How do you deal with questionable enquiries?‌‌

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

How do you deal with questionable enquiries?‌‌

Answering queries (1).png

Hello all,

 

Today, I would like to share one of the most reported cases on communication and fraud. There are sometimes guests who make enquiries to negotiate "off platform prices" or try to book a space for someone other than themselves. I’ve noticed that there’s an increase of said requests especially during the holiday and festive periods. 

 

Do you have experience with such enquiries? If so, do you have any advice for responding to such messages?

 

I look forward to hearing your answers. 

 

Quincy

 

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312 Replies 312
Bharati-Carla0
Level 2
New Jersey, United States

@Quincy I do have a situation which is what brought me to seek the community tonight. This particular person seems shady to me. Maybe a month ago I received a dramatic message about her flying in the next day and needing a place "to see a friend who is leaving the country forever". And didn't hear anything further. Ok it's possible there was a lot going on and she found other accommodations. 


Now today I get a request "i need a place for 1 week". I responded with my standard few screening questions before confirming and she withdrew her request. I notice she has only 1 review and it's not positive. I understand things happen but the negative review coupled with this erratic & dramatic behavior leaves me with no desire to host this person. Is there a way to block her or do I have to just stay on the lookout? Thanks. 

you can put a private note to yourself on your request 

Niki85
Level 2
Durban, South Africa

I have lots of people who book for other people.  Most often, they book in their own name but then someone else turns up, or they notify me a day or so before arrival that someone else is coming.  How am I supposed to handle this?  One of the ways I deal with questionable bookings is by not allowing any instant bookings.... I like to chat to a person before they book to make sure they have read the house rules (it is truly amazing how many people do not read the house rules and then are surprised when they arrive and you point them out!  People make a lot of assumptions about your place without checking.  Smokers are the worst offenders....).  Unfortunately, Airbnb penalises you if you do not allow instant bookings, but I just have the take the pain because almost every time there is an Instant Booking, there is a problem.  

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Quincy   Airbnb reps are really poor at assisting third party bookings.  I had to recently decline a request even though the 'guest' was totally clear that she was booking for another group.  I asked Airbnb to do the decline on my behalf so it wouldn't affect my acceptance rate, it seems unfair that I am dinged for declining a booking that is against Airbnb TOS and which, if I had accepted, would have voided all guest/host protections and guarantees.  In fact, the CS rep first said that third party bookings were okay, LMAO, only when I asked to have that answer in writing did he put me on hold and come back with the correct answer.

 

We haven't had much problem w/people wanting to book off platform, when that happens we just say that we don't do it and never hear from them again.  But those are always as inquiries not requests so they don't negatively impact any of the stats.

How do you ask AirBnB to decline for you? I just got dinged because I did not want to accept someone who would not answer my questions about dogs they were bringing. I finally messaged the guest again and they said that they were no longer interested in coming to my place but did not withdraw their request. So I never declined but in AirBnB's view I did not respond in time. This, in spite of the fact that I had messages with the booking person. 

 

I have wanted to find a way to discuss this with AirBnB but I don't know how to do that and I don't know if they will care. 

You probably should have declined their request then call support.  You can put a note in the request.  

Shandor0
Level 1
Carson City, NV

I stick to informing the guest of the facts. Airbnb policies and house rules. I suggest to other hosts not to call a group of guests a "party" The language we use translates to the guest. 

Miriam619
Level 2
Hammond, LA

I have only had 2 experiences that were problems 

1 is a lady booked and had a story. She was preapproved and as soon as she checked in she messaged me that she was having an allergic reaction to my rental.  I quickly told her I would refund her money and to leave.  She did.  I called Airbnb support and they didn’t charge her… she hadn’t really been at the rental very long.  I was just glad to get her gone!!! 

2 was a girl who had good reviews and I was like ok.  Needless to say she messaged me the next morning ( I had driven 2 hours away to spend the weekend with family) I woke up to her message that while they went out the rental was broken into and her wallet and the TV, Alexa were gone!  I messaged her and she wanted to resolve this matter quickly.   I asked who was with her and she just said her husband.  Well I freaked out and tried to call her.  She wouldn’t answer the phone.  Our home is next to the rental so I didn’t know if our house was broken into or vandalized as well as the rental.  I drove home very fast and called the sheriffs department to go there and do a house check.  They did just before I got home and the girl said it was a misunderstanding…. I got home took pictures of their vehicle but did not go into the rental.  My home was fine and I messaged them to go ahead and check out but no answer.  I was so upset.  I called the deputy who said he would come back out and I ask him to come assist me while I go into the rental to access the situation…when I walked in nothing was out of place and there were 4 girls in there and they were sleeping.  The girl who rented slept while the other 3 got up and said she drank too much. It was a joke !!!!  I was not ok and told them to get their stuff and go.  They were freaking out due to the deputy there. I told them their friend needed to stop drinking.  I was paid and I posted I would not host her again.  She had the nerve to message me saying “what’s up, that didn’t happen”. I told her to go one with her life and she had no idea what she had done and the situation she caused … 

 

so you can’t predict the situation but preapproval work as well as can be expected….

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Quincy 

 

Yes, absolutely, although it used to be very occasional. Lately, I have seen this on the rise. I am getting so many dodgy enquiries and reservation requests, ranging from guests asking to book off platform/come round for a viewing to very obvious outright scams.

 

I have also noticed an increase (at leat in terms of guests contacting me) of people having multiple profiles on Airbnb, some with fake names. I do report these, but Airbnb seems to do nothing about removing these bogus profiles, even in cases when CS themselves have told me to report/block the guest. There seems to be no follow through on removing these shady types from the platform.

Xanthi3
Level 4
Heraklion, Greece

I once had an enquiry from a lady  with a common American last name. She said my apartment looked wonderful and asked if she could stay for a certain period of time (I believe a bit longer than a week, if I can remember well). First of all, I can never understand why they ask you if they can stay for certain dates, if those dates are available. Why don't they just go ahead and book instantly then? Suspicion number one.

When she arrived for check-in, she looked  a gorgeous lady - sth in the air gave away that he was a transgender guy from Taiwan somewhere. Suspicion number two (too late now), but hey, it's a free country and I don't have a problem with any kind of people.

When I signed her in and asked for her ID or passport, (I always do), she gave a passport with another name. Sign number three. But an absolutely gentle and polite person.

Half an hour after showing this lady around the house and leaving, I received a 'spamming' message on my mobile, from her number, informing that anyone interested in a different kind of sex can contact her, this cost per hour, that cost  for-I can't remember what. 

Obviously she came to town for business. I freaked out! I contacted Airbnb immediately but it took a few hours for them to deal with this unusual situation, so the time had passed and it was clear that without guidance from Airbnb I couldn't get her out and she would spend that night in my property.

So while waiting for Airbnb to contact me, I decided to play detective. I found a place to sit where I could have a clear sight of my property's entrance without been seen . Sat there for a couple of hours wondering if what I'm doing is comical or really tragic.....Saw no one coming in or out, till I felt fed up and tired as it was around midnight, and left for home. By that time, Airbnb had contacted me and I could officially deal with the situation. She was informed that she should leave for these certain reasons (I had sent a screenshot of the message from her where her mobile was clear, and unfortunately for her, she had used the same mobile she had uploaded on Airbnb platform!)

Next day she packed and I checked her out. I made no fuss, she accepted the situation and left politely, didn't even demand any money back.

When I went to clean the apartment, ( I do this myself), I found a condom on the floor, which proved all suspicions right!

That was a hell of a booking! And I ask this....How can I trust the guests profiles, if everything submitted by them that Airbnb says is required for authentication  can be actually fake? What protection do we have, in the end? I mean, why is it allowed for someone to use another name than the one written on their ID or passport, for example? I'm sure this person has now an account with another profile and  another name.

Anyway, I don't want anyone to get me wrong, Airbnb handled the situation perfectly, but since the check in was in the evening, and there had to be an investigation from them first, plus time difference, didn't allow me to get the guest out before spending the night. Wanted to prevent giving the idea to any local that my grandma's renovated house was used by me as a brothel. It's a small town. Well, I think I saved it.

Margaret418
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

There have been a few occasions when I have felt uneasy, which I have  dealt have given me a little unease.

By asking the  enquirer/airbnb member how many people are in his/her party, and  the ages of all  the party who will be in my cottage, I can usually  suss out the wheat from the chaff!

If they show reluctance  in giving this information, then i  inform that is a condition of the Site Management Team that I  know who is in i the Cottage as  they will not be allowed on site.  This often  is very effective in  the  enquirer/airbnb member's compliance.

If I still feel uneasy I then refuse to accept the booking by stating that i felt uneasy.  it does not  happen very often, but when it does, i would prefer in future to  explain why I felt uneasy  about  the  enquiry in order to  have record as to why.

 

The platform can be hard sometimes in their reviews. Hopefully you did not get the review effect because of that and most of the time the guests are unfairly give the worst possible reviews 

Ricki19
Level 1
New York, NY

how do I clarify questions I have without being charged.

When booking?

Wendy-And-Lisa0
Level 4
California, United States

We state in our house rules "No third party bookings, the person booking must be the person staying". Note - airbnb DOES NOT support 3rd party bookings. We also ask the person booking to tell us about themselves and anyone joining them as well as their ETA. and, we ask them to confirm that they have read all our house rules, and require that they have a complete profile including a close up head shot. All this is in our house rules.  We meet them for check in, that has made all the difference. something else we've found useful is to have back and forth 'conversation' with the guest via the platform to make sure the communication is clear and complete and timely.