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I still think it’s worth trying to get information about guests. At least basic id, which astonishingly not everyone does. And much of the time one can find information about them on the net which should and mostly does match what they are telling us. This is just basic self protection.
As for why guests want to stay, it’s all part of the information gathering. Though many people coming here don’t have anything more concrete to say than tourism.
The world is a dangerous place. India is too. I think it does help to do what one can to protect oneself.
We’ve had a booking from someone with no photo and a profile name of William Taylor, but the messages are from Carole and John. Eh? I contacted Airbnb and they said it looks fine, they’re probably just older and don’t understand the system. I’m wondering now whether the identification document they’ve uploaded is for William Taylor or Carole. Or John. Or another name entirely?
I thought having a profile pic was one of the conditions of booking?
I’d seek clarification from the person doing the booking. I always ask for full names before booking, in any case. if the name given didn’t match the name on the Airbnb account, I’d definitely ask. Are you using IB? And also you check id, right?
As far as I know, Airbnb does not enforce this in any way, though if asked they might say that guests booking should have one, or something.
The guest this thread is about had no photo at all when he made the booking request, and I didn’t see any indication that the booking would have not been accepted with a missing picture. Though, probably because of my repeated mentions of this, he did eventually upload a photo.
Namibia is a former colony of Germany. Having gained their independence (late 60s, early 70s) they embraced English as not being the language of the oppressor.
Thanks, @Alia_Gee. My sketchy knowledge of world history tells me that Germany has little by way of colonies, but what little they had was taken away from them after the end of World War 1, and taken over by Britain. Because the Germans weren’t “fit” to run their colonies, or something. (Cue hysterical laughter here.)
This actually appears to be in line with the Wikipedia page on Namibia.
In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory as a protectorate (Schutzgebiet). It began to develop infrastructure and farming, and maintained this German colony until 1915, when South African forces defeated its military. In 1920, after the end of World War I, the League of Nations mandated the country to the United Kingdom, under administration by South Africa. It imposed its laws, including racial classifications and rules.
Wow, lucky Namibia. Recall that SA was itself a British colony for awhile before it became an apartheid state.
I’d say if Britain controlled Namibia for awhile, directly or indirectly, then some people there probably ended up knowing some English. But obviously that’s just a guess without more detailed information.
You can set that requirement as a condition of booking in your settings - to have a photo. Get a different agent. Some kids book for their parents. I decline, the account needs to match who is showing up at my place.
You actually cannot set that photo requirement anymore- I just had a conversation with airbnb about it as I got 2 request this week with no photo and its getting embarrassing to say “please send me a profile photo, we are a family and only take guests with full disclosure”.
Airbnb response; **I am sorry there is no feature in the system for this matter, although I really understand your worries.In other hand, the profile picture is a choice from the user as per our political of diversity and no discrimination. **
This is my standard message when I get a no photo request you are welcome to stay here please note I require a profile photo- I live here with my son so we appreciate transparency.
One Italian guy had a profile photo of himself wearing a mask, did not send another one when I asked - I just find it annoying and so I didn’t accept him and wrote
"guest profile photo is wearing a mask, seems inauthentic"
I prefer to miss a booking then to book someone I have a weird feeling about- trust your gut!
Just to be clear, are you saying that you could set this before? As in, you have seen this setting?
I’d just tell them to add it to their profile. As opposed to mailing it to you or something. People really need to have a recognizable photo of themselves. I don’t understand why Airbnb doesn’t just require it.
I’ve had dozens of guests with no recognizable photo. Even clear, in focus head shots where the guest looks significantly different. The main difference I’m seeing is weight but sometimes it’s age, hair color, glasses or no glasses, or facial hair has changed.
Airbnb doesn’t require it because hosts discriminate.
While I understand people’s desire to make an assessment of their guest based on appearances, surely you understand there is no evidence to support doing so.
Um. I suppose I haven’t thought about this much, but I’d just like to know if the person whose face is shown in the listing is the same person that is turning up at my door.
And yes, if the person’s photo looks like Lord Voldemort or Doctor Doom, then I’ll probably say no. But I think a host has a right to say no to hosting evil supervillains, Airbnb’s stance on discrimination notwithstanding.
I used to ask my students what the most discriminated against group is. What -ism is the most insidious in terms of being hard to quantify, hard to combat, most denied, most pervasive across all groups, incomes, cultures, etc.?
Hmm, that’s a hard one. There are a lot of isms. Some of those isms aren’t even isms, if you get my drift. With the US it used to be Communism aka The Evil Empire. Now it’s Muslim Terrorism. In India they’ve adopted the US’s approach. So it’s Terrorism, with a dash of Those Evil Pakistanis.
And everyone loves Racism, possibly everyone’s favorite “ism”.
What did your students say?
Sorry, I’m just rambling. I probably should go to sleep now.
The only people I don’t want in my home are those too immature to have an identifiable photo on their profile. IMHO, it breaks the trust between host and guest. I’m ok not seeing the photo until the booking is confirmed, but like @faheem, I want to recognize who will be sharing my home.
The guy who I mentioned above who had a boudoir picture for his profile canceled his booking. I am glad.
LOL! They run through the list…Blacks, Mexicans/Hispanic, Chinese, women, gay, poor, etc. Sometimes you get disabled, Native American, teenager. I’d say anyone from any group can also be this and if they are it’s a double whammy. So they might say black and female, or Hispanic and poor. And I’d say someone who is that can also be this and now it’s a triple whammy.
Do you know yet what it is? Hint: what is this thread about?
