Would you cancel this booking?

[Ben205]

I've had an instant booking but am wondering what you would do? Here are the details -

Guest reviews - none

Verifications - one (a mobile phone number)

Message when booking - 'Between 4 and 5 on tuesday afternoon.'

Booked two days ahead for 3 adults midweek (quite unusual here). I do have their vehicle registration (a Ford Transit) for our digital parking system, though. The booking is worth almost £200 to me.

I'm interested to know how you would approach this?

Ben

[Solveig0]

I would probably send an email message asking for more details, and see how they answer. They might just be unfamiliar with airbnb customs and not actually have any negative intentions. Then if they don't answer or are weird in their communications, I would look at what I would do.  

[Emilia42]

@Ben205 , while a booking like this annoys me (weren't these people taught to say hello, please and thank you?!) it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. Personally, I wouldn't cancel this booking. I would probably ask them for more details like what brings them to the area. Kill them with kindness and make it clear that communication is key to a successful stay, for both parties.

[Susan1404]

@Ben205  I have had several guests reply or make inquiries in this abrupt manner.  Some of them turned into decent bookings.  Some people don't communicate well, but they are decent guests regardless.  I would not cancel the booking. 

[Ben205]

@Emilia42 @Susan1404 @Solveig0  Thanks for the suggestions. I've contacted the guest (no reply, yet). What do you make of only one verification and that being a phone number? It could be a burner, and then it would be impossible to trace the person should something happen. I thought ABB insisted on at least one photo ID?

[Emilia42]

@Ben205, do you have a requirement for a government ID checked? If not, guests without this verification will be able to instantly book. You could send them the link and ask them to please verify themselves (airbnb.com/verify) but it may not be mandatory at this point since it wasn’t a requirement at booking.

[Ben205]

@Emilia42Thanks. No, I don't have Government ID ticked. About half my guests don't have government ID verified, so I would be exchanging peace of mind for possibly much lower income if I set that. I'm going to consider it now, though.

Clearly ABB feel that asking for ID would put off a significant number of guests, as they don't require it. Which leaves us hosts having to weigh risk against reward. I feel it's a pity ABB don't insist on this, so that all hosts are covered to some degree.

I've been doing this 2 years, and it's only just occured to me that with a burner phone and a stolen credit card, a guest is anonymous!

[Emilia42]

@Ben205, it's very possible and scary to think about. Reservations can also be made with pre-paid VISA or MC gift cards. No name attached to those.

[Ben205]

@Emilia42I didn't know that about payment types. Quite worrying, as I've always thought that, at least if the worst happened, I know where to find the person should the police/ courts get involved. Seems like I was wrong!

[Susan1404]

@Ben205I do require the standard Airbnb guest requirements, but nothing over and above that.  That being said, I have to be honest in that I only turned IB on around the middle of February.  It did result in more bookings and so far, they have all been very nice guests to deal with.  However, even with verified guests, it is no absolute guarantee they are quality guests (learned that after reading things here).  I think you may have to follow your gut instincts here.  Not getting a reply after several messages would irritate me, but if you cancel their reservation, you will never know if it was justified or  not.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben205 

advice: put in your house rules that every guest has to show his photo ID at arrival. Then take a photo or photocopy or just write down all their personal information. This is THE ONLY way you will know who has a key to your property . Airbnb verification means NOTHING.

[Ben205]

@Branka-and-Silvia0Thanks for the suggestion.  Like you say (and I've only just come to realise) ABB verification means very little, other than they will get paid!

I'm wondering what effect adding this extra level of security will have on my bookings? Until this made me check, I didn't realise only around half my guests have verified ID.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben205 

first of all , guests do not read house rules.

Second - if you have it written then those guests who intend to rob you, throw a party etc... will not book with you and that's great 🙂

Third - in many countries this is mandatory and hosts have to register all their guests to the police. Croatia is just one of those countries. In 3 y. of hosting we never had any guest who didn't want to show us his ID, remember - we have to register all members of the group, not just the person who booked, including infants.

So the impact will be positive 🙂

[Ben205]

@Branka-and-Silvia0Thanks, I get what you're saying. I do think the situation here is quite different, though. As a nation, we've repeatedly rejected the government's (and EU's) attempts to introduce ID cards and the need to carry them.

Which means, nobody carries them! We rarely have to produce evidence of who we are. In fact, when we vote in elections, we don't even have to prove who we are. Hence the saying here, 'Vote early, vote often'!

If ABB asks for ID, I think guests will provide it. If I ask, I don't think they will, they'll just go somewhere else. Which might reduce my stress but would also reduce my income (by, I think, quite a lot). Tough decision!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ben205  interesting.... here we are fined if police stop us on the street and we don't have our ID with us ,  we can't enter in the courthouse and many other office buildings without showing ID on the entrance etc...

We hosted guests from UK and they showed us their passports without complains. I am happy it is mandatory but I would do it even if it's not.