Dear fellow hosts,
We are seeking enlightenment as per the ‘actual’ Guest requirements on Airbnb and will really appreciate clarification from high level hosts pertaining to the following;
When we look at the Guest requirements in our listings we find the following guidelines as extracted below;
“GUEST REQUIREMENTS
Adding more requirements may mean fewer reservations. Anyone who doesn’t meet your requirements can still send a request.
Top of Form
Airbnb standard requirements:
Confirmed phone number, email address, payment information, and agreement to House Rules. Learn more
Government-issued IDThese guests have verified identities.
Recommendation from other hosts
These guests have traveled on Airbnb, are recommended by other hosts, and have no negative reviews.
The elaboration on Airbnb standard requirements per link “Learn more” as follows;
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO BOOK ON AIRBNB?
We ask everyone who uses Airbnb for a few pieces of information before they travel on Airbnb. Guests need to have this info completely filled out BEFORE THEY CAN MAKE A RESERVATION REQUEST. This info helps make sure hosts know who to expect, and how to contact the guest.
Airbnb’s requirements for guests include:
Full name
Email address
CONFIRMED PHONE NUMBER
Introductory message
Agreement to house rules
Payment information
Guests are expected, but not required, to have a profile picture. Hosts won’t see guest’s real email addresses, even after they book. Instead, hosts will see a temporary Airbnb email address that forwards their messages to the guest.
Some hosts may also ask guests to provide ID before booking their space.”
We have been inundated with reservation requests from poorly and or unverified guests as of lately with inadequate verification available on profile (this comprising of approx 95% of all reservation requests received recently) and we usually pre approve these requests and ask for verification to be completed prior to booking.
We firmly believed that the system will prevent such guests lacking in the necessary requirements to confirm a reservation.
However we have had a recent incident all as per the above with a guest booking for a single night for 2 with only 2 verifications namely E Mail Address and Government ID available on profile.
On arrival with Beer in hand and appearing to be highly intoxicated the obnoxious guests were refused access on the grounds that our local laws and listing House rules were breached on (and even before) arrival; upon which the abnormally large guest physically attacked and assaulted us causing serious injury to an elderly hosts in Johannesburg.
A multitude of criminal cases were opened against the perpetrators with the local SAPS unit now being unable to trace this poorly verified Airbnb guest due to the lack of information as no cell number is available and the given profile address appearing to be inaccurate.
So our queries as follows;
1) How did the system allow such a poorly verified and untraceable guest to send a request and then allowed confirmation of a booking in the first place. Will prospective guests with zero verification be able to confirm a reservation after a request is approved by the Host advising that the required verification process should be completed prior to booking; which request and or booking we believe if successful would be made totally against the above extracted guidelines.
2) Another matter of concern; will the system allow a single guest to make a multiple listing reservation for the same period with any one host equating in an obvious Third party reservations or a reservation made on behalf of another as experienced recently by ourselves and also always believed to be against guidelines.
Any enlightenment on offer as to the 'actual' guest requirements for requesting and then confirming a reservation will be greatly appreciated, also please advise on the changes if any to the guidelines for the guest requirements for intant reservation.
Thank you,
Peta