Accepting booking requests

Helen807
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

Accepting booking requests

Hi All,

 

I am hoping to get a little bit of advice... I am new to Airbnb (as a host) and not sure about some things. I thought I was on Instant booking (only guests with good reviews) but it seems I am not. I have just had a request to book and as it was last night I had a message from Airbnb saying I only have 15 hours left to accept or decline or they will block out that weekend. Anyway, I felt a little pressured so I accepted. The person has only joined airbnb this month, has no pic and only a mobile number, no other id. I feel a little uneasy about this. Should I? Or does this happen a lot? She has sent a brief message saying she loves where I live. I have replied saying i look forward to hosting her. I have since realised there is a big festival in my town that weekend and it's quite a 'party' weekend. Should I message her more and ask for id? Or try and get a bit more info? I don't know if I am worrying unnecessarily.. I know it's too late to really do much about it now but any advice would be very gratefully received. Thanks, Helen

23 Replies 23

@Gordon0In UK, do hotels require to see guests identification when they check in? If hotel can do it, just wonder why Airbnb hosts cannot.

 

Checking ID is has been a normal practice taken by many hosts to make sure that the guests stay are the guests who booked. With Airbnb's loosen control in its user profile, a guest could easily change the photo, name, etc of their profile. And a user can book for somebody else. Therefore, a host does not know who is coming to stay in the house until checkin time.

 

It is also an important factor to know the city where the guest is from. Normally the local people booking an entire house is for party use. If the house rules contain no party, it is good to know which city the guest is from. My friend accepted a guy from a city within an hour distance who had no reviews. And he hosted a big party in the house and trashed the house with cig ash, liquor bottle, broken furniture, missing blankets and a set of keys,  etc.

 

Even if it is a very small percentage of bad guests, just one damage caused by bad guests could ruin the property and stop a host to continue the short-term rental.

 

Therefore, we as hosts have to protect ourselves by all means because Airbnb lacks the support. Safety and protection are always more important than anything else.

Gordon0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Because we're not hotels, @Mike1034, and it's the law.

For the record, I've never asked to see ID for any of my 250+ guests, nor been asked for mine before any of my stays. 

Bad people come in all shapes and sizes; they have ID too, and it can't possibly make it any better to have your house trashed by somebody who's ID you've seen. 

Thankfully, Airbnb horror stories are not commonplace, thankfully. 

@Gordon0  Regardless of national laws pertaining to demanding to see ID, it seems to me that most guests would understand why a host might want to see ID and be forthcoming with it. A guest who gets irate or belligerent about it, makes some official complaint, or simply refuses would seem to indicate that they had perhaps misrepresented themselves or their intentions. I can understand a guest objecting to sending this info online, what with hacking and identity theft, but simply showing a host your driver's license or passport, so the host can see that the ID matches the face of the guest and to make a note of their full name should be a reasonable request for law-abiding people.

That said, I myself have never asked to see a guest's ID, but all my guests have had clear face profile photos and were obviously the same person who appeared at my gate.

Gordon0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I guess my point is, @Sarah977, you cannot demand to see documents that are not required (by law, here in the UK) and cancel because you don't like their answers (or the fact that they don't dance to your tune, and fast enough). 

Good communication is a two-way thing and I think you set the tone very early on in this wonderful (sometimes) business. There are much 'softer' ways to get hold of information and, personally, this is the way I prefer to go.

Like you, I have never asked to see someone's ID (or been asked to provide for any of my 10+ stays), so it's a mute point, and I hope it will be for @Helen807 too). 

@Sarah977 @Gordon0 @Helen807 Here is a message thread recently created about the ID checking. ID checking will be adopted by hosts when more and more hosts are suffered by some types of loss or damage to their property/their safety.

 

As for the law in UK, I have not read and cannot comment on it. A host mentioned in the following thread that when a guest consents to the house rules of ID checking when it is added on the listing, a host is still able to check the ID during checkin.

 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Why-as-a-host-I-require-guest-s-ID-and-why-you-should-to...

Gordon0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Mike1034 I'll make sure I add another line in to mine that long-haired guests are forbidden to leave any hairs behind. I imagine that'll hold as much weight as anything else, and it would be more useful! 

Actual law overides personal 'rules' every time. 

Helen807
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

@Anonymous Ooh good tip, thank you, will change that! And @Gordon0 Yep, this is certainly a steep learning curve for me and I do tend to (over) err on the side of caution! I'm hopeful this particular guest enters into a coversation with me. Helen xx

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Helen807 

Hello Helen and welcome to Airbnb hosting.

Tell me Helen, if a request came to you like this, how would you react?

 

Cleanskin.png

 

We were all 'cleanskins' once....we all started out with no track record! I look at the way the request message is formed...is it complimentary, or does it start off asking what is available!

 

I accepted this request as that first message was complimentary and Sonya turned out to be a wonderful guest to host and I was so happy that I was able to give here a review like this to get her Airbnb career off to a good start.....

Cleanskin 2.png

 

In over 300 stays Helen, I have had less than a handfull that I would not choose to host again. Problem guests are not the norm and the fact that this guest is also new to Airbnb does not mean that she will be a poor guest. 

Make sure she understands your house rules....send her a welcome message that lets her know pleasantly that you mean business....."Thank you so much for your reservation and I am looking forward to having you stay here in Bill's and my  apartment. Please take a moment or two to read my house rules, and all I ask of you is to remember we are not a hotel, this is our apartment and we would ask you to respect it as you would your own. Looking forward to meeting you on ...........!"

 

I was aprehensive when I started my hosting Helen but I have had such a wonderful run of guests,  I don't even bother to check their backgrounds now, I just accept them and look forward to their arrival!

 

Cheers......Rob

 

 

 

Helen807
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

@Robin4 Wow! I think I would have been uneasy about that one. You're right, she will probably be fine but it's been 2 days with no communication and I think that is so important. That, combined with lack of info and the festival weekend chosen, has me unsettled. I spoke to airbnb today and they called her apparently so I'm hoping she'll get in touch and all will be well (and I haven't rattled her!)