Hi guys,
Just tapping into the communal knowledge base here.
I'm new to Airbnb and a complete novice at these things so please have patience with me whilst you've probably come across this question already. *I couldn't find it despite looking - my husband calls this the Anne "look" where I lose my keys whilst they are right in front of me.
So we've been getting a lot of requests through from people new to Airbnb themselves with no reviews. For the most part we have accepted these as we are only new ourselves, so who am I to judge, but requested they upload their government ID before going ahead with the booking. I now have a young girl over with no previous reviews who is an absolute delight!
I've now just had a request to book that I'm not sure about. I can't make out his/her's name as it is in Chinese lettering and so can't make out their gender either. No previous reviews, no picture, no ID or email linked, just a phone number that's it. In their message there was no mention of their name either just that they liked our place and would like to stay with us. I know all these "security" measures are a bit of a fallacy anyway but at the very least I'd like to know someone's name before letting them into my house? I mean I'm on closer terms with my mailman and leave him at the doorstep.
I feel inclined to decline this booking but know from reading through here that they will penalise you for this by throwing you to the back of the queue in the algorithm. I'm just wondering if that also happens when a guest doesn't meet all your booking requirements?
If so how do you combat people with fake profiles etc from requesting to book without shooting yourself in the foot?