Booking request with no verifications?

[Nathan233]

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? 

[Sarah977]

@Nathan233 What I'd suggest is that you message the guest back, and ask him/her whatever you want in order to establish who this person is "Hi XXX, thanks for your request. Could you please tell me a bit about yourself and why your traveling to our part of the world? Also, as unfortunately I can't read Chinese, could you tell me your name, please?"  Stuff like that. You can also tell him that he needs to upload a profile photo and some ID in order for you to consider accepting his booking.

I agree that just because someone is new and has no reviews isn't a reason to decline them. We all have to start somewhere, but a guest who thinks he's going to be accepted when he doesn't even have any verifications, email or photo uploaded is expecting an unreasonable level of trust . Might just be clueless, so ask for those things, see what the response is and take it from there. If you don't get an acceptable response, contact Airbnb to let them know why you'll be declining. It's far more important, penalty wise, for a host to either accept or decline a booking request within the 24 hours allotted, than to worry about declining a few requests, as far as I know. 

[Ben551]

@Nathan233 Hi  it sounds like you are off to a great start. What @Sarah977 says is right, approach them politely and ask questions. 

You can also copy the Chinese letters from their name and put it into Google Translate to find out how to pronounce their name. I had 4 Chinese guests stay recently and did that so I would know how to greet them.

They were great too! Very clean and tidy. Probably our cleanest guests yet. They don't tend to like milk and cereal for breakfast though, so we planned ahead and put homemade congee in the fridge. They ate every scrap!  It was the nicest congee my wife has ever made too... I'm not sorry, I got at least 3 helpings out of the whole deal 🙂

[Susan1028]

Awesome @Ben87

I just hosted an absolutely delightful couple from India and made some modifications for them that turned out well and I had so much fun researching the recipes!

[Kath9]

@Nathan233, I have been getting a few of these lately -  requests from guests with the name in Chinese lettering. I agree it's a little off-putting to have no idea what their name is, but I guess it's entirely their prerogative to list their profile with their name in Chinese. As others have suggested, perhaps politely ask their name, the reason for their visit, etc.

Re reviews: everyone starts somewhere and it doesn't necessarily mean they will be bad guests.

Re government ID: if you have Instant Book switched on, you make it a requirement that everyone who instant books must have verified government ID. I also suggest you make sure they have previous recommendations from hosts. If you don't have Instant Book switched on, all guests will need to send a reservation request. You can't set automatic criteria for these - they only need to have the standard Airbnb information (phone number, email, etc.). However, you can write in your house rules that only guests with verified government ID will be accepted and anyone who requests to stay will have to upload this before you accept.

@Ben551, your wife's congee looks delicious! I would be ecstatic to get that for breakfast! (much better than cereal and milk). You guys are such great hosts...definitely booking your place if I'm ever in NZ!

[Ben551]

@Kath9Oh you're so sweet, thanks so much. I'll pass your compliments on to my wife... and you're welcome to stay anytime!!

[Kristy43]

Hi @Nathan233.  We have selected in our booking settings that we will only accept instant bookings from people with verified Id and previous reviews etc.  I have in our house rules that for new guests to Airbnb, they must have verified their identity at least 24 hours prior to checkin for the booking to go ahead and I explain at the time of the booking request that this must be done as per our house rules.  I recently had a guest that hadnt done it by this time and Airbnb then contacted them and backed me up that it needed to be done or they risked cancellation.  I too like to know that people actually are who they say they are!