Guests Home Town....

Answered!
Terry589
Level 2
Halesworth, United Kingdom

Guests Home Town....

Why is it in these time of uncertainty that some Guest's  only have England or uk as their address or Home town ? I Feel as a Host Airbnb should insist all Guest's have a Home town on their profile, with covid19 2nd spikes appearing across parts of the uk i feel Hosts should know if a Guest is coming from a lock down area as many would not say anything and still turn up , and i believe hosts then might have to bare some responsibility if their guests bought this virus with them affecting others . At Least if Hosts know the Guests Home town we would have a choice to cancel the booking,  is this just me or do other Hosts feel the same? many thanks. 

1 Best Answer
Jean4999
Level 4
Perrott's Brook, United Kingdom

I have just messaged AirBnB under COVID-19 with the following.

Will anything happen?

 

"Many guests profiles only list their home location as "England, United kingdom" or similar vague location.
In this time of COVID-19 there are areas within the country with local lockdown restrictions.
There is a very real need for hosts to know the area guests are coming from in order to protect ourselves from guests who may be coming from a restricted area with a high concentration of COVID-19.
It should not be possible for a guest to be "verified" with such non-discript location information.
Can you please address this problem.
Thank You"

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13 Replies 13
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

It's a shame that some hosts and guests don't register their home town. If you IB just add it to your list of questions that guest should confirm where they currently live.

 

In the UK we are also not allowed to accept bookings from more than two households, so you will need to check for that too.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

...Is that ONLY ONE household, for those of us that home share @Helen3 ? - I've only been accepting ONE single or couple at a time on the basis that they+me = 2! 

- Not yah booing, genuine question! Would be nice to think I've got it wrong & I could open 2 rooms to 2 households in good faith, but because I'd constitute a 3rd household under my roof, I don't think so!

Nanxing0
Level 10
Haverford, PA

I guess this is some people's strategy to sneak through hosts' no-local-guest policy. Hosts like me have suffered enough local guest dramas and are not accepting any local guest (or at least those with new accounts) so those guests try to sneak through by not providing their home town. I see some guests put home town as "Pennsylvania, United States" I simply treat them as local guests regardless.

 

By the way, getting identity verified will change the hometown to whatever shown on the ID. I have seen a few guests with a disclosed home town and then I asked them to verify ID and found the home town has changed after the verification.

Terry589
Level 2
Halesworth, United Kingdom

That's handy to know thank you for the reply  regards Terry 

Brenda1209
Level 2
Thornton-Cleveleys, United Kingdom

Hello @Nanxing0 I know it's an old post of yours but could you explain the problem with local guests? I'm a new host.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

@Brenda1209  HAving booking requests from local guests can be a red flag that they are looking for a place to party. Or it could be they are making a third party booking for friends and family against Airbnb'sT&Cs 

 

just to note

 

1. if you have a question it's better to start a new post 

 

2. if you haven't found it already do visit the Airbnb Help website - it has lots of FAQs  around running your short term rental business on Airbnb 

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

The same has occured to me @Terry589 , especially since this new local lockdown announced last night to affect a cluster of boroughs all bordering each other in Lancashire & West Yorkshire. They can't now have visitors again, no 2 households under 1 roof, nor even the garden but they CAN still go down the pub! Can they go on a short break out of the area, to those who CAN  still have visitors (one household)? Who knows?!

Terry589
Level 2
Halesworth, United Kingdom

@Helen350  hi Helen. Yes indeed in principle if they are in a local lockdown area then they are not allowed to travel somewhere else in the country for a brake.  But if they have booked it weeks ago are they likely to not say anything and carry on with said booking. (Probably  concerned about their refund),  And said hosts would not know where they are coming from if they just have England or uk as their home town.?

Jean4999
Level 4
Perrott's Brook, United Kingdom

I have just messaged AirBnB under COVID-19 with the following.

Will anything happen?

 

"Many guests profiles only list their home location as "England, United kingdom" or similar vague location.
In this time of COVID-19 there are areas within the country with local lockdown restrictions.
There is a very real need for hosts to know the area guests are coming from in order to protect ourselves from guests who may be coming from a restricted area with a high concentration of COVID-19.
It should not be possible for a guest to be "verified" with such non-discript location information.
Can you please address this problem.
Thank You"

@Jean4999 At present, even the latest announcements do not legally restrict people travelling between areas in England. I suspect that Airbnb will not (and should not) allow hosts to discriminate against scousers.

Hello,  I have also emailed Airbnb the same question asking if they can provide me with the address - surely they must have to ask for it - .  I have emailed the potential booked guest - for end Oct -  twice asking for her home town in the UK but no response.  I, justifiably in this 3 tier climate, do not wish to have guests visiting my property from Very High risk areas.

If neither the guest responds or Airbnb cannot provide me with their address am I in my right to cancel?

I am a new Airbnb host so any help would be much appreciated.  For those that emailed Airbnb the same question did you get a response?

Many thanks

Victoria

Claire970
Level 2
Newquay, United Kingdom

I have also email AirBnB about this issue as other platforms we are provided with full address.  I have now added as additional house rules all guests must provide home address.

Victoria1284
Level 1
United Kingdom

Hello,  I have also emailed Airbnb the same question asking if they can provide me with the address - surely they must have to ask for it - .  I have emailed the potential booked guest - for end Oct -  twice asking for her home town in the UK but no response.  I, justifiably in this 3 tier climate, do not wish to have guests visiting my property from Very High risk areas.

If neither the guest responds or Airbnb cannot provide me with their address am I in my right to cancel?

I am a new Airbnb host so any help would be much appreciated.  For those that emailed Airbnb the same question did you get a response?

 

Many thanks

Victoria