suspicious inquiry questions

[Lisa453]

Hello AirBnB Community,

I am a fairly new host and rent an apartment in a small town in Iowa. I received the inquiry below from a woman in China a couple days ago and have questions:

hello,can you tell me your hours is nearly this [** Brookhollow Plaza Drive, **, TX]? thanks!my friends are staying ** Brookhollow Plaza Drive, **, TX! So We want to find the nearly house ' Thanks so much(URL HIDDEN)Best wish!

I don't want to overreact, but is this an inquiry that should be flagged? I'm suspicious because for one, I think it could be considered to receive an inquiry from someone in China, because of some of the hidden text, and also, the user is asking if I'm located near an address in Texas. Ummm, no, Iowa is not near Texas. This user account was created in December, is verified, and has 3 positive reviews from hosts. I responded to her inquiry that our location is nowhere near Texas, she replied back saying she would look elsewhere, and then I declined the inquiry.

I'd be interested to hear from the community on how you would respond to such an inquiry.

Thanks!

Lisa

[Cynthia-and-Chris1 · Accepted solution]

I dont think people from other countries truly grasp how large the US is if they've never been here before.  It doesn't seem entirely suspicious to me - I probably wouldn't flag it.  You've done what you needed to do by responding and declining the inquiry.

[Lisa453]

Thank you! This is most helpful as I am still learning some of the nuances of being an AirBnB host.

[David126]

Most of my odd geographic queries are from Americans, no idea how they can contact me but not be able to use Google Maps.

[Lawrene0]

Hey, @Lisa453, I just had the same thing happen last night. In my case they asked about an address in Ohio, and how close that was to me (in Ontario, Canada). It IS only across the lake, but the lake is Lake Ontario, so a mere 500-km drive. I agree with the others. It is a map scale thing. 

[Tricia-and-Armando0]

I have an inquiry from China and he asked me my address

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Tricia-and-Armando0  Airbnb does not allow the host to disclose their address before there is a confirmed booking.  Politely tell your guest this information is not available before a reservation is made.

[Phil26]

I have had similar inquiries. Without knowing if they are legitimate or not, I give them a nearby address (like the police station) and then tell them I'm about 1 mile from there and they can Google the address of their friend, etc. and see how far away that is. I don't give out our address to "tire kickers". 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Lisa453

It is difficult for the Chinese as they do not have access to google maps unless they go via a VPN.  You can help them by sending a link to the properties close to that hotel in Texas.

[Charles153]

I Had an inquiry from a woman who has no reviews and has only been an Airbnb member since "2017". She asked me to give her my phone number so she could call me and tell me she wanted to book. I asked her to go to the site if she wanted to book. Also, there were 4 guests and my small house only accommodates 3. Will I be penalized as a host for declining her inquiry?

[Ali40]

@Charles153 you need to start a new thread to ask a different question. 

[Charles153]

How do I create a new thread? Thank you.

[Steve143]

Hello @Charles153,

You create a new thread by clicking on the "Start a conversation" button on the help forum pages where you posted your question.

It's always better to do that when you have a new question.

That way everyone will see  your question.

If you post your question connected to a different one then only people who read the original question will see yours.

Steve.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Charles153

No, you will not.