Airbnb Profile Picture Guidelines are not Enforced so it becomes the hosts issue.

[Jillian115]

Last week I got burned and ended up refunding an entire three-day stay to get the guest out. I should have known better his profile picture was of him and friends flipping off the camera. 

To instantly book my cabin, I require: 

Government ID and profile picture. 

Also, my instant book pre-booking message reads: 

"Reservations booked must be booked by the person staying. Also, please provide your reason for visiting, e.g., visiting family, heading to Yosemite, etc."  

So yesterday when I got a booking showing a cat picture and no reason for staying, I got nervous. I called Airbnb they said my only option was to cancel the reservation. And not to worry because I get three free cancelations. I was afraid if I let her know that she needed to update her profile picture to meet the Airbnb guidelines, it would make her mad, and I would end up paying the price. So after asking the CS rep about ten questions, one being, is this the only option? I went ahead and canceled the reservation and lost one of my free cancelations. 

She was furious. Then I turned around and rebooked the listing, then left a message "Superhost?"

I got back on with the CS rep. she said, "that's really strange behavior." So she escalated me to another CS rep, who suggested she ask her to update her profile picture to meet the Airbnb guidelines. That would have been a tremendous first solution but not a good second solution, and of course, I would lose another of my free cancelations if I canceled her again. So I asked to be escalated again. By the third CS rep, the reservation was canceled again. But now I've lost another three days because I have blocked the days off, so she can't rebook. 

So there are two issues here. 

1. Why doesn't Airbnb monitor profile pictures? They have guidelines, but those guidelines are not met so often, and it becomes the hosts' issue. Airbnb should be rejecting profile pictures; there is a technology that can do that. 
2. Why does every CS call need to be escalated three times for resolution? They have become so bad in the last year every CS experience seems to become painful. 

[Colleen253]

@Jillian115 The reason CS is so bad is because Airbnb oursources it to a third party call center who uses contract workers, who more often than not, are not even familiar with policy. Also, I think it's likely a skeleton crew operating at 'escalation' levels.

The issues you bring up are valid. Until things change though, we are left with no choice but to put in place whatever measures we can, to get around the problems Airbnb create for us. Whatever we want enforced needs to be in house rules. My suggestion is to put all of your booking requirements also in your house rules. This way, you should at least be able to get Airbnb to cancel without using up one of your penalty free cancellations, or direct your guest to read the house rules they agreed to more closely and fulfill the requirements to avoid their booking being cancelled. Also make your photo requirement more specific. Not just 'a photo', but 'a clear photo of your face'. 

[Jillian115]

@Colleen253 

That is helpful. I am definitely going to do that. However, it seems strange that they put the onus on the host and don't enforce their guidelines. In their resources, it says.

"If you choose to require that your guests have a profile photo and one of your potential guests uploads an image that doesn't show their face—a photo of a sunset or their dog, for instance—then you can call Airbnb's Community Support. They'll work with you to address the issue, and if you feel uncomfortable hosting someone without a photo that shows their face, you can request to cancel the reservation penalty-free."

They say "penalty-free," but it's not true. Losing one of my free cancelations is a penalty. The way they get around that is to say it isn't a penalty because it doesn't show on your listing.  😞 

[Colleen253]

@Jillian115 I don't know. It's a poor CS thing, and Airbnb seeming to prefer to burden the host. If you contact CS by chat, you can then link relevant policy because as mentioned, rarely will you encounter one who knows policy. But if contacting by phone, they will understand 'house rules', and they can look them up quickly enough when you point out a violation.

[Waybridge0]

I had or rather say HAVE the same issue where the CS is USELESS! I still have $1500 in damages and I have not seen the money for this because I have been transferred to more than 10 CS people that claim they have no power. The guest managed to rob money from me by charging me $800 for him cancelling on his behalf. I will tell everyone about this until Airbnb gives me my money with the insurance. 

[Alexandra316]

@Jillian115 unfortunately Airbnb doesn't have a firm policy on profile photos. They are optional, so there's really nothing for them to enforce. I agree it's extremely annoying when you require a profile photo and they have a pic of flowers or a pet, but yes, unless there is another red flag, I would just ask the guest to add one and proceed with the reservation. I've done it in the past and not had a problem with a bad review or anything. 

I did have a situation a couple of years ago where I approved a request for someone who looked okay: decent reviews and the message was fine. However, once I had approved I realised they had a both a made up name and an an inappropriate profile pic. I didn't feel comfortable proceeding with the reservation. Airbnb wouldn't back me up at all: they told me the same thing they said to you. I could either cancel and be penalised or ask the guest for a profile pic. 

Maybe add a booking question that reminds guests that they need to have a photo of themselves uploaded if they wish to book with you and ask a few specific questions. 

[Waybridge0]

If they have several reviews, I'm ok with a faceless picture, BUT if they only have one review. BEWARE! I had one guest which only had one review, ruined my toilet, accused me of having illicit drugs inside the studio after his 10+day stay and booking for 2 months, disturbed my neighbors, and tried getting his money back despite my strict cancellation policy. YET AIRBNB sided with him, let him ROB the money that airbnb sent me for the damages by letting him make $800 charges to my account and AIRBNB adjusted his reservation without my consent so the guest ended up winning SO FAR. I have been dealing with this problem since January 2021 and its the day of today and AIRBNB has not resolved it. The drug addict guest with one review WON! And I still have a toilet that doesn't work as well because I had to cheaply fix it because I have not seen the money to cover the charges. AIRBNB ALLOWED IT!!!

[Sarah977]

@Jillian115  I write in my listing that a clear face photo is required. All my guests so far have had them, but I don't think it's because if that- the majority of them have been members for years, before this business of wanting to be anonymous was a thing.

What gets me is that half these folks with photos of their cat or a plate of spaghetti have selfies all over social media, yet when asking to rent someone's home, they want to be anonymous.

[Jillian115]

@Sarah977 That's funny and true. I just added it to my house rules, so hopefully, that will do the trick. I have had; sports teams, animals, and landscapes. It's always bothered me because I want to know who is staying at my house and that the person that booked has arrived. I just decided to crack down on it because I had such a bad experience last week. It's getting tiring though, this week I have a guest that has refused to speak with me. When they didn't respond to my email or Airbnb message I sent a text, when they didn't respond to that I called and left a message as a last resort to make sure they received the door code and directions. They arrived so they did, but it's super awkward because they are located just below my house so I occasionally see them. 

[Colleen253]

@Jillian115  They’ll get the message pretty quick when mention that in your review,

lol. 

My favorite non face photo was of someone’s back yard chicken. But not it’s face. It’s butt. Literally two chicken cheeks staring at me. Odd.  Chicken lady turned out to be an older lady and a very nice guest though. 

[Sarah977]

@Jillian115  When I first signed up to host back in 2016, I first posted a photo of my dog, simply because I don't like photos of myself-I'm not photogenic. But there was right away a pop-up, saying "Is this really you?"

So I think they used to use an algorithm that detected non- human face photos, but maybe in their overarching policy of eliminating anything that could possibly make things take more than a few minutes to book a place, because it would be an "inconvenience" to guests, they did away with that.

[Flavia202]

 @Jillian115, like you I have IB on and mention in my listing that I require an ID if guests do not have a self-ID in their profile. I agree that Airbnb needs to tighten up on monitoring profile pictures - or else, why bother setting  guidelines?

Regarding CS, so far I've only used them to help in contacting a guest (which worked out well) so thankfully, I didn't experience the escalation issue. Hope yours is resolved satisfactorily.

[Lisa723]

@Jillian115 Just a different perspective: I don’t care about guest photos and don’t understand why other hosts find them meaningful. On other booking platforms people don’t even have photos, and I don’t find that a person’s face is any kind of predictor of their behavior as a guest or the value of their money.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  I don't know that I would characterize being able to see a clear face photo as meaningful, nor are they a predictor of behavior, and I can understand that they may not be of any particular importance to entire home hosts.

But as a home share host, it just adds to the feeling of knowing someone a bit, before they arrive, it makes it clear that the person who arrives is the person who booked, and it shows an openness to the understanding that sharing someone's home where they also live isn't an anonymous experience.

[Colleen253]

I find neither a profile photo nor an uploaded ID meaningful in any way, but if Airbnb requires it of me to host, then I will require it of guests, to book. If they don't want to provide either, then I probably don't want to host them.