HOSTS BEWARE POSSIBLE NEGATIVE CHANGES TO PLATFORM

[Viviana176]

Dear fellow Hosts, I recently encountered an issue with "Instant Booking". As many of you know, we as hosts have several options as to whom may be eligible to book without a previous request (...or do we?).  One of those options is "government-issued ID", and of course it is a requirement I had selected.  Lets' say, Airbnbs platform gave me the choice so I clicked on it.  Besides making an extra income, my goal is to keep my home safe, so the more security measures Airbnb offers, the less I bother with the never ending Q and A that puts me and the possible guest uncomfortable.  

Up until recently I haven't noticed a problem, but two weeks ago I received two instant bookings done by two different guests that did NOT comply with this requirement. Neither of these guests had a government-issued ID as part of their profile.  One of the guest had many great reviews, the other had only one shady review, an email and NO photo.  Needless to say, I didn't like it at all.  Once I receive a booking I check all the information to make sure all is in order, strangely this time "verification" was incomplete. I thought to myself it was probably a glitch so I called Airbnb. 

I spoke to several case managers regarding verification for instant booking/request for government-issued ID. They supposedly elevated the issue to their "tech" department and would get back to me soon.  I called back, the case manager vaguely read to me the email the tech sent back.  Apparently, they consider certain personal information as a substitution for an ID, so it wasn't an error or glitch.  My jaw dropped.  The amount of absurdities she offered was outstanding.  Furthermore, she assured me that their security system is top of the line practically comparing it to the one used by the pentagon. I ask her to resend me said email by their tech, answer was no.  So I requested policies and terms.  In conclusion, the more I read the more it was clear to me it is up to the host to keep things "safe".  In other words, we must do our "homework".  The problem is Airbnb is allowing us to see less and less upfront information regarding possible guests, including no more profile photo.  So it's up to the unverified Q and A.  So with NEW guests we have to take a leap of faith.

As a host I need Airbnb and I'm getting the hint they know it and they are starting to take advantage of this necessity tilting the scale of security and safety measures towards capturing new customers by being easy on the requirements under a so called privacy policy.

My opinion, Airbnb is definitely making things easier on guests and harder on hosts. Last year they made policy changes that makes it harder for superhost to keep their status.  Then they added the "Plus Airbnbs" that are viewed first above all with a beautiful listing platform that makes the rest of us look like yesterdays news.  Etc etc...   I understand, we need to keep up with the competition and better ourselves BUT security and safety is not something that is meant to be compromised.  

As Host give your feedback, PLEASE ask for more safety measures. Nothing is perfect on its own but many all together, like photos and ID's, keeps many undesirables hopefully far far away.  Thank you.

[Ben551]

Hi @Viviana176 - I find this surprising and am interested in seeing whether other users have the same issue. 

I can safely say I don't have this issue.  I have been using Instant Booking for over a month and have "Government ID" checked as a requirement.  I have never once received an Instant Booking from a user that does not have this.  I received 3 bookings in the last 3 days ( one per day ) and all had Government ID and were verified. I'll certainly keep an eye out though...

[Rachel177]

@Viviana176 I've used IB for over a year, with the government ID checked. The only IB guests that have come through without government ID have been older accounts (pre-2015) with multiple reviews of them. So it might be that older airbnb accounts are slipping through the cracks. I've been okay with accepting those bookings as they had glowing reviews.

[Brian686]

@Viviana176 I haven’t had this happen yet but strangely enough this does not surprise me. The trend appears to be to make it as flexible for the guest and the hosts get less and less. The standard response is it is your perception and I wouldn’t be surprised if this line isn’t rolled out to host questioning this lsck of verification. Maybe I am just becoming too cynical. 

Airbnb tell us to use house rules to ensure safety - ok so we add the requirement for verification into house rules as they have told us we need to tighten up house rules to protect ourselves as hosts. A guest books without the verification - a clear breach of house rules in this hypothetical case. Airbnb will claim it is the hosts perception that the guest has broken the house rules and won’t action it. If, as host, we cancel the booking it is guaranteed that the host will be fined for cancellation. If it is an IB I doubt it meets the criteria for penalty free cancellation and again the host wears the punitive approach imposed by Airbnb. 

Tightening up house rules to prevent this really isn’t an option and arguably if a requirement of the host is for verification and this is not present, the cancellation should be at Airbnb’s Expense as they as an agent of the host, have not met the host’a requirements for a valid booking through the agent’s platform. 

[Brian686]

Hit reply too soon. Just to clarify tightening house rules not being an option.  As a host we could do this but I very much doubt we would be supported if the requirement was not adhered to. As such there would be no benefit and the host would be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Viviana176@Brian686@Rachel177@Ben551

you are not the only one, I've seen other posts lately with the same issue. I doubt it is a glitch.

You have to know one important thing though... verified ID on Airbnb means nothing to you. It is written in ABB TOS - Airbnb will NOT reveal your guest identity to you in case your guest rob you, assault you, damage your property or else... So, it those cases you would have to contact police and then (maybe) Airbnb will give them your guest personal information ( if they have it, maybe his Facebook account is all they have).

Just imagine the procedure and the time needed to call the police, wait for their report, wait until they officially request your guest ID from the Airbnb, while and if they get it, while they contact you.... Do you really want to go through this???

So, if you want to know who has the key of your property then you have to verify your guest's ID by yourself. In some countries this is mandatory.