How do you host an email address in your home?

[Brett3]

So I have just received a booking request from a guest who's profile name is an email address. 

I have asked the user if their name is actually an email address and had no response.

I have reported the user to Airbnb but they seem to A okay with this.

Airbnb have choosen to hide the guests profile picture until after they have booked in case of descrimination. I suppose when your name is an email address Airbnb have to hide that too in case of off platform contact, or maybe there is also email address descrimination. 

Now as a host I am not allowed to know anything more than 'something' wants to book my place. 

I guess the positive take away from this is an email address couldn't make too much mess.

[Ben551]

Lol @Brett3 my god...

 You know what this sounds like to me? It looks like bad encoding by Airbnb that is mistranslating a Korean symbol as an @ sign and thinking its an email address. It happens now and then because Korean use that letter for certain sounds. They also use hyphenated names with symbols like “ㄱ” which translates into both a g and a k sound in Korean.

I suggest dropping the guest a message, plus point out to Airbnb that they need to share the name with you so you know what to call them when they arrive lol.

[Brett3]

Hey @Ben551 ,

yes I have asked the guest if their name is actually an email address and had no response, and after reporting this it seems Airbnb are A okay with this.

The actual guest request shows their email address but I thought displaying it here would get me in trouble. I can verify the guest name is 100% an email address. No mistranslating unfortunately.

[Emilia42]

@Brett3 , I believe Ben is right. This is a coding issue where the symbols in the guests Koren name are not transcribed correctly. The Airbnb algorisms will also block years thinking they are phone numbers. 

I would ask the guest how to pronounce their name so you can address them correctly.

[Alon1]

@Brett3 @Ben551 @Emilia42 

Brett, you are a very experienced host, so it may seem redundant to question if you checked twofold:

i) Does Guest have fully verified ID?

   If so,  you should be confident the Guest's actual name isn't an email. 

ii) Does Guest have any Reviews?

If so, then perhaps you are not aware that you can click on Reviews to check if Guest also left reciprocal Review(s). If so, then whatever profile photo used by Guest is visible.

[Ben551]

@Brett3 @Alon1 @Emilia42  I wondered if looking on AirReview would reveal what their name is. Sometimes it’s in the chat etc. If Airbnb know their name though, they have to give it to you... not sure who you spoke to, but suspect they are fresh out of high school. Maybe try again.

[Susan17]

@Ben551 

"If Airbnb know their name though, they have to give it to you"

Believe it or not - no, they don't have to give it to you, and if the guest doesn't want them to give it to you, then they won't give it to you. Instead, they'll tell you that the guest has supplied that information to Airbnb, and that's good enough for them. 

[Ben551]

@Susan17 Unlawful in most countries, however.

[Susan17]

Lol! And when has that stopped Airbnb from doing anything, Ben? Airbnb itself is unlawful in many countries, never mind their shady practices!

[Brett3]

Hey all,

just to be REALLY clear I will include a screen shot of the guests profile as per the booking request.

Yes I have asked the guest if their name is really an email address and had no response.

*

First time user, no reviews, no verified ID, no communication and I am thinking no mistranslation.

No they will not be staying so I guess I will not find out what hosting an email address is like.

****

*[Email hidden for safety reasons–in line with the Community Center Guidelines - to use the Direct Messaging function here in the Community Center, hover over the post profile photo and click 'Sent Message']

[Valerie192]

@Brett3 Hi - Good this is a request, and not an IB. I think you have been more than fair if you gave them a half a day or day to correct it and if they don't, then pass on the  booking. It could be that they just entered information in the wrong field when they set up their account (I think it might be possible to do this, albeit not smart...) and hopefully they will correct it for their next booking request going forward. 

[Brett3]

Hey @Valerie192 ,

that is pretty much what I was thinking too. I just thought it was interesting that Airbnb seemed to be okay with a user having an email address as their profile name.

Now I am kind of hoping I get 'Bubble-o-Bill' or 'Wonder Woman' booking to stay.

[Alon1]

@Brett3 @Valerie192 

My sense is to the contrary.this profile will either be deleted or never used.

I don't do IB so field quite a lot of inquiries. Thus I've also had quite a lot of experience of inept communiques, whereby the inquirer never follows up on the initial reply. And it's not that they book elsewhere, rather disappear from the platform or never book. I've periodically perused my archive to see it's the case from profile stretching back over 5 years.

.

[Alon1]

@Brett3 

I note the name-email has now been deleted as per CC Guidelines. Likewise from your titular line.

I wonder what is now showing in your contact with this Korean guest: Is there any name at all?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Brett3 

Any updates about the hidden e-mail from S.Korea?? Just curious~~ and if you happen to need help with any Korean, don't hesitate to tag me or send a PM 🙂