Pre approval request asked for communication via my personal email

Laura427
Level 1
Hopeman, United Kingdom

Pre approval request asked for communication via my personal email

I had a guest request pre-approval for a night at my house tonight and they messaged me to say they want to discuss confidential issues before booking and to contact them on their personal email address. I thought this was very odd and said no, asked them to speak to me on Airbnb and I've not heard from them since. Has this happened to anyone else? It seems pretty dodgy to me but other than getting my personal details I can't think why else someone would make such a strange request. Having not heard from him since I want to decline the request but is that going to block the night in my calendar and change my score??

Any help ASAP would be much appreciated

6 Replies 6
Lilian-E-Cadu0
Level 2
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hi Laura,

I think you have to tell Airbnb about this guest.

Regards,

Lilian.

Karen77
Level 10
Montrose, CO

I had a guest who is brand new to Airbnb book and then call me immediately to discuss several matters that had her concerned.   She claimed she was uneasy with computers and preferred a human voice.  I wasn't sure what was going on but I engaged her concerns and then messaged her via Airbnb with a summary of our convo so that if we run into trouble later, at least there's a record of our exchange. 

Cynthia-and-Chris1
Level 10
Vancouver, WA

Definitely flag the account and correspondance.  It is not normal to move communications outside of Airbnb.  If he hasn't responded yet, I doubt he will accept your reservation.  I say just let it time out and move on.

Deborah1
Level 10
Beaufort, SC

You can decline a request and your calendar will not be blocked. It is blocked when you don't respond or cancel, at least for now. This could change!

Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Decline the request as it sounds and feels strange - trust your gut instinct- it won't affect your listing position very much. If you decline multiple times in row it begins to have an effect, but there are lots of other parameters that come into play for position listing. 

Julia66
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

@Laura427  The same person contacted me with an enquiry with the same wording (his name is in your tags).  A bit creepy, wasn't it?  I said I couldn't but offered to answer any questions.  I flagged his message, told Airbnb why, heard nothing from him and later declined.  An enquiry won't block the dates. 

I should have flagged his profile, but forgot, and now his enquiry has disappeared and I do not have a  link to it.

He also has no verifications, and booked a twin room for only one person instead of my (otherwise identical) single room and it was for 5 nights - so he had made it quite an attractive potential booking, trying to tempt hosts.

Interestingly, his email address passed Airbnb's screening because he had put spaces between parts of it.  (I'll have to find a way to report this).

Anyone else?