@Carol12
It sounds to me that you are relying on Airbnb to vet your guests for you. They do not. There are loads of discussions here on the CC about it. Some hosts are happy to take every guest they can get and others are more choosy. You have to decide for yourself.
If you use Instant Booking
- Set the filters so that guests must have a profile photo, verified ID, recommendations from other hosts (this means newbies must request to book) and that they answer your pre-booking message, in which you can ask them for the information you would require as standard, e.g. "What is the purpose of your visit?" or "Who will you be travelling with?". If they don't answer the questions, ask them!
- You have three penalty free cancellations a year if you do not feel comfortable with the guest/think they might break your house rules (after that you have to request them from CS) and to me, a guest being non-responsive is a good enough reason.
- Mention on your listing/house rules that you require this information.
- If none of this works for you, turn off IB.
If you don't use Instant Booking/only accept request bookings
- Again, mention on your listing you require this information.
- Select in your settings that the guest must have a profile picture.
- If the guest profile has no verification nor info, tell them they need to get verified and provide this info to book with you. Most guests will comply. Those that don't are probably people you don't want to host anyway.
- You have 24 hours to accept/decline a booking request (with enquiries, you just need to respond). I will chase for the info and remind the guests that I have a limited time to accept/decline. If they are not responsive, then I will decline. It's not ideal, but it's better than risking hosting someone you know nothing about.
Another way to vet guests (those that do have reviews) is to check out the reviews they have left for other hosts, which can be very telling. I would recommend every host does this. You can use the AirReview Chrome add on to make this easier.
As for your issue about the payment, I am not sure what you mean. Airbnb charges guests a fee on top of the accommodation rate and also takes a percentage cut from the host's payout (around 3% but depends on your cancellation policy), so you don't get paid your listed price ever. That's the way it's always been and that is how Airbnb charges for advertising on their platform. If that is what you are referring to, they already have your permission as you agreed to those ToS when you signed up.