Just had two kids trying to rent my house. Airbnb wants us to blindly allow people without the host doing its security checks because Airbnb apparently “verifies ID” and credit card? What does that actually mean? Verify ID by simply looking at a photocopy that was uploaded through the App? Or verified as in ran on State records to ensure the ID is valid?
Same with credit cards, although in this case Airbnb takes on the payment responsibility should the card be fraudulent. So that’s fine, but then we act as if people don’t use stolen credit cards and ID to make bookings. Especially if a thief’s only goal is to gain immediate access to the property and long enough to clear it out as much as possible in a matter of one or a few hours.
if that happens, what do we do? That’s a hit we as hosts have to take through our insurance or good old Airbnb Host Guarantee which, if any host has ever used to file a claim knows, can take forever and make you jump through hoops and loops to get made whole. It took me 3 MONTHS for Airbnb to reimburse me for a broken toilet. THREE MONTHS!! In the meantime, I either have to pay for it or wait for Airbnb. In the meantime, we are out of business until the property is restored. Who pays for that? Not Airbnb. They willl only pay to repair or replace things BASED ON THEIR SMALL PRINT AND COMPLICATED host protection program which might take, who knows how long.
if you have had to deal with theaf then you know the stress, hassle, and time consuming process to get things back to “normal”. But Airbnb just wants us to “trust” them, and what do Airbnb support people really know. All they know is to repeat a guarantee that sounds great on the surface but which they have absolutely no clue about the small print and various hoops and loops involved.
So, sorry but if guests are worried about their ID then they should have no problem understanding where a homeowner who is about to give you full and free access to their fully furnished and equipped home feels. It’s a two-way street.
