Should I help this past guest?

[Nanxing0]

Just received a message from a past guest. Here's the message:

"Sending message to any airbnb hosts I had previously stayed with. Stuck in the city i until tomorrow no wallet and using someone else’s phone at the moment. I’d there’s any room to stay night Inwould pay double tomorrow. Just stuck and trying every option not expecting a yes. Thanks!!"

The guest has 23 reviews on profile all perfect with 5.0 rating and has stayed with us once before with no issue. I personally have no problem helping him but apparently letting someone stay in my listing without a reservation in place makes me a little uncomfortable -- not in term of money but liability -- if he gets injured or something apparently Airbnb is not going to cover it. So want to ask everyone's opinion on this.

[Amanda1775]

@Nanxing0 

This sounds like a scam. Someone has probably hacked the account. How could the guest be stranded in all the places they've ever stayed? And "city" is undefined.

The scammer is looking to see if someone will bite. What a terrible thing to do to play on someone's heart strings.

[Nanxing0]

@Amanda1775 That's definitely possible. The "city" means Philadelphia city. The guest profile shows he's a Philly local.

[Amanda1775]

@Nanxing0 

So he's a local and stays at local Airbnbs?

[Nanxing0]

@Amanda1775 Yeah that sounds funny but is the truth. Out of his 23 reviews about half are from various local hosts. And he's not alone -- we get a number of guests from local and there are a lot of good ones although we had to reject a big portion of those. Fact is that Philly is not a small city and morning traffic is terrible so when someone has an appointment the next morning they might choose to stay in a nearby place instead of gambling on the morning commute.

[Linda108]

While I am inclined to agree with @Amanda1775  skepticism, @Nanxing0 , you know your market better than any of us.  You could allow him to stay with you as a private pay.  No Air BNB just as if he found you on Craig's list.  Your own homeowner's insurance is applicable to anyone you allow in your home.  Good luck!! 

[Sarah977]

@Nanxing0  If he's local from Philly, how can he be "stuck in the city"? 

[Pat271]

@Nanxing0  If he’s using someone else’s phone, he can book an Airbnb with the phone. If he has 23 reviews, surely he has a credit card on file.

I would stay away from this one. 

[Kirsten266]

@Nanxing0 @How did it end? Did you invite the former guest?

[Nanxing0]

@Kirsten266 I asked him to contact Airbnb so they could help him book a reservation but that did not end up working so I did not invite him. 

@Pat271 That's what I though but he told me he cancelled the credit card at the time he realized the wallet was lost so the payment on profile could not work. I ended up stay away from this one though.

@Sarah977 That is my initial question as well. I just thought I'm not in the other person's shoes so cannot get to know his problems but could try my best to help as much as possible. But the bottom line is that I can't let him stay without a reservation as there's too much liability issue in it -- I can even drop the price to very low if he has difficulty paying it given his excellent record -- but no entrance without reservation due to liability.