Reservation request

[Alexandra244]

Hi,

I have a new reservation request for 7 nights by someone who has not attached any personal message to the request. This is a person who has just signed up with Airbnb and has no full name (last is name is initialized) , picture, reviews or any other information about them.

Could this be a scammer?

Thank you

Alexandra

[Sarah977]

Not every guest understands that sending a message to the host is just considerate and good form. Message him back with a few questions that would make you feel more comfortable if he answers.

Lots of guests have no picture these days, and if he has just joined, that would be the reason for no reviews. You could ask him to please post a picture along with answering a few questions. Does he have any verification listed? 

[Alexandra244]

Thanks, the guest is a new member and has contacted me, so it's all sorted out. I think that they might be propmpted by airbnb to fill in more information that has been showing up on their profile.

[Marzena4]

What about communication with that guest, @Alexandra244? Have they messaged you?

[Alexandra244]

Thank you, they ended up contacting me after all. I think new members are not aware of the process and accessibilities.

[Hugh0]

Not a scam. Just bad manners. Guests are becoming increasingly transactional and demanding. 

[Andrea164]

Interesting though, I'm glad it worked out, how's a guest verified for appearance matching ID if they don't post a profile picture?  We were wondering ourselves.

[Tara35]

This is one of my primary grievances with being an Airbnb host. We are held accountable for declining too many requests, yet the guests are not held accountable for the way in which they make their requests. I clearly state that I will not accept reservation requests that do not include some sort of introduction, etc.  This is my home and NOT a hotel.  If they do not take the time to read my requirements before requesting to stay it makes me feel as though they may not follow my house rules, etc. 

I feel that Airbnb should put some level of accountability on to the guests regarding this. There should be a form they fill out for the request indicating number of guests, length of stay, purpose of visit (vacation or work), and a brief one to two sentence introduction. This should be mandatory. If we decline we are expected to explain why. yet, the guests are not expected to offer any information when making requests. I beleive in communication, but I firmly beleive that the accountability factor must go both ways. 

If I quit being a host, this will be the reason why. I am tired of the "hotel like" mentality with which guests are increasinly being encouraged to view our services when we open our HOMES to them.