A guest profile is not a profile.

[Valerie283]

We got a request of booking and found the guest profile was empty and the photo in the profile showing flowers only.

This is supposed to be a verified guest.  Aren't they supposed to have the profile photo matching their government ID?

How could a profile help if there is no information?

[Alexandra316]

@Valerie283 a lot of your questions can probably be answered by visiting the community help guides. See https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#M311. There is a ton of info there. 

Although everyone should have a proper picture of themselves on their profile, Airbnb doesn't enforce that rule. If you are uncomfortable with the amount of info provided by a potential guest, ask them to fill out their profile and provide a picture. If you're not comfortable with the info provided after you make a request, decline the booking.  

[Valerie283]

I had read somewhere that airbnb was supposed to verify the profile photo matching the governemnt ID.  How haven't they enforced such rule?  How could a guest avoid it?  I understand the guest has to be verified before they could make a booking.  Am I right?

I can only guess such person could have swapped out their personal photo after the verification process.

[Alexandra316]

Yes, likely. I do see that a fair bit. You can change your profile name after verification takes place also, which I'm not fond of. 

[Marzena4]

I am on Instant Book, @Valerie283. And I noticed that some of my upcoming reservations, booked sometimes even in December, are of members with no face photo. I requested all the three of them to update their profiles, at the same time writing to the support to have an excuse to have airbnb cancel those reservations (just in case). Guess who was quicker with response? All the photos were there even before I got the reply from an airbnb rep. Airbnb doesn't enforce this rule (of having a clear photo), but if a host questions a reservation in such a case, there is no excuse for the guest. So you know what - let us hosts unite in this pursuit. 😉

[Valerie283]

Thanks for the input.

We're new to airbnb.  We had presumed the guest making a request of booking must have been verified and had quickly accepted the booking in view of the limit of time we're entitled to dwell on.

While we found out the profile iwas a blur or a nought, I found also the penalty of cancellation which could apply to us because there is less than a week between the booking and the arrival of guest.

Could you let us know where was the support that you wrote to?

[Valerie283]

We don't take the instant book because we suppose it would give us no chance to assess the guest and our situation before we commit ourselves.  Moreover we are trying it and see how it goes.  We are testing the water.