Profile pictures needing to be human

[Meagan-and-Wade0]

I have just had an inquiry from a man who's profile picture is of a cat and has no reviews. I asked if he would mind providing a more accurate profile picture of himself since we don't allow pets. Why would Airbnb allow photos of animals when this is a security issue. 

[Sara350]

This is a new saved message I use if someone has instant booked with a cartoon photo. (
(Link from another host who shared on this forum. Thanks everyone.)

I am a single mother with a teen daughter. For basic safety, I need to know who is walking onto my city property at night especially.
Please send me a photo of yourself in the next 24 hours so I will recognize you when you arrive to my home. Thank you.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2016/01/18/dear-would-be-airbnb-guests-heres-why-hosts-keep-...

[Ann3]

I had a guest whose profile photo gave me a bad feeling, even though our messaging through the Airbnb platform was respectful -- perfectly okay, in fact.  When he checked in, we had a discussion about Airbnb in general, in the course of which I very nicely suggested he think about changing his photo, for all the obvious reasons.  He smiled and nodded, and off they went to explore the city.

He and his girlfriend TRASHED my house. They left leaking trash bags in the kitchen, a disgusting mess in the bathroom and grease on every surface.  He gave me my only 3 star review to boot.  In retrospect, I should've been harsher in my review, but I did mention the mess.  

The more I thought about his disrespectful behavior, the more his photo bugged me.  It should have been a big red flag, and I should have trusted my gut feeling.  So I flagged it on his profile.  That was many months ago.  Just checked, and it's still there.  

[Farah1]

I just received a reservation request from a lady with verified ID, but no review and the profile photo is a photo of a dog. So, I asked her to update the profile photo with her photo > I did this using the app on my phone.

However, when I opened her profile through the airbnb site using my laptop, apparently she has several other photos (2 of them are a human photo that I guess is here) it's just she choose the photo of the dog to be the primary photo (not sure why would anybody do this).

[Bob-and-Karen1]

Dang, even though I've been hosting for almost a year, I'm still learning!  And I should have known to review this in the community as the person I just approved has a non-picture profile (actually it's of a child/gold ribbon for child cancer awareness) which I thought initially was a good pic, but now feel uneasy as they have no reviews.  I've requested a photo of them, and stated for security reasons (both for them and us) so the neighbor caretaker verifies who is staying there.  I'm hoping she comes back with a photo, if they don't, what would be your recommendation?  And of course, if I cancel them, then it's a ding on the host even though Airbnb should confirm they have a facial pic for a profile.  Any suggestions/comments?

[Bob-and-Karen1]

Guest just followed up stating they have tried to post pic's on Airbnb but it does not work, they will send me a picture.  Still would like to see any suggestions, especially if this doesn not happen.  Do I have any recourse to cancel this reservation without having a bad mark from Airbnb?

[Sherry51]

Hi

this happened to me and I called Airbnb. They took care of it.  They call the guests and walk them through posting their pics. It is against Airbnb policy not to have a profile photo. 

[Ellen104]

I think many POC don't post headshots due to fear of discrimination.  There have been a lot of write-ups on POC getting declined but getting accepted once they changed their profile photo to something non-human or someone white.  I think I may have been a victim of this but don't really have any way to prove it.  I was looking for a place for my whole family to stay in my neighborhood over a holiday weekend and every single host I contacted claimed that the dates I wanted actually weren't available and they had *no idea* why those dates were showing up available on their calendar.  Now, I might believe that if 1 or 2 hosts said that but 6/6 strikes me as weird and possibly discriminatory.  I just let it go and found hotel rooms for everyone.  *Meh* What can you do?  But I do understand why some people might do this.

As a host, I always google the person after the booking is confirmed and I do accept bookings without a human photo and have never had a problem.