This questions is addressed to fellow hosts that feel it is both important and reasonable to expect the full name of a guest booking your property. This question stems from a recent booking and subsequent call with ABNB support.
My guest’s first name was a little unusual but it wasn’t until the booking was confirmed that I became concerned about the accuracy of their name. First and last name were unusual AND identical, and according to the profile, his identify had been verified by Airbnb. So I began addressing the guest in my messages by the name in the profile, and he did not correct me. Our listing/house rules indicate that full names of all adults are required upon booking, but it felt unfair to assume his profile name wasn't his name.
I believe that 'identify verified' means that a government issued ID has been uploaded and checked by Airbnb. When I called support to inquire if that was the case, and to ask if they could verify that the name on the Airbnb profile matched the name on the ID, I was told it did match. And that there is “no problem”. (They also repeated multiple times that the booking had been paid for and offered some other irrelevant information to placate me.)
Side note: I did not ask my guest because I knew they were driving/enroute to the cottage. But at some point the wife messaged me, shared HER name, and took that opportunity to ask for the husband's real name. Eventually the guest who booked relayed his actual name and it was nothing like the profile.
Going forward, I could use my judgement and intuition when seeing an unusual name….I could ask the guest to confirm their name and hope they don’t get offended. But what to do about the fact that this is even possible within the Airbnb app AND that support is giving me incorrect info about a guest?!?
As I said at the outset, I’m interested in hearing from hosts that, like me, believe it’s both important and reasonable to know your guest’s name.
