guests profiles that are excepted to use Airbnb without a photo ID on their profile

[JEFFREY-And-Linda0]

We would love to know why Guest Profiles get approved without a photo ID as this has happened now 2 times in a row and we feel this is not acceptible...we could not be accepted as a guest only last year until our photo was on our application...THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR ANYONE!

[Ava30]

Hi @JEFFREY-And-Linda0:

 This subject has been coming up a great deal lately. There are a large number of us hosts that are not OK with this. What I do I want to profile comes up without a picture, I send them a message that per my house rules, I cannot see my way clear to even think about approving the request until I can see a picture of them.  So far no one has had an issue with this and immediately uploads a profile picture. In the meantime, no one seems to be sure what to do to get Airbnb to follow their own policies.  The only thing I could suggest as far as that goes, is to send feedback to Airbnb about their product and tell him that this part is not OK with you. 

[Rachel0]

@JEFFREY-And-Linda0 I totally agree.  We as hosts are opening our front doors to strangers, welcoming them into our homes, giving them a key etc and the very least I expect is that I have some idea of what that person looks like.  Airbnb's policy does  not allow third party bookings and yet they are facilitating them by not insisting that the booker provides a photo.  Worryingly, there is now also a trend for guests to have blank profile descriptions, ie not even writing one sentence about who they are and what they do.  Like @Ava30 I send guests with no photo a message  to provide one and so far nobody has refused.  Make sure you add both these requirements to your house rules.

[Jeannie53]

I am a new host and this has happened a couple of times, which I find disturbing. When I first started in June 2018, I emailed Airbnb about it but received no response. I very much appreciate this forum. I was under the impression that it was part of the Airbnb vetting process. I will add the requirement to my house rules.

[Helen56]

I have frequently had to ask potential guests to add a photo of themselves - I usually say "... you can see my photo and my house, and I'd like to know I'm welcoming the correct person into my home where I live..."

I once had a photo of a duck try to book... so I said that I didn't have a pond so my place might not be a good fit.  She changed her photo within a few minutes and was a great guest.

Newbies just don't understand the trust issue, especially when it's a room in a private house where the host lives full time.

I also ask them to write 3 sentences about themselves in their profile page...  "Could you please finish your profile page...."

[Jennifer940]

I don't care about a photo. Of 200 guests, I have only had a few negative experiences, and those had photos. Just sharing that it may not be as unsafe as it seems.

[Victoria567]

Hi@Jennifer

and it’s the negative experiences that you tend to remember........for all the wrong Reasons!