Guest is asking for the video of my place.

[Alex12998]

Hello everyone,
I hope you're all doing well. I’m currently dealing with a situation and would appreciate your input. I recently approved a guest who has no prior history on Airbnb, meaning there are no reviews from previous hosts. The guest is requesting a video of my property and provided a phone number to send the video outside of the Airbnb platform. I explained that the platform doesn’t allow hosts to upload files directly.
Has anyone experienced something similar? What would you recommend in this situation?

Thank you in advance for your advice! Your faithful host, Alex

[Helen3]

Hi @Alex12998 

Personally I wouldn't share a video with a guest you have a comprehensive listing with lots of photos.

if they had any queries the time to ask is before they book.

i would ask the guest what information they are looking for that isn't available in the listing. 

[Shelley159]

@Alex12998 you should follow the advice from @Helen3 - it keeps the conversation on Airbnb while being fair and polite.

Most likely they're trying to find a legitimate-looking way to get you to communicate off-platform to ask for a discount if they pay you directly. The discount may only be the beginning of your problems.

[Joelle43]

Hello @Alex12998 

Many, many hosts are receiving this type of fraudulent request and personally I would flag this person to stop other hosts receiving this type of request.  They want to get you to go off platform which is against Airbnb's  T&C and they should be reported.

In the message part, you'll see three little dots where in their message, click on this and you can report this guest.

When you say that you "approved" this guest, was this a pre-approval by any chance or did you accept their request to book?  Two different things. Either way, you can contact customer support and they should cancel this reservation with NO PENALTY for you as they are not adhering to their terms.

Let us know how you get on and come back if you need clarification 

Joëlle

[Helen3]

Maybe I misunderstood @Joelle43 @Shelley159 but I thought @Alex12998 said s/he had already approved the guest ? 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Helen3 

Yes that is what @Alex12998 says and it would be great if he could come back to us on this point but the simple fact that the guest asks for a video AND more importantly gives their phone number for Alex to contact them is a red flag for me.

As some hosts confuse pre-approving and accepting a booking request, I felt it was worth asking Alex which of the two it was because he can withdraw his approval if he is uncomfortable with this guest or get CS to intervene.