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I’ve been dealing with a strange group the last few days. There are 3 families from different countries who are getting together for a Christmas break. I didn’t originally know they were staying together, just strange that I had a rash of inquiries from Air, VRBO and TA for the same dates and same number of people.
The guy that inquired through Air asked me to email him directly at (URL hidden). I wrote back to say that Air doesn’t disclose his contact info until after he confirms his booking with us. So he went searching and found my direct website and wrote through there. He said: “my name is Bill Wong and I just wrote to you on Airbnb as Andrew Smith” (names changed).
I noticed that he had cc’d the address of the woman who wrote in via VRBO for the same dates. She lives locally to us and I believe this is a legitimate inquiry as I can find her on LinkedIn.
I feel like Air should be informed that this guy is using their site under another name, however, I am concerned that it may jeopardize the booking if I blow the whistle on him. Would anyone else be concerned about this? Any suggestions?
Reading your post, my gut reaction is to Decline any and all of these people. Sounds like they are approaching you on different platforms trying to get a deal on price. The guy contacting your through your website is the major reason I would NEVER have a website for my listing – there is no “checks and balances” as there is when communicating with AirBnb.
My response to the guy saying “my name is X, I contacted you as Y” is to say “that is direct violation of AirBnb TOS – DECLINED”
These kinds of problems are the major reason I will only ever rent-out through one platform –
Decline and report to Air. You can use the option on Air that says “this person makes me uncomfortable” and explain why.
That said, I had someone contact me once on Air who refused to verify her information due to privacy concerns. She tracked me down on HomeAway, too. I decided to accept her booking after much back and forth accepted her. While she wasn’t the worst she was always a lot of work.
By the way, how is this person verifying their information if they are using a false name? Do they also have fake id and fake online identities? Think about that for a second and it all spells trouble.
airBNB doesn’t really verify the name… remember this is all done by computers. All my Asian guests who have used Westernized names certainly don’t have passports with those names.
When he said that he used another name on Air the first thing I did was to see what ID was verifying him. It is just his phone number and email address. I thought that a Drivers License had to be provided, or some other proof if photo ID but apparently not.
I am not concerned about the other contacts in his group. I suspect that they made the decision to get away together and all went searching for a place on various booking sites. They haven’t asked for a discount (and I wouldn’t offer one at Christmas anyway).
@anon67190644 it sounds like you’ve also experienced Asian people using westernized names. Many of my Asian friends do that, however, this guy used two Westernized aliases which is what I thought was strange.
But I will report this guy for having a fake name even if I lose the booking. I appreciate all of your input!
Airbnb computers are verifying your ID matches. Yes, computers. Do I think an intern is looking at your photo ID on the other side of the camera? Noooo.
The company that created the original ID verification software is what is called middleware. I think they have since gone under.
