is this strange or is it just me?!!

[Melissa742]

I had a newly verified guy (no reviews) contact me today saying that his other booking fell through because the guy didn't tell him it was a shared situation. I found that a tiny bit odd as i've noticed people comb the photo's and descriptions usually. Says he desperately wants to book my place but can't until his refund comes through on thursday...? He asked me to please hold the dates as he was legit and definitely would be going ahead. I asked him whether it was just him or if there would be someone else, to which he replied that his girlfriend might come over. The guy has texted me probably 10 times in 4 hours asking rando things  and now wants to know if he can stay in the place until 8pm (11am check out) because he's got an event that finishes in the evening. So it all sounds generally ok except his name is odd and doesn't appear in any social searches, he says he's from 6 hours away but then his girlfriend might "come over" and he can't come up with $300 for the accomm until he gets a refund.. AND i checked he stadium he's going to and the last event at that place ends at midday. So as i start to put all of these things together I'm starting to feel super weirded out... 

Is it me????? Is there any way to check him out further?

thanks and any advice hugely appreciated!

[Paul1255]

Hi @Melissa742 

I have had guests ask to have dates held a few days until payday etc, have done so and they have booked with no issues, aslo held dates for guests and had them not end up booking.

I let guests leave their luggage in my living room until later on if they want to spend the day in town without it, but I wouldn't let them keep my room later than the usual check-out time.

You're a new host, and you haven't had any guests yet by the looks of your profile, so of course you want to be cautious and careful- but if something doesn't feel right then it often isn't and perhaps it isn't worth taking a risk.

I know when you're new to hosting you want to strike a balance between getting those first few guests in and not going against your gut feeling, but there are some guests out there who look for new hosts for this reason- they are less experienced and may be easier to take advantage of.

I'm not saying this is the case here of course but just wish you to take care!

Wish you all the best with it.

Paul 🙂

[Helen3]

Sorry I can't agree with my fellow hosts saying holding dates is okay.

@Melissa742 this guy is not telling you the truth. If his previous listing had fallen through Airbnb would have given him an immediate refund plus 10% credit to help him find somewhere new, so he would have the funds to book your place.

Unfortunately dubious guests can often target new hosts.

This guy has red flags all over him,.

No it is not okay for his girlfriend to 'come over' unless she has booked and paid to stay as a guest.

And no it is not okay for him to check out at 8 p.m. when you have an 11.00 a.m. check out.

And it is not okay for him to keep contacting you when he hasn't even made a booking.

Personally there is no way I would want this guy staying with me. In your situation I would block his profile so he couldn't book after telling him that you can't hold the dates for him.

[Steve143]

Hello @Melissa742,

With the research that you've already done the result is that you don't feel comfortable with him so I'd say no further research is necessary. Trust your feelings.

You have instant book so I presume he's sent a reservation inquiry as he says he doesn't yet have the money so he can't book or send a request. I'd decline the inquiry. He could of course still book instantly later if he gets the money so you might wish to consider temporarily disabling instant book until after the dates he wants.

Steve.

[Bryan10]

It does seem a bit odd but I tend to stay out of personal situations and take people as they are... as long as the can pay, they stay.  It could be that he has other arrangements in town after the stadium event, and maybe a girlfriend locally, and they're normally in a long-distance relationship. I still wouldn't hold the room for him though. I'd just tell him to sort out the payment as soon as he can, and if someone else books first, he loses out. End of! 

[Yulianna0]

@Melissa742, I’d suggest to trust your feelings. Many people are trying to get advantages from new hosts. Those who are starting with asking for extras usually turn to be source of trouble and not great reviews. To avoid strange instant bookings you can mark as obligatory requirement ID and recommendations from other hosts. 

[Melissa742]

thank you to everyone for your responses, much appreciated. I've got some good advice here and I think i might give this one a miss ! I don't want to jump to conclusions, but i think i'm going to go with the majority vote and say no this time round. thanks again! 

[Kath9]

@Melissa742, looks like you've already made up your mind but I would like to add that this has red flags all over it and I think you've done well to reach out to other hosts and to trust your feelings.

There are a great many problems here:

- "the guy didn't tell him it was a shared situation" = he didn't read the listing

- " refund won't come through until Thursday" = not true, he would be refunded instantly

- "hold the dates as he was legit and definitely would be going ahead" = he probably isn't legit and may not be going ahead, meaning you will potentially miss out on other bookings (I never hold dates for people except in exceptional circumstances as more often than not they fall through). If he does go ahead, you are in for dramas, believe me

- "girlfriend might come over" = alarm bells!!!! For a start, the girlfriend is not on the booking and also, does this mean that the guy is a local? Hosts are very wary of allowing locals to stay as it usually means trouble. Guests are not just allowed to invite other people over without them being on the booking and the fact that HE told YOU that his girlfriend 'might come over' rather than requesting whether it was alright is a major red flag.

- "texted 10 times in 4 hours asking rando things" = high need guest with unrealistic expectations who will probably leave you a bad review

- "asking if he can stay until 8pm" = WTF?

- "name is odd" = he's got something to hide

- "last event at stadium ends at midday" = what else is he lying about?

Well done for reaching out - you definitely dodged a bullet there! In fact, I would go so far as to report him to Airbnb.

[Melissa742]

ha! you are so right, now that im reading back your interpretation, what on earth was i thinking. Anyway it's all cancelled and i contacted airbnb lastnight as well so i think i'm all covered now.  It's still good to hear how other people translate this type of behavior, stopped me from second guessing... 

thanks!

[Sarah977]

@Melissa742   "So it all sounds generally ok......"

No, none of it sounds okay, not one bit of it. As others have said, huge red flags all over this, right from the beginning and getting worse with everything he tells you.

We all want to be nice, but guests are total strangers to us. Whenever you get any sense that something is off, listen to that little voice, it will usually be right.

[Sarah977]

@Melissa742 You said the guy has been texting you? How did he get your phone number? Airbnb doesn't release that information until a booking is confirmed.

[Melissa742]

HI Sarah, no i meant through airbnb. He did try to give me his phone number but of course it was stripped out of the message. i actually hadn't blocked him until this afternoon, but he's been sending me messages since 6.30AM this morning.. which i have ignored. super creepy. anyway thanks for checking that! Mel 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Melissa742

how did you block him? It was possible before but now Airbnb removed this usefull feature as far as I know...

[Melissa742]

I also couldn't find how to "block" so I have reported him through the airbnb online chat and the app. I'm not sure what happens from here though.. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

.