How do I check on my guest before approving or declining them?

[Irene87]

I am new to AirBnb's hosting and still feeling a little insecure about the guests who are going to stay at my place. The first person who inquired my place was polite and very nice, but the next 3 people made me a little concerned. One of them asked me if he could pay in cash (instead of paying through AirBnb), when I told him that I would be away (as a reason to decline his booking), he asked me if I could just drop the key to somebody... 

Another person sent me his phone number and requested me to contact him directly. And another person suddenly requested to check in at 2am at night. How do I check on the guest's profile when they send me an inquiry? Because whenever I clicked on their profile, only their pictures appear, but nothing else (no reviews about them, no bio/descriptions whatsoever). 

Thank you

[Christine-Michele0]

I have the same question.  I have had 99% awesome guests, but the last group to leave took some kitchen items with them and left the house a mess.  If this is a pattern, it would have been nice to know.

[Dede0]

@Irene87 Clicking their photo to go to their profile is the only real way to check on them. Whether they've written any sort of bio or not, the profile will show how many "Verified IDs" they have (if any) and what type of IDs. You can also see whether they have any reviews from previous hosts. Personally, we don't accept bookings from guests who lack at least one Verified ID, preferable more. We also prefer that they have at least a couple positive reviews by other hosts, but we're flexible about that if our interaction with them seems okay.

As you probably already know, you should always refuse to deal in cash, check, PayPal, or anything other that clean in-AirBnB transactions. For one thing, doing so violates AirBnB's terms of service and can result in them removing your listing. Also, most requests to pay in cash mean that either the person is setting you up to be scammed, or they just want to cheat and not pay for AirBnB's service.

Likewise, don't communicate with prospective guests outside of the AirBnB message system. A prospective guest who requests that is also probably going to try and scam you.

[Irene87]

Thank you so much for the reply. Most of the people who inquired on my listing only have email/phone verification with no reviews. If you were me, would you accept them? If I kept declining their bookings, would AirBnB hide my listing?

[Dede0]

Itene - Airbnb won't punish you for declining inquiries or booking requests. They will punish you for canceling bookings you've previously accepted.

And, yes, if you have the slightest hesitation about a potential guest who lacks a verified ID and/or at least one or two positive reviews, I would decline the booking. Or have a further conversation with the person and see if your sense of them improves.

[Christine-Michele0]

When I click on the member in question photo, there are no reviews.  That's what I was looking for.  

[Irene87]

Same here! 

[Stan-And-Juris0]

@Dede0 Please clarify, "you should always refuse to deal in cash, check, PayPal, or anything other that clean in-AirBnB transactions."  Is Paypal not a good option for payouts?

Stan and Juris

[Dede0]

I meant don't use PayPal to have the guest pay you or to refund money to them. It's perfectly fine to have AirBnb send you your payouts via PayPal.

[Buddy0]

If a verified guest has no reviews, I look for a in-depth conversation before approving.  I want to know why they are coming, a little about them and who's coming with them.  If I'm not satisfied I just say no.  I take no chances with my other guests, my family or my house.

[Morgan18]

Hi Irene!

If you click on the little icon of the person who is requesting to stay with you you should be able to see their profile. This should include all of their reviews and a description of them. My rule is, if I do not feel 100% comfortable with the person, I will decline. Declining a potential guest does not hurt your reputation as a host. If their profile is incomplete and they don't have any reviews, I usually message them to find out more information (why are they traveling to the city, what do they do, have they been here before, etc.) if they seem like they will netti high maintence for me, (ask me for rides from the airport, come in late on weekday nights, etc.) I will decline. You are in control of who you want to stay with you. It's perfectly alright to deny someone who does not seem would be a good fit:) I hope this helps!

Morgan

[Irene87]

@Dede0 and @Morgan18 Thank you so much for your answers! They're very helpful! I kept wondering if AirBnB only has reviews on the host but not on the guests because I couldn't see their reviews :S Apparently they just don't have any, and they also don't have many verifications. This clears it out, thanks a lot :))

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Set your account so that you only accept people with verified id. It won't stop people who are unverified contacting you, but it will stop them sending a booking request.

Reviews are fine and good  - but about 50% of our guests are first timers. So if you decide to say no to everyone with no review you may cut your potential business by 50% or more. But that is absolutely your decision...we go on email exchanges and have only had wonderful guests for our first year of hosting.

Repeated declines will affect your listing position (someone here said it doesn't, but it does..). After a certain number of consecutive declines (I think it may be 10) you will get a formal warning from AirBnB and after that if you continue to decline, a suspension of your account.

[Sharon114]

I agree with your comments.  We have been hosting for just over a year and a great many of our guests have  been first time users of airbnb.  They are sometimes nervous about staying, nor sure what to expect, but we pride ourselves in being able to leave our guests with a positive stay and have received excellent reviews.  This is turn leads to our guests having reviews from us.  We all have to start somewhere and it would be a pity if guests chose not to stay with new hosts because of the lack of reviews or vise versa.

[Cindy97]

verified ID is the best way to go?

i think i need to go back and change that.  Where can i change that do you know?