Be careful out there fellow hosts

[Zacharias0]

I just had my first run in with a last minute skecthy reservation that got weirder by the minute. I ended up waiting on hold for 30 minutes to tell AirBnB to cancel the reservation.

I'm finding that the safeguards AirBnB puts in place are not verified and AirBnB should put in more. We are sharing our homes with strangers and the fact that we can't even get a copy of their DL or ID sent to us via the web is unfortunate. Telling us they are verified by a Google Account doesnt mean crap.  It feels like we have to hound these guests for minor details so we are more comfortable hosting them...simple arrival and departure times are hard to come by, the reason WHY they are visiting our city, the exact names of people and the number of people visiting, what are their FB names, what is their real phone number or exact email address these are just some of the key pieces of information that we need to feel comfortable. All hotels collect most of this information why aren't we allowed access to these details? If left up to guest they will provide nothing until prompted.

I had a guest book today and it was weird because they booked 5 days at the last minute and he only stated it was 1 person for a 2 bedroom house when he could just book one room out of the house (first red flag). Before I approved I wanted to know details about his stay as he just opened a profile on AirBnB. It took him an hour to respond and everything seemed to lack specifics which most guest would provide to some degree (red flag). Most honest guests seem to overshare vs not provide enough details. I eventually approved and sent him arrival instructions. Well he gave me a time frame of his arrival and I was debating all day if I should wait around for those 3 hours. I found a movie and just decided to wait it out. The movie ended and I decided to leave and hoped he could figure everything out when he arrived in my absence. I eventually called him to see where he was, turns out the number listed was a local number, but on his profile it stated he was arriving from NY (red flag). The person picked up and they had no idea who I was or who the person was who I was looking for (another red flag). I jetted back to my listing because the whole scenario was wrong. One young guy came to my door in jeans and tshirt- no luggage to be found and he had a XTS waiting for him with tinted windows and the engine still running. I asked for an ID and it clearly wasnt the guy who had booked and his ID was from Oklahoma and I told him that the person who booked had to be here to check in. I never check IDs but this reservation just seemed off. I made him wait at the door while he called the person who booked the reservation and he just left that person a VM. I told him I noticed it was a local number and he said "we just got a new phone with a local number." If youre coming for a convention and for business you don't need a new phone number. He eventually got back in the XTS and they sped off. I did a reverse search on the number and it doesn't belong to either of the two people I interacted with. Perhaps, a stolen ID, phone and CCs.

I wrote in the AirBnB message for him to clarify what was going on and I didn't receive a response. I didn't want to deal with them showing back up at midnight with  a new story so I had AirBnB cancel the reservation due to being uncomfortable. Oddly enough, I had lowered my rates the same morning to get the rooms booked and this is what happens. This is why I don't charge low rates. If a person wants a cheap rate to do something shady go to a Motel 6.

The AirBnB rep could not have cared less. After stating the shady dealings going on, she simply stated "what do you want out of this?". I want you guys to do your jobs and verify that people are who they say they are so I can feel safe giving my house keys to a **bleep** stranger or letting a stranger sleep under the same roof as me.

[Ellen85]

• AirBnB Phone Number855-424-7262
• 415-800-5959 SF

[Rory15]

Got a number in Africa?

Anywhere in Africa will do, East Africa would be best! How about an email address where someone answers your specific questions, rather than getting diverted to this free for all discussion area?

[Zacharias0]

In follow up:

AirBnB sent me a nastygram e-mail stating that if I continue to cancel then my listing will show up lower in the searches. Odd, because the listing barely shows up as it is. I was surprised these perps actually found it. So now the host is penalized because they want to ensure their property is rented to the correct individual??? I suppose I could have let Joe Blow into my listing and had them trash the place, have them skip town and get no support from AirBnB in finding the perps or getting any kind of reimbursement. I'm sorry but I prefer to be safe than sorry. The measly $400 bucks they were paying for 5 days wouldn't even  even cover a cost of a broken TV.

[Al19]

"Continue to cancel..." Was it more than once?

[Zacharias0]

I had to cancel another guest, because he was very difficult to communicate with and I was at my wits end. I would receive answers to my questions hours later and we were in the same time zone. That was the only other cancellation I had. I think it had more to do with frequency than the act of cancellation.

[Helga0]

You cancelled yourself, @Zacharias0? I had a few non-communicative guests, called airbnb for them and they offered to cancel a few times. I took the offer once, a person on IB, fake name and picture of an actress, co-guest on a half line review, she was not mentioned, and they never wrote a review for the host. No word in the profile, 2 Chinese words in the message. 

Airbnb cancelled that one and deleted the profile, it does not show in my reviews. 

In such cases, call, be nice, desperate, fearfull and full of good will, but very worried for your personal safety. Thereby, you are are well within the special terms allowing cancellation.

But generally, I believe the nagging mails, even with threats, have no meaning. As long as you can talk them out of financial consequences, you can just ignore them. 

I'd not like to cancel, as I honor my obligations, but if the other person has clearly no intention to honor me even with his real name, all obligations are void. I'd cancel before I get my place trashed, fines or nagging mails or not. 

[Maureen78]

But he could have been at work!!

[California1]

Thank you for that information, I notice some of the same things with  my very first guest.

I had medication alreay sorted out for the month there was nothing that was mind altering.  One of the yourng ladies helped their self to my medication.   The one young lady would not let the one who booked the place speak.  Also when they first arrived i noticed one of the young ladies seem as if she was under ther influence of some type of narcotic.

My first thought was they are up to  something.  

I pray my next guest are desent people.

Sincerely 

Califorina Kindness

[Joanna85]

@Zacharias0

It's Vegas, Baby........I think there might be way more shady and ridiculous here than in most places. If you have been doing this for a while and this is the first time it's happened to you, I think that's great.   You definately need to make sure you take a pic of everyone's id.  Even if you don't do a thing to check once you get it..just asking for it makes the bad guys think twice.  Bad people want to be invisible, which is why they are going to be attracted to Airbnb's Instant Book. So let them instant book.  Then send a message and say their ID is required upon Check In before they get the key to your  home.  No biggie.

I had to contact Airbnb for my last guest and one for the future.  What my take on customer service for Airbnb is that they have a specific way they handle all things. I had both great experiences, but I cannot imagine in an emergency ...like you need IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE...what it would be like.  I found it's best to send a direct message on Twitter.  In about 12-24 hours they will send you a message or email saying they have sent the issues to a case manager.  Then either they will handle it or call you.  It takes time.  Not for anything urgent.  But like the one host pointed out, Airbnb is a booking service and that's it.  To me, 'verifying' your google account is not AT ALL a background check.  I kind of giggled when I saw that was how they claim a person is good or not.

[Zacharias0]

99% of my guests are well meaning and are international leisure travelers or domestic business travelers. The business travelers have conventions to attend so no red flags or need to check IDs and the international ones have a busy schedule. But, I will use your advice about telling the random people with no specified plans that I will check their IDs upon arrival. I never thought of that before.

[Ilan1]

Communication with Airbnb is difficult and their reaction is extremely slow.

I had a guest who had a problem and decided not to travel on the same day he was supposed to. He told me so before check-in time, in the morning, everything in good terms and good faith.

I asked him to cancel his stay, so none of us would be able to leave a review. He said he could not, which was true. Guests cannot cancel once the stay has already started, at least not through the website.

I called Airbnb, stayed around 40 minutes waiting for a human to pick up, but had to leave. Called again several hours later and cpuld talk to a person after having waited almost half an hour.

They said they would call my guest to verify the issue and cancel his stay, which took them four days, out of a stay that was going to last seven days.

To sum up, waiting 30 minutes on the phone until you get a human being is too long. Four days to solve a simple issue, which had no complexity is too much. Efficiency has not been their value lately.

[David126]

@Rory15

I am in the boonies and use VOIP mainly for calls, use Rebtel for International calls, 1c a minute to many places.

Otherwise have you tried Twitter? Others seems to have good results doing so.

[Judy139]

I'm new to Airbnb and was just notified by someone named Jeff that someone was fraudulently using his email to book my home with Airbnb. I'm wondering if it's even worth using Airbnb.

[Dawn86]

No don't!!! My house was destroyed by a group from Bangladesh this past week!!! I can't get anyone in America at Airbnb to contact me back or help me with this so called "Hostess Protection".  Don't use them!!!!

[Dawn86]

Update!!! I finally got a lady at Airbnb to help me and get my case to the proper people.  She assures me they have a million dollar hostess protection plan in place.  I feel a little bit better and I am just waiting now to hear from that department.