Personal Safety

[Rebecca57]

Greetings Air bnb Folk!

I am new to hosting with Air bnb, but decided to rent a room out this summer.  I am a single female living in the house alone. A man who is new to Air bnb has requested the room for 4 days in June.  His profile has only a first name (no family name), and says only Utah, but no city name.  Due to being new to Air bnb, he has no reviews. He is also wanting to bring his 21 year old son.  My questions are:

- How closely does Air bnb check people out? It seems when I signed up, they didn't do any formal security checks on me (to my knowledge).

-Is it common for people to not use their last names on their profiles?

- How would you check a person in this case? Other visitors have had FB pages that I could look at to get an idea of who they were before hosting them.

What are your thoughts? I find it interesting that I can't find anything on the Air bnb website about personal safety!

Thank you for your time!

[Sara2]

They do not check people out but it's very common to only use first name till they pay and confirm

im also a single host female living alone you need to ask him why he is coming and what he intends to do in your place ie tourist business or what

secondly I suggest you take a profile picture with a male friend or brother as if you have a man in the house , most single females can avoid peeves by doing this, when the guest comes , the " husband " could be away on business ; this avoids men choosing you because you are a single female.

good luck and stay safe?

[Sara2]

@Rebecca57@Sorry the word was avoid perverts who target single newbie females

or scammers

there is a host near me who was conned by a guy last week who was not who he said he was and now can not get into her flat

your guests from Utah maybe lovely make sure the son is also through ABB with photo ID as your place is not covered if all guests are not in the ABB system

I have a personal policy of asking for government ID before I give them the key such as driving licence or passport I photocopy these.

hope that helps

sara

[Andrea9]

@Rebecca57 @Sara2

When a guest  books for more people than themselves Airbnb considers them that person's group and the booking guest is responsible for the group. The accompanying people  the guest who booked do not have to have their own profiles. If they do and also have reviews, then that is of course a plus when checking them before accepting a request.

The booking guest is also the only guest of which Airbnb discloses the full name on the confirmation. 

And do note, that if the guest who booked will not be travelling themselves or are just booking for somebody else, it becomes a 3rd party booking that is not allowed through Airbnb. In that case you would have a problem (no host security and not covered by Airbnb), and the booking may be cancelled. In such a case though, call Airbnb right away, and I wouldn't even let the person(s) into the room.

According to some countries' regulations hosts are requested to check/write down guest ID upon arrival. This is the case where I live such a hotel register mandatory for everybody offering guest accommodations. It is advised to add this in the house rules the guest agrees to (but often doesn't read), possibly again in the text description (often not read either), AND in the message to the guest after booking is confirmed, in which you may ask them for the full names of the other guest and remind them of the fact that according yo your house rules you will be need to check ID for all guest upon arrival.

That seems to deter guests up to no good.

[Andrea9]

@Rebecca57

I agree fully with @Sara2 and would also add that you can check the box under 'reservation requirements' to only get verified guests. That way their ID has to be submitted to Airbnb for profile verification. This has a good chance of scaring y awaguests up to no good. You can unchoose this option again at any time if you feel it scares away potential guests.

[Paul0]

Hi @Rebecca57,

Airbnb do the same amount of checks for Hosts & Guests (essentially).

Does he have a picture? Does he seem genuine? What are they coming to town for? Are you comfortable with how it's going?

You can ask as many questions as you like until you're comfortable (or not).

I'd suggest that you either (a) make sure a male friend is there when they arrive or (b) consider an 'easier' first go at being an Airbnb Host. 99% of the time new Guests are excited to be using Airbnb for the first time so it could be a relaxed and fun new experience for all parties.

Hope you figure it out and have a successful first go. 🙂

Cheers,

Paul

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

You have to do what makes you feel safe.  The only way to determine if someone is on the up and up is to ask many questions until you feel safe BEFORE YOU ACCEPT THEIR RESERVATION! You've turned instant book off and that's a great start to make sure you can control the guests you want in your home.

Just some food for thought: Female guests can be just as dangerous as male guests if they are up to no good. Letting in a stranger of any sex is putting you and home at risk. Same goes for hosts, too, right?  Any guest who stays with you may choose you because you are a woman and they would rather stay with a woman than a single man because it makes them feel safer.  

If you enter in the words "personal safety" into the help center's search bar, at least 8 articles come up regarding ways to be safe as a host - including "I'm a host. What are some safety tips I can follow?"

[Sarah228]

Thanks for posting this thread, Rebecca. There are some great tips here that I'm going to adopt. I've been hosting since July 2016 and I've had great luck, but I'm a little nervous each time, especially when it's a male booking. I typically decline guests who have no reviews, don't have a picture of themself,  don't repsond well to questions I have prior to booking, or have special not-so-reasonable requests or try to negotiate on price in a sort of  manner that's not smart business (e.g. one guy wanted the monthly discount rate, but not to pay for weekends when he wouldn't be there. This same guy made somewhat inappropriate comments in his correspondence too.). I live in an area where most of my travlers are here for work or visiting family, not many here for vacation or party. And I've turned down guests who have wanted to bring a few other friends for whom I couldn't validate ID, etc. It's important to feel comfortable with the bookings. I always ask the purpose of the visit and make sure they are validated for anything Airbnb validates (def gov't ID).