@Regina38 and others, I had something similar happen yesterday. A potential guest with no reviews requested to book; I accepted, supposing that I could find out a bit more than his name from his profile. When I got to the profile, there was nothing and his photo was of a teddy bear! I rescinded my acceptance and he wrote asking why. Here is what I wrote - I'd be interested in hearing from others about my reply.
Dear [potential guest],
I always think twice about whether to accept guests who have no reviews yet - clearly everyone has to start somewhere, but many new guests don't understand the Airbnb method of working. Usually when I do accept someone with no reviews, I rely on the information in their profile and other information they provide in their inquiry such as where they are from, who they are to each other (relatives, friends, etc.), why they are visiting Boston, etc. This helps me to get a sense of whether the guests will be a good match with my hosting style and my accommodation which has steep stairs, several pets on the premises, etc. Remember that with Airbnb, in most cases you are staying in someone's home, even if you are not sharing the space.
If you were hosting, what would you want to know about someone who was going to be staying in your home? Would you want to know more than the name of one of the people in the group? IN your case, I could not learn any additional information. Your profile is incomplete - I could not learn even your full name, where you live, or any other detail, and your profile photo is of a stuffed animal, which is not very helpful. Airbnb may have this information but they do not share it with hosts. Only what is in your profile is visible to hosts. So that is why I withdrew the acceptance. If you want to fill out your profile completely and let me know more information about your visit to Boston, I'll reconsider if you are still interested in staying at my place. best wishes, Susie
Your thoughts?