Declining a guest with no reviews

[Ashley882]

Can you decline a guest, that has no reviews even though they have been a member for 4 years and there is no government id or profile pic, it was done in the middle of the night. I don’t feel right about it, but I’m not sure what to say to them 

[Robin4]

@Ashley882 

Ash, we all had to start out from somewhere. Not one of us here entered the Airbnb platform with a bag of good reviews behind us!

Look for the words behind the booking request, or if you are using Instant Book that first introductory message .....is it complimentary, or is it aggressive?

Ash, how would you respond to a booking request that came from this profile?

No reviews, nothing......she had only just joined Airbnb....If I just went by her history and her profile picture, I would have declined her request....... but Ash, look at the lovely passive way she approached me!

I accepted that reservation and I was proud to give her this review at the completion of her stay!

I was so pleased I was able to get her Airbnb career off to a good start.

Ashley, if I can give you some advice. look for the best in people, not the worst....you may be surprised how many beautiful guests there are out there in the world.

Like I said, we all had to start from somewhere!

Cheers......Rob

[Maia29]

@Robin4  Excellent response! I probably would have judged by that pic as well. Often times younger guests don't realize how their profile comes across to hosts. I've had plenty of young people book that were great guests!

[Emilia42]

@Ashley882 

If this is a request to book, you will not see the guess profile picture prior to confirmation. From my experience, the year they joined really means nothing. I was an Airbnb member for a year before I became a host and 2 years before I stayed as a guest. There are plenty of guests who do not find the opportunity to stay when they first sign up and also plenty of hosts who do not leave their guest reviews. But I would still try to gather more info about them

"Hello XXX, thank you for your interest. It appears that you have not given any information about yourself in your profile. I like to establish some rapport with my guests before they come to stay. Can you take a moment to tell me a little about yourself and the purpose for your visit? Have you used Airbnb before a a guest? If I do not hear back from you by 7pm this evening I will assume you have found another option. If this is the case, please withdraw your request to save yourself from a future cancellation and possibly losing your first deposit.

Looking forward to hearing from you"

[Helen350]

@Ashley882 I agree with Rob & Emilia. I have hosted loads of first timers, probably more than 50% of my bookings. Most had not bothered to fill in their biography, many were not verified, & many had no profile pic. Sadly, many did not bother with a cordial message of introduction, just "working in the area", arriving 6pm etc. I attribute this to new guests not understanding the norms & expectations of Airbnb communications, rather than being rude people per se. - Unless they ARE rude! They all turned out to be OK - good guests, some were charming once here, some kept themselves to themselves, but no trouble.

Re the photo: If the guest has NOT provided a photo on their profile, the inquiry shows a dark grey circle with a light grey silhouette.  (This also appears on their profile, & with the reviews they write instead of a photo.) If the guest HAS provided a photo, a grey circle with a white initial, same as their first name appears. (Once booking is confirmed, the photo appears.) So at the initial inquiry stage, you know if they have provided a photo, even if you can't see it yet.

[Colleen253]

@Ashley882 I agree with the others here, and will add that you can also ask the guest to upload their ID. If they have a problem with that, it may be a red flag. 4 years is a bit of a long time to have zero reviews. As the others have said, could be many reasonable explanations, but given lots of hosts are (unreasonably) reluctant to leave a negative review, this is a bit of a red flag as well. That's why asking questions and analyzing the replies is so valuable to you, in deciding to accept or not. If this was an instant book, then you have a bit of leeway in asking ABB to cancel, due to being uncomfortable with it. If it's a request, you can simply decline, and share with them briefly why you declined.

[Larry339]

I dont mind a newbie if the share why there are staying with us and it sounds reasonable.

I would insist they upload Government ID with a complete profile. Also confirm they understand and agree to house rules.

I only travelled with Airbnb in Dec. 2018 and had no reviews. Now a host.

[Maia29]

I host profiles with no reviews all of the time; especially when I first started. I wouldn't want to exclude someone from using the platform based on just that aspect. How can they get a review if no one allows them to stay?

The guest might have booked in a different time zone than yours and that's why it was booked in the middle of the night (I get a lot of these because I live in Alaska).

That being said, I have learned over time that guests that have nothing to hide will always upload their government ID. No government ID, no booking as far as I am concerned. You can request that the guest uploads their government ID to the Airbnb platform.

[Sandra5919]

@Maia29 Do you mean a potential guest should upload their ID to airbnb to verify identity?  can we ask for it as well?

[Laura2592]

Sometimes people join Airbnb just to fantasize about the great places they want to travel, or see an article about a unique stay and get curious. This can go on for years before they try to book. If they are married they might have a spouse book. I know in our house I do the booking because I also do most of the communication with guests. My husband has zero reviews but he has stayed a lot of places!

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Absolutely. This has been the case with all my guests who have had profiles for many years with no reviews. I do ask when I see that, in a polite "I'm just curious" way. In one case, the guest said she liked to "armchair travel" and had stayed at Airbnbs but with her husband and under his account. One guest said she'd had a couple of stays but her hosts hadn't left reviews. Another guest said he had intended to travel, but life got in the way, and he'd not had the chance. In all cases, the guests were polite and good communicators when messaging and they all turned out to be wonderful guests.

I'd be much more on guard with a brand new profile than an established one, even there is a lack of reviews.

[Anonymous]

@Ashley882  As others have said, the content of the communication is a much more useful thing to go on than the content of the user profile. I can understand some of your hesitations, but as an experienced host I'm sure you know that you can ask follow-up questions when in doubt.

What I'm most perplexed about is that you say "it was done in the middle of the night."  What do you think is relevant about the time of day a request comes in? Surely you've received a text or email from somebody in a different time zone before; it's generally accepted that the internet is a 24-hour-a-day operation.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  And sometimes there is a significant lag between when the request was sent and when you get the notification. Some come through in real time, but I've often gotten my notifications at 3AM when the guest actually sent the message at 9PM and is in my same time zone. A friend in Canada who hosts told me this happens regularly to her, as well.

[Pete69]

25% to 30% of my guests have no reviews. Even though my listing says picture required, some don't post a selfie. However, I don't share any interior space with my guests.

Tell them that it's important for guests to post a pic so that you can differentiate between them and the burglar.

[Katarina122]

I am a newbie hosting and also live in the space which makes me uncomfortable if the guests do not have any previous reviews, however I could perhaps be ok with no reviews, as long as they have uploaded an ID. 

Would that be a good way to think about it?

I have been a member since 2016 and never stayed in an airbnb and never hosted until now. It all seems to be a lot of fun and love the community. 

I am also at least in the beginning wanting to preview every booking and not use the direct booking system so perhaps I will still get "bad points" for declining a new guest with no uploaded ID, I am not sure. Will learn more.