How do you deal with uncertainty of a guest booking request?

[Colleen40]

In the past couple of days we have had several booking requests one after the other. All of them have significantly less personal info than past requests.

They are all new to airbnb and don't have any reviews. And each one mentioned a different concert that they are coming into town for. We are not sure why, but these requests are feeling very off.

Is there a way for guests to scam hosts?  

[Shanda1 · Accepted solution]

In my experience, nearly every time I have accepted a guest that I felt "something was off", my instincts were right. I have found if it starts out not right, it only goes downhill from there!

Don't hesitate to ask more questions. If they are legit, they should answer them. If not, they may be a problem. The caveat is that a new guest to Airbnb may not understand the culture. If they are used to booking other vacation sites or hotels, they don't understand why we want to know about them. Let them know you like to get to know people better before you share your home with them.

Above all, go with your instincts.

[Zoe14]

As as has been said before, go with your gut feelings!

I check out the entire profile first before I respond.  Then I try to start some sort on conversation by asking about them, why they travelling etc.  In some cases, I have even gently suggested that they work on their personal profile!  Remember that you have 24 hours to finally accept or decline a booking.  See how the conversation goes first via the AirBnB email system to guauge the validity of the person. I find that if I have quite a bit in my responding email to them and they don't respond, nada is going to happen anyway.  Those that do respond with lots of "inside" info, and share well, these guests are generally all fine (I've had no issues).  My personal preferences are women, couples, or travellers with children - this also helps me make a quick decision as solo men are usually declined by me. So that I don't get too penalised by AirBnB for not accepting or declining a booking, I leave it for a while before I do this, and then I have found that the booking request expires anyway as the guest has not finalised from their side - the booking request just expires.  Some people really are authentic first time guests and first time they are using AirBnB, so gently help them too.

Yes, there may be a penalty for cancelling a booking after its accepted if you suddenly regret the decision - thats up to you as it will affect your rating, and, you will have a financial penalty, but if something really concerns you, go with your gut.

[Wan-Azmi0]

yes i also wonder!!!!

i am new to bnb and since sept i m hosting 1 out of 4.... i ve pre approved for all 3 of that didnt reply after

[Colleen40]

Some people request to several hosts to make sure they get at least one place to stay.  This seems pretty regular for airbnb.  

[Maria-Lurdes0]

I get this fairly regularly.  I'll receive an inquiry, and right after another few very similar inquiries.   they are usually for last minute bookings, the minimum stay, absolutely no reviews, brand new profiles, some BS reason for coming to town, etc.    I always give the same welcome answer, but I also indicate that I will have to be there to meet them in person and verify their ID.    I don't actually do this (some hosts do) but it's usually enough to scare off anyone who's looking to use my place for something it's not intended for.    Sex workers have started to learn about airbnb, and sometimes it's the pimp making the inquiries, just to see where they can book a place and set up shop for two days.

Bottom line is that if it doesn't feel right, decline.    Your piece of mind is not worth two or three nights payment.   

[Mary348]

Totally get it. I have difficiulties with persons that I find suspicious. And it doesnt help that we have only 24 hrs to accept or reject with communication via emails only. Go with your instincts I guess. Perhaps take a risk and try it out a few times and see how it goes. I am uneasy more with long stays.

[Teresa86]

Why is it that at times like this AirBnB is not reachable? I get tired of their pressure reminding me of how many hours I have to respond, bla bla bla, but when I need them to guide me or help, all the addresses are noreply!! Totally unacceptable.

This sucks.

[Daniel701]

I just got a 6 day request from a guy named Mike G from Waynesville MO and later he was Mike from West Chester PA. No recommendations, no last name, joined in the past 7 days. Very sketchy. Denied.

[Tyler42]

I have the same thing happoening from Waynesville MO. 3 seperate booking requestes. none of them had reviews or more than phone and email verification. This is very shady. PS Waynesville MO is a very small town with a population of 4,800. I doubt they are all coming to stay with us. Also they all have no last name!

[Mandy56]

I also got Waynesville MO, and when I asked the guest where she was from it was PA. She is legit and it happened with another legit guest from PA. It's actually a glitch with new registrations on AIRBNB

[Kora1]

I've been getting requests from Waynesville, MO too - I believe it's an airbnb bug, as I've had the guests show up, and they are not from Waynesville. Just recently I asked the guest to verify where they were from and they said they had to go in and change it - so it may be an erroneous default! However, last weeks guest was legit, as is next weeks (did some research to verify).

[Tom-and-Jan0]

We too have had a plethora of requests from Waynesville, MO.  When I messaged a guest asking if she knew one of the others from Waynesville, she said she was from Ohio.  Then again this morning a request was from Waynesville.  I contacted Airbnb and they said that no one else had contacted them with this issue.  Obviously this is happening to several hosts.  One of our future guests who is a host in VA, showed up online as being from Waynesville!  Something is definitely screwy.  I don't want to turn away guests because of an Airbnb glitch.

[Ilse19]

We also have lots of requests from new Airbnb members from "Waynesville, Missouri". All of the guests have been legit, and they're not from Waynesville, so I agree that it must be an Airbnb default bug.

[Jeanie10]

I'm feeling very guilty about a guest I just declined. He has an extremely common name, he says he's from Egypt, living in USA and that he is on homeymoon in Cape Town (and that he's married a Cape Town girl). Accommodation request is for right now for a week which seems pretty odd being that disorganised on honeymoon