Sneaky guests

[Matthew1808]

I have two guests coming in a few days. 

One of the guests contacted me initially with no reviews looking to book for he and his friend on a weekend night. They are quite young, it's a room with one bed. I decided to decline based on lack of reviews.

Then I got a fresh request from someone else the next day with a positive review, explaining that they are visiting etc, with no mention of a friend although had selected two guests.

Once I'd accepted the booking, it showed the other guy as the second guest.

It's quite an underhanded thing to do, not even mentioning the other guest. 

I would like to cancel it but fear an Airbnb penalty. Any tips? 

[Paula]

Hello @Matthew1808, since you posted in our community a few days ago, I wanted to check in and ask how you finally handled this booking. >>Here<< is an article that explains what happens after a Host cancels a reservation.

I am also reaching out to @Lorina14 , @Alicia753 , @Bob297 and @Guy991  to ask for their opinions on how they would handle a similar situation.

[Matthew1808]

I went ahead with it, but I made sure to raise what they had done in a friendly way, previous to their arrival. I worked together with them to try and get them a first review, but then discovered there is no way to do it according to airbnb support. Still, I offered to be a contact ref for any other hosts requiring a one review minimum. 

Sometimes I'm in a mindset where I can take risks with red flags like no reviews, young ages, etc., but I wasn't last week. Also, a tip: when someone has been on airbnb a few years and has no reviews after a few stays, it's a red flag.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply!

[Guy991]

Hi @Matthew1808 ,

I wouldn't rush to press the cancel button too quickly. First, contact Airbnb customer service and explain that you are not comfortable with this reservation due to transparency issues from the guest's side.

I found an article from a few days ago that you might find interesting, with more tips on how to handle this situation quickly and effectively.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Ask-about-your-listing/Just-want-to-share-my-experience-cancelli...

[Bob297]

@Matthew1808 What are their ages? Have you established a minimum age requirement for staying on your property? The majority of my reservations only display the number of people, with perhaps only 10% providing an introduction. Fortunately, there have been no issues so far. However, there's a point at which a guest has to begin. If we were to reject all guests without reviews, how can they initiate their first reservation?

[Lorenda1 · Accepted solution]

Thank you! Though I appreciate that misleading him was wrong, this has been one of my greatest issues. People start with, “You have a great place but no reviews”. Yeah, how will I get anywhere if no one takes a chance on me? So, of course, we had to accept our first guests, who ended up costing us more than appropriately allowed, for one review. They booked for two and stayed four, sometimes five people. Since our work is mainly for charity, there’s no profit in the equation, so we used money from our already depleted reserves to offset our losses. It was horrible!

I’m verified; it’s obvious that I am new here; so what have I got to do to win anyone’s trust? Phew!

LOL, Now, @Matthew1808, I’d probably cancel and **bleep** the consequences just for their dishonesty. I could also ask them to explain themselves and take it from there. And if you have any convictions to hold, maybe do. Hold them. Hope this helps.

[Lorina14]

@Matthew1808 

Glad to hear it worked out for you. I don’t decline based on no reviews, I’ve had quite a few and they were great guests and we provided them a great first time experience.

What I do however is I send an automated response through scheduled messages as soon as they book and say, “Hi (guest name), Thank you for choosing to stay at our guest suite! If you could kindly answer the following questions, it would be appreciated. 1) May I ask what brings you to the area? Is this visit a special occasion? (if it is, I try to have a special treat for their birthday, some wine and chocolate and strawberries for an anniversary, etc), 2) Please add the names of each guest to the reservation as it is a requirement for our home owners policy and airbnb aircover policy, 3) Do you have any questions about our area?  

Please also check out our guidebook for more details on local parks, restaurants, attractions. We look forward to hosting you!

Kind regards,

Your name

This way you will find out why, their guest names and anything else you may need for your local government requirements for short term rentals. I once had someone book then immediately cancel. Maybe they were scared of my questions? I’ve had quite lovely conversations prior to guests arriving as well. If you establish a connection, people are more likely to respond to requests, respect your property better and you may make a new friend or a repeat customer!

It is the hosts preference though. I understand wanting to have prior reviews. Everyone starts somewhere though. 

Regarding your issue, I would have thanked them for booking and ask them about the prior request in a gently way, then explain why you declined the initial request as you prefer guests who have reviews. This opens the door for transparency and allows them the opportunity to explain why they did that. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. However if you had a bad feeling about the reservation, trust your gut instinct, it usually is correct!