful stay and got a good review from that host.

NOW he is able to use instant book for those of us who have "only recommended guests" checked. He swears that he has never once had to upload an ID but his profile says "ID verified." He believes its on the basis of the positive history he has. His phone number also says verified-- he showed me his profile-- but that phone has long since been discarded. He has ALSO booked for his mom as a third party who apparently has a permit to carry a firearm so she brings it with her everywhere.....He definitely knew the ABB rules  and how to get around them. In his words "they have the hosts over a barrel. You have to take me. I am polite and I know how the game works." 

I don't think this dude is out to trash anyone's place but if he did it would be near impossible to track him down. And the crazy thing is that hosts would have to accept his booking on the basis of good reviews. We have less than zero protection on this platform. Its really shameful. 

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 

It is true that the checkmark for "Identity" on a user's profile does not necessarily mean that the user has uploaded a government ID.  My sister was able to "verify her identity" (at a host's request) within 30 seconds by "logging in with Facebook." 

On the Airbnb platform hosts can only request that Airbnb collects a form of ID by clicking this checkbox:

https://www.airbnb.com/hosting/requirements

If an ID is not uploaded the reservation will fail before it gets to the host.

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42 I have that checked, but I am not sure how many hosts realize that it needs to be before an ID is collected. I should've had this guy try and book my place to see if he needed a request or could just go ahead.

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 Yes, that would have been the ultimate test. I usually have "pending bookings" on my calendar getting hung up in the verifying ID process. Some eventually come through as bookings or requests. Others disappear completely because the guest gave up. 

That checkbox is very hard to find. I found it by accident and there is no easy way to get to it unless you have the link saved. Did Airbnb do that by design? For sure not a lot of hosts (especially new ones) know about it.  

[Suzanne302]

@Emilia42  Yes! I remember trying to describe to someone how to get to that settings page, and I never figured it out. I had to get to it from a bookmark!

[Colleen253]

@Laura2592 Very, very few hosts are aware of that, I would imagine, as that check box is nowhere to be found in one’s listing editor. Even with it checked, you still really have no idea who is renting your space. Airbnb doesn’t share any of the guest info they have collected on their end. Ph # can be bogus, name on public profile could be Kermit D. Frog if the guest desires, and Airbnb will tell you that’s allowed, and they are not going to share the name they have on file, citing ‘privacy reasons’. It’s all a joke. All of it. Glad to be getting off the bus. 

[Sandra957]

@Laura2592 @Thanks, now added

[Gillian166]

@Emilia42  for the life of me i've not idea how to find that, even though i did have it checked. do you know if this covers ALL listings? is it somewhere in my account settings? 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592 @Emilia42  I can't say I'm surprised.  I think we're out.  We reduced the booking window down to 6 months last night and since we're already booked for most of the summer, I would say we will be finished by Fall of this year.

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 Not you too! I am so sorry to hear. 

We are currently looking at new investment property and its pretty clear we will only do long term, regular old landlord rental. I am just not sure what to do with my 2 bedroom house full of furniture....lots of people around here want their own stuff and I had a heck of a time selling almost brand new furnishings recently when I redid my living room. 

[Deborah175]

Last night a guest booked my place (for just himself) at 9:30pm for a same night stay. I agreed to let him stay, but notified him that I was going to bed soon, so he'd need to be mindful about that. He agreed and I confirmed his reservation. At 12:30am, my phone pinged with the familiar Airbnb chime. He was asking about my gate code. I have no gate.  Then he asked how to open the sliding glass door. I have no sliding glass door. The Airbnb app had sent him to some random house on a different street with a different house number when he clicked "get directions." The same thing has happened several times this week already and I'd reported it and assumed, since its a serious safety issue, that it was fixed. This guest was a young African American guy in his 20s, who now, because of this app glitch, has entered some random stranger's back yard and is trying to open their back door! He could've been shot or arrested.

Here's the part that's relevant to this conversation: I immediately called his telephone number listed in the reservation. It was not in service. I texted and he said he doesn't have that number anymore. Maybe that was his number in 2016. When a guest books, apparently they are not asked to verify their phone number?? Further, and this is an aside, in the morning, a woman came in who I had no idea was here, because he booked for 1 instead of 2. And after what he went through just trying to get here, I definitely didn't want to bug him about the $15 he owed me for a second guest.

Finally, and this is not about this guest, I say in my listing description that I require guests to verify at booking that they've read the listing and that they agree to Covid masking protocols. Not one guest has verified at booking; I have to engage in a lengthy back and forth, describing the listing again in a text, etc. and most of the guests say they booked without reading the listing. Shouldn't there be a question put before guests asking them to verify that they've read the listing and house rules and confirm that they will observe them?? There's no way to customize what questions a guest must answer in order to book a reservation, something that would be easy enough to create.

These super lax booking issues have been costing me a lot more time and energy than formerly. I've had a slew of cancellations from guests when they finally read the listing after booking and discover that the bed is a twin, when that's part of the short intro description,  where I say that the very tiny cabin is designed as a single but could work for a cuddlesome couple. It's been an unusually exhausting couple of months.

[Gillian166]

@Deborah175  many people ask guests to read the house rules and confirm they've read it. Some of us put easter eggs (hidden questions or instructions) in the text to see if guests actually do read. This last week I've had about 60% of guests actually find these and quote them back to me, so now I KNOW they know the quirks of the listing. 

I hear you about the "guests didn't read" bit, one of our listings is in the main house, so it's shared, and TOO many guests arrive and then are surprised to discover this fact. I now have it written in 3 different places that the kitchen is shared. 

[Deborah175]

@Gillian166 
Like you, I have a few Easter eggs in my description, and I do text guests (more this year than ever before) asking them to verify that they’ve read the listing. Since I rewrote my listing description two months ago to ask guests to verify having read the listing at the time they book, not one has done so. This means I generally have to send a text asking a lot of questions, some of which make it sound like I’m talking them out of booking, and, in fact, a number of them do write back to thank me and say they hadn’t read the listing, had no idea it was a twin bed, etc.  Then, there are those who never write back, as the 24-hour response timeline ticks down. My new “policy” on those is to decline if the guest doesn’t respond to a text within 6-10 hours. Formerly, I’d go ahead and accept; it was those who’d frequently cancel afterward, belatedly replying to say they hadn’t read the listing. I sure wish there were a pop-up at booking that asked guests to verify having read the listing and agreeing to the house rules. How hard could it be for Airbnb to implement such a thing??

[Gillian166]

@Deborah175 Instead they say “tell the host why you are  coming and what time you will arrive”

1) I don’t need to know your personal story

nor do I want to intrude. I do like knowing why of course (guests coming for a wedding are awesome) 

2) the way Abb words it, they invite the guests to TELL  me what time they will arrive, ignoring the check in time. 

we can send feedback but there’s no suggestion thread here? 

[Sherry346]