how do you feel about not seeing a profile picture when you get requests? and with no reviews?

[Fsa0]

This is my third request from guests where there are no pictures or reviews, it says that I'll see it once the guest books.

I have the settings to send requests and no instant bookings if they don't meet this requirement. 

I feel it's a disadvantage to hosts and it should be a MUST for Airbnb to have someone that registers with them.

Opinions?

Thanks

[Helen3]

I don't know if I have been terribly lucky @Branka-and-Silvia0 but I have never had to cancel a guest because on seeing their photo  I was uncomfortable with their booking.

So just on my personal experience (three and a half years hosting and hundreds of guests), I don't think not having a photo before booking will make any difference for me.

I think I probably pre-vet guest more than many hosts on here and I wonder if that is why I tend to have less problematic guests. Yes I might lose out on a few bookings, but I would rather that then encounter problem guests.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Helen3

I think you misunderstood me, I'll give you an example of what I mean:

- I got a request, one sentence: " I want to book your apartment"

- No picture, no country, no profile, no reviews as he/she was new at ABB, no name (just initials)

- The guest couldn't book instantly because he/she didn't meet my booking requirements

- I responded with a message and a few questions

- No reply for 20 hours.

- I declined the request

- then I get a message like: " Hi Branka, did I do something wrong? I really like your place, I am a retired teacher and will be in town with my friend, we are both in our 70ies, new on Airbnb blah blah...

- so I told her, in this case, I will be glad to host them but she has to send me another request. And she did, I accepted.

If I've been able to see her profile picture immediately I would know she is an elderly guest, not familiar with online communication, applications, doesn't check her phone messages 24/7 as most young people do  .... In other words, I would understand her and be more patient with her.

Without a profile picture, I thought this is some young, rude, unresponsive and careless dude so I declined because the response clock was ticking and I ran out of time.

It happend 2x already.

If I can't decide based on the lack of informations then I rather decline then accept and be sorry later.

[Helen3]

That makes sense. I would have declined in your situation too @Branka-and-Silvia0 

[Fsa0]

almost same situation on my end!

[Ann489]

Well said, @Branka-and-Silvia0.  I have had similar instances twice now.  Both times, the guest was elderly, not accustomed to online communication. Both turned out to be delightful guests.  Had I seen a picture beforehand, it would have been much easier for me to draw the right conclusion and respond accordingly.   If anything, this policy of not showing a guest's profile picture has led me to decline more requests than before--and I'm sure that I'm not the only one there!

[Fsa0]

I've been pretty lucky minus 2 cases but I learned that reading the comments of other hosts help in making a decision, I learned that the hard way. I try to engage in conversation to learn more about guests before they book but some people just don't answer fluently making the decision process a bit more complicated and slow

[Deanna100]

My last guests did not have a profile picture and I was a bit Leary about them renting. We did find out after they rented that they were quite young and went through a lot of alcohol over the time they stayed (3 nights). The house wasn’t horribly taken care of but not as clean as most of our guests have left it. Apparently they didn’t clean or do dishes until they left by how much was in the dishwasher. But as I said. It wasn’t horrible so how do I leave a review?

[Sarah977]

@Deanna100   I think a lot of young people are pretty clueless about cleaning- They either still live at home with Mom, who cleans up everything, or they live alone or with roommates and no one really cares. I'd give them 3*s on cleanliness, maybe mention in the written review that the place was left less clean than you are accustomed to, but mention positives about their stay as well, assuming their were some (they followed house rules, communicated arrival time well?) And maybe send them some private feedback, saying that while you appreciated them putting the dishes in the dishwasher, they'll get better reviews in the future if they make an effort to leave the place a fair bit cleaner.

[Deanna100]

Thank you for your input. That has helped a great deal. I know how important it is to the Airbnb host’s to have accurate reviews. 

[Elizabeth1229]

Hi Helen3, 

You mention that you pre-vet your guests, probably more than other hosts.  I would be interested to know how you do that and what you are looking for.

Thanks, Elizabeth

[Joaquin93]

Could you give me advice on pre vetting guests.  I have had 3 bad experiences.  2 were individuals that booked my rooms with instant booking and were at my front door within 4 hours of the booking.  My rooms are for only one person and they always show up with 2 people so i cancell on them and that's not fun.

[Tina63]

Another example: I received a request from a guy which I declined as the latest review on his profile was bad. The next day I received a request from a woman which I accepted. As my property is in Spain guests have to provide Government ID at check-in which is when I realised that the boyfriend was the guy from the reservation that I had declined. There is more to this story however what is relative to the original posting is that had a profile head shot been on the guy’s profile then I would  have recognised him before he got through the door of my property and not from his unusual name when he was already through the door. Furthermore, Airbnb should require all guest’s names to be listed on the reservation not just the person making the booking - again I would have realised that I did not want to host this couple and had Airbnb cancel it.

[Kay132]

I'd sure like to see a bigger guest photo. They are so tiny I can't determine gender, which leads to some embarrassment. We have instant book -- I'm up to host anybody -- I would simply like to recognize them when we meet. 

[Emilia42]

@Kay132, when you are on the guest's profile on a desktop, if you right click on the photo then click 'Open image in new tab,' a larger picture will open. It's a little blurry but it's still much bigger.