Hosting guest with no prior reviews. They are being short, unresponsive and I'm worried about a bad review

[Aaron855]

Hello,

I literally just made super host status.  We've hosted a few people without reviews before and it's gone ok...that being said we always send a message to guests with no reviews just asking them if they are new to Airbnb, letting them know what to expect and how we want to meet expectations etc.  Most guests with no reviews are cool, and eager to learn about the Airbnb experience.  

I've got one coming in this weekend though that is barely responding, when we ask when they will check in they say 'I don't know, I have an 8 hour drive to look forward to' etc.  They never responded to our welcome message either.   Honestly I don't think we should have accepted in hindsight.  It's not worth getting a bad review.  

Is there any way to be preemptive here?  I bought them a bottle of wine just as a welcome gift, but my gut tells me they are going to be a problem.  And even if they respect the property the odds of a 5 star review are super low starting out.  Anyway, I realize this is preemptively paranoid....but I'm trying to get out in front of this in case there's a problem or bad review.  Any help would be great.  Thanks!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Aaron855 I hope all goes well for you. When we ask for a check in time we ask for a 'rough time' so that the guest doesn't feel pressured into thinking we expect them to arrive at a precise time. I suspect your guest is getting stressed by the thought of a long drive and doesn't want any constraints on their arrival. Anyway the chances are all will go fine so my only advice is not to stress about problems that might happen!

[Colleen463]

We've got a guest coming this summer without any reviews and I'd love to see what message you send to "new to airbnb" people.  Would you mind sharing? @Aaron855 

[Beverley123]

I never thought to have a "new to Airbnb" message. I'd be interested in seeing that as well, if you're willing to share @Aaron7. 

I've hosted several folks with no or 1 review. Even one who had a bad review. (The guest provided a rebuttal to the bad review that seemed acceptable.) No significant issues with any of them. The one with the bad review was a bit uncommunicative, but otherwise no issues. So from my experience, hosting new folks hasn't resulted in any problems.

Besides, I figure my first guests gave me a chance as a new host last Oct, so I'm paying forward, so to speak.

[Genc37]

I've had the same feeling for some of my guests but it turned out alright at the end. Congratulations on your Super-host status btw 🙂