Weird feeling about incoming guest

John5107
Level 1
Quindalup, Australia

Weird feeling about incoming guest

So we've had a booking from a guest, IB, first message was 'hi this is (her name), cheers!' Repeated twice, and exactly the same, when we asked for more details we got the message that she had been holidaying in the down with her friends family every December for the last 15 years, but she only joined AirBnB in September last year and has no reviews. 

    First time we've had a guest where we can't tell straight off if something's not right, how often do you go with your gut?

 

Cancelling the booking will result in having the nights blocked and paying the cancellation fee, which is why we haven't cancelled already...

4 Replies 4
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@John5107What you've described so far doesn't sound all that red-flaggish. If you dialogue with her and ask her some more questions and see how she answers, you'll hopefully have a better idea. Have you determined whether she has fully read the listing description, the house rules and the cancellation policy? There's nothing wrong with a guest just having joined and having no reviews- everyone has to start somewhere. But maybe there's something about the way she communicates that is making you leery?

 

You get 3 penalty-free cancellations a year with IB- have you used those up? If not, you can call Airbnb and tell them you're uncomfortable with the booking (use those words). Your gut is usually right, although I once had a booking from a guy I felt iffy about who turned out to be a wonderful guest who left his room jaw-droppingly spotless.

 

How was she able to IB with no reviews and no recommendations from hosts? You should check those requirements in your settings if you're going to use IB.

John5107
Level 1
Quindalup, Australia

Hi Sarah,

      Yep, we asked her for more info and we've asked her today where she's been staying before as if she's been coming 15 years, I'd imagine that she would have joined AirBnB before September, the setting for only being able to IB with reviews and recommendations hadn't been set up (is now), so that was an oversight that's been corrected. 

    We'll wait to see what the guest comes back, with, we're keen not to deny people their holiday, especially after the year that 2020 has been,  we've had a bunch of guests through, some with reviews, some without, it's just the way this person is communicating, with copying and pasting the same message twice, and being vague with details, is setting off the spidey senses....

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@John5107  Well, spidey sense is usually right. You should probably listen to it if she doesn't wow you with her next response. Although if she really did stay with her friend's family for the past 15 years, she'd have no need for Airbnb. But it's sometimes a bit suspicious when a guest seems to volunteer too much information, like they're making things up to impress you. But on the other hand, if she IBed, it isn't like she sent a request and was trying to get you to accept it. Maybe she sent out a bunch of requests and that cut and paste greeting was for that purpose, then didn't realize she'd sent it to you twice.

 

But you're the one reading her messages, so only you know if they feel off.

Robbie54
Level 10
North Runcton, United Kingdom

@John5107 I think you're looking for something that's not there if I'm honest.  The same message twice is not an unusual thing, I've done it myself where I think a message hasn't been sent and done it again, then realise I've sent it twice. 

I've received many messages varying in quality of information,  however I've stopped worrying about it now as guests are never the same as my imagination compared to reality.  Some guests just aren't great at either getting back or writing descriptive messages, I honestly wouldn't worry about it 🙂