Accept or decline.

[Amy38]

I’m sorry, this is such an old subject, but first time  I have had to question.

I normally politely decline the guest inquiry if not acceptable, then wait until last minute and accept the guest who by then has moved on.

Todays request,  “Coming for anniversary, any discout fo 4 day stay?”

I reply sorry.

Then I look at the profile and there is nothing...no photo no verifications of anything...blank space under his blank photo and after 2 years a member, no past reservations (that is not unusual)..

Normally , I would wait and accept and as I have instant book,  I assume could book anyway....but the lack of any information bothers me.

Any thoughts?

[Steve143]

Hello @Amy38,

I presume you have some instant book requirements like government ID or recommendations from other hosts as otherwise he'd not have been offered the request option. So he should not be able to instant book.

I would ddecline the request and message Airbnb asking how someone with no verifications can have an account. Phone or email verification should be there at a minimum.

I sometimes get requests with no photo showing but a message to them to upload one usually gets a quick response and they upload one.

Steve.

[Kelly149]

@Steve0@Amy0he may have been able to IB but wanted a discount. 

I have a listing that that has no IB requirements but my house rules say they must have a complete profile. So, you could say no to the discount & also remind them to complete their profile

[Steve143]

Hello @Kelly149,

If you have the requirements, and are looking at an instant book listing, are you not offered only the option of "Book"? Or do you see both a "Request to book" and a "Book" button?

I can't experiment with it myself as I have both recommendations and government ID.

I thought you'd have only the options of sending an inquiry or booking instantly.

Steve.

[Kelly149]

@Steve143 yes, even if you meet all requirements you can Inquire anyway, don't have to IB just because you can, I believe you can also do a Reservation Request (I only say this bc I had a guest Request for 2 adults and 5 infants -free- their message then went on to say that there weren't really 5 infants, but 5 children & couldn't they just come for free like an infant?? I declined that request and now that listing isn't Plus eligible bc my acceptance rate isn't high enough 😞

I think in addition to using inquiry/Request to Book for listings they don't auto-qualify for, guests also use it to try for discount, break rules, change timing,etc

[Steve143]

Hello @Kelly149,

Sorry to hear you got dinged when they were outright asking for free stays for the kids, trying to hide it on the request as being for 5 infants!

Here's hoping for a string of good bookings to get the rating up.

Steve.

[Kelly149]

 Yep @Steve0 the problem with that is you need a lot to move the needle & when IB is a choice then you don’t have many requests come in. Oh well. Don’t know that I’m a fan of plus anyway but it’s lousy that abb is going backwards on dinging hosts for things that they used to say didn’t matter. 

[Amy38]

@Steve143@Kelly149@David126

just checked and I have no requirements but basic Abnb verification...no other id required..perhaps I should change that.

Thanks for help.

[David126]

@Amy38

I used to have a few boxes ticked but took it off, came to the conclusion it made no difference.

I  do not charge for extra guests but if someone booked for 2 then I would accept, if they want to bring 5 more than they need to change their booking.

[David126]

I no longer repond directly to discount requests. I also use IB so would hit pre approve and tell them that I use Instant Book and they do not need me to pre approve a booking.

[Amy38]

@David126  Thanks...I replied I promised clean sheets....waited a bit and then approved. Their inquiry expired and then they are gone.  So I still have a perfect record.

I did add government i.d. to requirements, not sure if that is needed.

best,

aj