How to research a booker

[William-and-Mary0]

My first enquiry. 

Nice photo... but who is this woman? Where does she live? 

How do I know she is not an agent, a spammer, a nosey neighbour?

[William-and-Mary0]

When I search the Help or forum my search will not permit or reveal this background info on s booker. Why not, when I have written so much personal stuff about ourselves, our home, our identity. 

But no, I cannot "check out" nor "verify" nor "know who" nor "who is this" etc

I do not like this algorithm used by ABB which appears to deliberately suppress this most obvious discussion. 

[Sabine42]

an agent for who? all guests are individuals just like yourself. most of them are great people, some bad eggs are in the mix and with a little experience you will hopefully be able to tell them apart and learn how to read someone's profile and the way they communicate. i  highly recommend you work on your listing a bit more before publishing, there are several red flags. 3 more bedrooms available, 'just ask' and no extra charge for people? spare car available? i have a spare car also, wouldn't dream of letting strangers use it though. as a new host i would also recommend to not use instant book. get a feel for how airbnb works, learn what questions to ask before accepting a booking etc. 

the first few pages of this forum have lots of info for new hosts.

[Helen3]

Hi @William-and-Mary0

I have to say I am a little confused by your post.

You can set your listing so only verified guests (those with photo ID such as a passport can book).

Hopefully you don't have instant book turned on.

If you don't you will get a booking request come through. If the guest doesn't have a photo  (as you don't !) or information (as you don't) on their profile -  simply ask them for some background about themselves.

I normally ask them to tell me a little about themselves, their plans for their stay and why they chose my place.

This will help you make a judgement call as to whether you want to accept them.

Third party guests aren't allowed to book unless it is an approved business profile.

If someone trys to book on behalf of someone else you can decline their booking.

I would recommend you have a photo on your profile and complete some information about yourselves and why you host. Just as we hosts look for completed profiles as a trust sign - so do guests.

[William-and-Mary0]

I thought my question was so simple. 

I have provided personal info (photographer has yet to upload our pics) and of course I have not set to instant booking (although ABB seem to proffer this at every step as a default). 

My first enquiry has a nice photo. But who is this nice woman. Is she ID verified? All I can see is that she joined ABB in the last 7 days. She has a name "Louise". But nothing else. 

Of course I can ask her things, how do I know if her listing is genuine. No feedback reviews no idea where she is travelling from nor 

[William-and-Mary0]

Thanks Helen. I am surprised my completed profile is not visible, and perhaps it's my ignorance but I cannot as stated read ANY profile nor info on the enquirer

[William-and-Mary0]

I am writing this on an iPad and there are technical issues where editing my text is not possible

[Ange2]

@William-and-Mary0  By booker I assume you mean guest.   If you cannot see anything by clicking on the image of the guest, then it could be a glitch in the sytem  or there is no information on their profile, some requests I have recieved have only an email not even an image!  If they have other verifications they should be listed on their page. See attached screen shot.

Try  Firefox or Chrome, Safari is very unreliable as is the APP.

If they have are a blank slate write to them and ask for more information, you can ask them to upload a Government ID.

I find that people are either willing to comply or I never hear from them again.

[David126]

Certainly the first listing that I have seen with a car, how did you arrange the insurance?