Profile Pictures

[Kevin-s0]

Does Airbnb require a valid profile picture?

I ask, as a lot of my guests from Asian countries appear to be teddy bears, stuffed dog toys, cartoon characters, or practically invisible as the photo was taken in such a dark room, that I cannot discern who they are.

What is Airbnb`s policy about the profile picture, and how is it enforced?  Is it enforced?

I`ve been pointing out to potential guests that they want to see who I am, and clear photos of my home.  Shouldn`t I get the same from them?

And shouldn`t you?

Kevin

[Kevin-s0]

I agree!  Most guests are fine and make this a great business.

[Jay18]

@Kevin-s0 A broken promise from AirBnB? Say it isn't so! 😉 I am surprised they made a promise in the first place.

[J74]

It's just terrible, and some of us have come to rely on the extra income.

[Edwin57]

As long Airbnb verify there I D there account belive me  I know safety first Airbnb has there information befor us Airbnb also know for there brand safty first now if guest refuse to not sent you a picture that's good keep pushing the issue like you said guest cancel that's good you didn't cancel them that's good 

[Katy44]

If there's no photo or ID I ask them to provide it. If they won't, no booking, politely stated of couurse.  Nice to have superhost status but I wouldn't risk anything for it.Katherine

[Cristina30]

I have had three requests in the past few days from people without any reviews or profile pictures. All of them have differnt names but have all joined airbnb in Dec 17".  This is a real problem for me.  First of all, I am always reluctant to accept someone who has no reviews, second I dont like that they are new to airbnb to me that is suspious because maybe they have been kicked off before using another email address and or phone number and third I want to see who is coming to stay in my home with me!  I live in my house and I don't want to feel unsafe in my own home.  I should not Have to accept the request without the fear of being removed from Super Host status.

[Jay18]

Why do you feel you "must" accept these reservations?

[Kevin-s0]

Most of my guests have no reviews.  Most have turned out to be good guests.  A certain kind of good hearted person, is attracted to Airbnb for the most part, and that goes for guests and hosts.

I see newbies, as people I can teach.  I am a teacher.  So it is my chance to educate them about Airbnb.

I don`t live in my spaces though, so perhaps that changes the equation for me.  I stay at one or the other about once a week.  So I don`t have to spend a lot of time with guests if I don`t wish to.

[J74]

Exactly....

[Judy29]

There are many MANY flaws with the Airbnb platform and the profile pictures is a major issue.  There is one ethnic group in particular who are notorious for booking as a single (taking advantage of pricing), using profile pictures of part of the face, and/or hand....never full face with their eyes.   Several times I have had conversations through phone and the voice is different but name the same.  The single person shows up as a group of four or more and all with the same name.  A group of six tried to show up as 15.  There has to be some way to stop this.  I am now asking every single guest that books (and without profile picture) if they are travelling alone.  I also now mention in every response that if more than the number registered for the booking shows then they will not be allowed into the rental unit.  Be very cautious of anyone who is between the age of 20=30.  I refer to them as the entitled generation.  They have very little respect and their expectations are beyond reality.  They will be defiant, disrespectful and most of all you can ensure that they will give you less than perfect rating.  I sometimes refer to these guests as "kidiots"...because that is a fitting description of their mentality.

[Kevin-s0]

There is no must of course.  But the more reservations you turn down, the more you drop in the rankings.

Then when the better guests come to look for a guest house, your ranking has dropped so they don`t see you.  So it is a balancing act.   You cannot turn down everyone without a proper profile picture.

[Judy29]

Airbnb is a big business and as such dont think about the little things that affect our reputations in this type of scenerio.  I recently had to call...again (probably the 70th time now) to correct a cancellation so it wouldnt affect my rankings.  I keep getting double bookings.  And just yesterday I received another only 24 hours after correcting the last double booking for the exact same weekend...Dec 31, new years eve.   I was on the phone for an hour with Alice a supervisor, to fix the calendar so this would not happen again and yet it did.  So when I decline it is accepted and then I have to explain that this date was already blocked.  I have lost my superhost rating several times because of this error on airbnb's behalf.  Airbnb phone number is "engraved" and on speed dial now because of the major problems encurred.  I have been with bbcanada.com for 27years with little issue and only three with airbnb...every booking brings a new problem.

[Jay18]

Therein lies the largest problem of all: AirBnB. They do not even enforce basic rules. The host is penalized in virtually every conceivable way, while guests seemingly get away with pretty much anything. If AirBnB enforced the profile picture rule, hosts would not need to cancel ANY reservations for that reason.

[J74]

100% in agreement...

[Judy29]

I also belong to a site called bbcanada.com and we do not require pictures of hosts.  We upload whatever pictures we need to sell out accommodations.  Hopefully pictures of our clean and well decorated homes are enough to sell ourselves.  But I must say that there have been some guests arrive that I wish had not.  There was an Irish family of five that come for seven days.  When they arrived, the mom and dad decided to stay with their son and family (just down the road) and left their other son and his wife and two year old with us.  OMG...the dirtiest people ever.  When I went in to change the towels, I had to step over linens, towels, food, clothing and dirty diapers thrown corner to corner in the housekeeping suite we were offering.  Im sure had I a picture of this couple first hand I might have thought twice.  I asked them to leave early and the father was so irrate that he threw the money owing at me .  Literally!  It was obvious they didnt want to stay with them either and their holiday was probably ruined by having these slobs move into the family home for the remainder of their stay.