Requests to book during COVID restrictions

[Jason961]

Hello!

I received two requests to book through the AirBnB app during the restrcited period for COVID19.

each one has been for a month.  the first one went away.  not sure why.  I currently have a request (received today, for April 14- May 14.  I thought the booking rextriction lasted until May 31st.  How is this request getting through?  It is a nice booking and I want to accept it.  Should accept this booking?  is it possible for scammeras to get through the app rextrictions?

[Roxanne77]

It's 100% a scam. They know that evictions are not being enforced. I've had three requests for 30 day bookings and when I try to have a conversation with them about my max 14-day bookings because of my contracts and how they would have to check-out for a few hours so we can inspect the property and reset it for the next two weeks I get all kinds of excuses.

[Roxanne77]

Oh, and one request said they were first responders. When I asked why they didn't go through the official ABB program, where they would be working (which hospital), and to upload their ID to their profile, they came back with so many excuses and lies. It was so full of red flags.

Another one was super rude and trying to negotiate the rate down to a pittance because they thought hosts would be desperate. I'd rather sit on an empty property than have anyone breaking the stay-at-home rules because if they won't obey the governor of our state then they certainly won't obey our house rules.

[Lawrene0]

"...if they won't obey the governor of our state then they certainly won't obey our house rules."

That is a good line, @Roxanne77 . I'm getting people trying to book, too. I don't let them, but it will be helpful in standing firm to keep in mind what you say: that if they won't obey the premier of our province, they won't obey our house rules. 

Thank you.

[Jason961]

I just canceled the reservation.  I wanted badly to believe this was real.  She has an ID on her profile and good reviews.

I need some business.  How do I know what to accept?

[Sarah977]

@Jason961  You should turn off Instant Book so you don't have to cancel reservations during this unusual time.

As to what to accept, someone who proposes travelling from North Carolina to Georgia to pick up a car isn't responsibly following stay-at-home directives- this is what leads to spreading the virus around. And by accepting a reservation like this, you would be complicit in that. 

Have you signed up to host medical and other essential service personnel?

[Jason961]

She did have an odd story.  She said she was from North Carolina and she worked on a farm.  she came back to get her car.  And know she is stuck. 

[Roxanne77]

There is no travel ban so she is not stuck. And get her car from where? Why can't she stay there? Why can't she stay at a hotel? And why for a whole month? Folks using a vacation rental platform for long-term rentals are super sketchy, especially if they cannot accept anything less than 30 days. They know they can get a nice month or more rental with no deposit (ABB doesn't actually charge one even if you say you do). As soon as they hit 30 days you can't kick them out. They know they can charge it back via whatever credit card they use so they get to stay at your place completely free for months while you try to evict them. There are a lot of experienced hosts/landlords/owners on here. Glad you asked for advice!

[Jason961]

Maybe I am being naive, but there could be people who are stuck in a town due to the lockdown, and travel ban.  And now they need a place to stay.

Isn't that the point of AirBnB?  To protect us from scams?

If she pays me through the app what is the risk?

It would be great to get some business going.  But I know we all need to be careful during this period 

[Lawrene0]

You ask if the point of Airbnb is to protect us from scams. No, @Jason961 . The point of Airbnb is to be a booking platform and a bit more -- to deal with the money.

For good and ill, I know. 

But "verified" means little, so don't go by that, and, really, our telephone companies, our banks, our computer antivirus software -- nothing -- can truly protect us from scams. Scammers find a way. Airbnb cannot protect us from people keen to hurt us. We have to do that ourselves.

Of course you want to get business going. It's hard. But anyone travelling right now needs a really good reason to be doing so, a really good reason that they can prove. 

The pandemic is bringing out the best in people (like you), and in some cases, the worst (like those messaging @Yiwei3  and some of those messaging me). 

Stay safe, okay?

[Ann783]

@Jason961  I don’t believe there is a domestic travel ban in the US. I’m in NY- the epicenter. Non essential travel is discouraged. But I can go to NJ, CT, PA. No one is blocking roads, tunnels and bridges. People, thankfully are self-regulating themselves. If you accept a booking and the guest gets ill while at your home - they will at the minimum quarantine themselves there - perhaps without paying. At the maximum, they can die during their stay. Why risk any of this?

[Yiwei3]

I have also gotten a lot of weird booking requests since the COVID-19 since my prices are lower.  A lot of last minute requests like at 9-11pm for a "getaway" or "construction on house".  I don't know how what they are trying to do?

[Elisabeth40]

I actually experimented and accepted one of this local guest's bookings. I can tell you what they did :), The request sounded pretty normal, the guest had no reviews, but I usually never go on reviews, bc I think people can get better or need a chance. During the booking process, I mentioned that I do not like party and gatherings and drugs at my place. The guests ensured me non of this will happen. The 2 guests arrived with ton of alcohol, the biggest vodka bottle, smoked maybe 40 marijuana cigarettes, played loud music I do not like, started inviting people to hang at my place, which I stopped. danced in front of my window and showed body parts to my neighbors, caught as crazy from marijuana, told me constantly it's from marijuana and not covid. Stole my big bottle of hand sanitizer and trashed my room. But during the conversation before placing the booking, they ensure me, none of this will happen! This are 21 years old who still probably live with parents and cannot get drunk and smoke at home. I would not submit for a second test 🙂

[Roxanne77]

Here is our story with a recent (January) person who tried to squat at our house. We say no locals in our house rules and we only allow up to 14 days. He sent a request to book for the max 2 weeks and had uploaded ID and verified phone and email. Once we approved it and saw his phone number was the same area code we asked a few more questions. He was polite and said he was a trucker and couldn't work right now because of the weather. It sounded legit. It was mid-January which is the slowest month so we let it go.

After two weeks he asked to extend another week. We said okay but he has to make a new booking and pay another cleaning fee and we are sending the cleaners. He was supposed to check out and leave while she cleaned. We found out later he did not leave and she didn't know to call us and let us know. She cleaned it with him there! (I would have left and called the owners if it were me). Well, we had extended his door code already so he had access and had already paid for the next week so we let it ride (although the red flags started popping up).

The cleaner said it smelled like smoke in the house, which is of course against our rules. We contacted him about this and he said he "only did a couple really cold nights when he couldn't go outside". The cleaner said there was no way. She recognized it was a heavy smoke smell like he was smoking all day in there. We figured we'd just keep his deposit at this point.

Well, he sent a request for one more extension! We already knew he had to go plus we saw it would definitely go over the 30 days. We blocked out some dates and told him we had another booking and he would have to vacate but was welcome to request it again after they left. He said "he would not be ready to leave" on the checkout day. (Excuse me?) We said we were sorry but he would need to be out by noon before the cleaners arrived. We told the cleaning service not to let anyone go alone so the owner went with her boyfriend. He did not leave until they showed up at 1pm and we are positive it was only because the boyfriend was there. He had every intention of squatting in our house.

When we contacted AirBnB to keep his deposit because of breaking the rules and all the extra cleaning and painting we needed to do they only gave us money that the cleaners charged us to wash the walls and linens which was $150 and they did not give us any money for the painters which was the only way to get that smell out of the house completely (prime and paint). We had asked for the entire deposit. Also, he called us a racial slur and said if we ever contacted him again he'd kill us. We filed a police report and found out all kinds of wonderful things about him.

So, lesson learned. We will not take anymore brand new renters for more than a weekend. We will cancel anyone who books and ends up being a local. We also now have cameras and noise detectors in case we need evidence and can remotely set the door codes and alarms. No, AirBnB did NOTHING to protect us. They did not give us the full deposit we asked for and, even though he threatened us, they did not ban his account. You are on your own! Make good choices!

[Yiwei3]

@Roxanne77 that's crazy!  I've had guests break my house rules on no smoking or parties and they tell me to my face they didn't do it when I caught them doing it.  I think they should be heavily penalized for breaking major rules and guests should be validated better.