Phone number hidden

[Yvonne357]

Hi 

I had abooking comfirmed this morning and within 10 minutes  my guest rung my mobile.

once a booking is comfired are the guest abole to see your  mobile number

[Alexandra316]

@Yvonne357 yes, as soon as they book they have access to your phone number. I personally try and keep all communication to Airbnb messenger so there is a written record. If you talk to them on the phone, I would write a quick summary in Airbnb mesenger and send it over so everything is in writing. 

[Gordon0]

How weird, I don't think a guest has ever rang me!

[Alexandra316]

@Gordon0 It's happened to me a few times... I don't answer my phone pretty much ever, so I usually just let it go to voicemail then answer them through Airbnb messenger. I hate phonecalls.

[Ann72]

Another reason to love @Alexandra316 !

[Francesca-and-Dave0]

I agree it’s important to keep all communications with guests on the official ABB message board. I make it clear to guests that once they have arrived, and while they are in my home, they should call or text me, 24/7, in case of emergency, but that everything else should still go through ABB. 

[Robin4]

@Yvonne357 

Yes Yvonne, this is true!

Airbnb are very secretive about any personal information until a booking is put in place, and this is where their system becomes open to abuse.

The second a guest books, they are not only given your personal phone number but your property address and other information such as your key box code for property entry.

At that point there is nothing stopping the guest cancelling their reservation and, within 48 hours of booking, getting a full refund as per......https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/1345/is-the-airbnb-service-fee-refundable and using all the personal information given to them on booking.

I don't quite know how Airbnb should address this situation but I have had the same thing happen to me where a guest has booked an immediately contacted me privately! In fact I didn't even know I had the IB at the time the guest rang and I wondered what the hell this strange person was talking about until they clarified and I checked! It didn't cause an issue for me but can see it being something that could be exploited by some sections of the travelling public!

Thanks for raising it Yvonne.

Cheers.....Rob

[Amos18]

Am very new to airbnb community centre but i like the way you  members are very outspoken. Just because of you am learning new things to keep in mind and arm myself incase of an insisting guest before a stay is confirmed.

[Rachel177]

@Yvonne357 @Robin4 there is a setting in your listing details for a little additional privacy. It blocks the guest from receiving your last name, address and phone number until after the free 48 hour cancellation period has passed. If you go into your listing details & then into location you have the option to tick the box to block the guest from seeing the details.

[Robin4]

@Rachel177 

Thanks Rachel, I never even looked at that before, but there it is....

I should have been up with that one, but there you go, every day we learn!

Cheers.....Rob

[Yvonne357]

Cheers @Rachel177 

Sorted now

Yvonne

[Sarah977]

@Rachel177   Thanks for that. I didn't know about that feature either. The wording in the box is so typically Airbnb- why would it make it more difficult for a guest to plan their trip simply because they don't have access to a host's personal information before the free cancellation period is up? And as far as the exact location, they are free to message a host at any point to clarify the exact area where a listing is.

So, not "harder" at all, unless the guest just finds having to actually communicate with a host far too taxing:-)

[Rachel177]

@Sarah977 yeah the wording is interesting. Heaven forbid that the guest has to talk to you!

[Helen3]

They did send out information about this in one of their newsletters and announced it on the platform @Sarah977 

This was put in place you may remember after lots of hosts complained about guests having access to their full contact information and then still being able to cancel penalty free and the security risks it presented.

So they back tracked and offered hosts the option to block contact details from guests for the first 48 hours, if guests booking more than two weeks in advance.

[Rachel177]

@Helen3 I remember that they did announce it as well, which is how I found out about it.

I was interested to discover that when I went to check my status for this post (it took me a while to remember how to find it to let people know how to do it), that the box was unticked despite me ticking it when the announcement first came out! So I've updated it again, we'll see how long that lasts.