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Yes, on the phone app right?
Not on the computer or mac site, that is what I said/meant. Am I mistaken about this?
My phone is small I hate airbnb messaging on it, you can only see one or two lines of your message at a time on my screen. But phone app is the only way to attach stuff and send urls, right?
You are right self check in would solve a lot of the problems around arrival communication. Unless people have trouble finding the lockbox, operating the smartlock it, etcā¦ I wonder what percentage of self check ins have this kind of problem?
I know we are not all on the same page about self check in.
My properties are in apartment buildings with year-round neighbours.
Self check in guests arrive at all hours of the night, bang doors and suitcases, talk in normal voices at 3 am when they arrive, fix themselves some dinner then run the dishwasher or clothes washer in the middle of the night disturbing the neighbors sleep. There is also no verbal interaction allowing the host to state certain rules if the guest looks like they might be a risk to the neighbors tranquility.
Middle-of-the night self check ins for apartments with neighbors is absolutely intolerable for the people living next door above and below, and the reason why my apartment blocks in city as well as many others are banning Airbnb activity.
In addition Iām also convinced the ābad applesā seeking to party or make illicit use of your place, will search out self check in options so they donāt have a personal interaction with you.
And finally Iām required to check ID like at a hotel. What everybody with self-check-in does - having guests send ahead a screenshot of their ID and not checking in for real - is in fact illegal for several reasons.
Hello Jenna, yes - correct only on the phone app. And it is indeed a pain to use the app messaging for longer messages ā¦so I use both. Type the longer stuff on the pc, attach the photos on the app.
And ā¦I also use WhatsApp for speedier communication when I see a guest pops up with a green icon. Not trying to discuss keeping all communication on the system ā¦
This is what I do. Many guests donāt have the app so donāt know to check for messages. I donāt care too much if they donāt communicate. I usually end up giving them the self check-in instructions depending on their arrival time, etc., although I prefer to meet in person.
I need help here folks. Here is the thing, l have a guest apparently moving to my town for work.He thought my place was ācuteā. She wanted to book the place for about two weeks and her question was; within these two weeks, if she found a place of her own can she move out anytime she wanted? I responded that it does not work that way. If she moved out at her convenience, she would not get a refund. Meanwhile l had to block some of the days she wanted because my family was going to be visiting from Europe.So there was only one week left from the two weeks she wanted.She went ahead and instantly reserved it. The problem here is everything checked out ok, Airbnb verified whatever that they usually do EXCEPT that there was no PHOTO of this person.
I waited for a several days to see if her picture will pop up but nothing and she is supposed to check in in about four days. I sent her a message through the platform to upload a photo as l will like to have an idea of who is coming to my home, and she has not replied.The question is; WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Is Airbnb not supposed to request a photo of all guests before they instantly book or when a potential guest is confirmed? Please HELP !!! Thanks.
If you want to guarantee to see a photo of the guest once they book, you need to tick the box on your listing saying you require a guest photo. Did you do this? @Faboland
If not, I am not sure you can insist on it.
Guests often donāt have their Airbnb settings set so they automatically receive messages, so perhaps text the guest, if this is something that is important to you.
No they arenāt. In fact if you check host profiles you will see that many donāt have pictures of themselves such that you can tell who you are staying with.
I have no problem hosting people with no pictures since I donāt share space with them. All I care about is getting my money and that they leave the place in good condition.
This is VERY common.The guest doesnt respond or is very slow to respond,so annoying especially when you know everyone is on their phones nowadays and they see it.Half of the peeps I get are like that.
Thank you all for your responses.l am surprised because I have been on Airbnb for more than a year and a half and all except the guest in question, have their photos on when the reservation is confirmed.Anyhow I contacted Airbnb and got a satisfactory answer. The guest contacted me eventually before check in and directed me to a link where I could see her photo. All is well that ends well.
Just wondering why it is so important to see their photo? I mean theyāve booked you canāt cancel what do you expect a picture of Count Dracula or something?
Here is a hack: once booked you have their telephone, put it into your contacts and look them up on WhatsApp. WhatsApp photos are usually less āguardedā than airbnb and other social media you can get a real look at them that way. I have found it to be very telling.
Dear Jenna, thank you for your input. As l said before,all is well that ends well. You never know you could just open your door to that Count Dracula.
If you get their ID and check it when they arrive, I donāt see why you need the picture on airbnb. People put anything, photos of their kids and their dogs and their backyards.
I also doubt you can cancel based on the picture for any reason without being accused of discrimination! So Iām not being sarcastic Iām really wondering, why is the photo so important.
I do like to see photos to know a little bit what to expect, Iāve found WhatsApp to be much more telling than airbnb.
Some hosts put a huge amount of faith in a photo. Take a look at the Airbnb Community Forum. People swear that they can ātell by the eyesā or they āget a bad feelingā or they feel āthey can trust someoneā by their photo. Seriously. Itās bizarre.
You canāt tell anything from a photo, other than what that person wants you to see. Most of my worst guests have had a nice smiley photo. The rest didnāt have one, to be fair!
N[quote=āJenna, post:30, topic:34222ā]
put it into your contacts and look them up on WhatsApp.
[/quote]
Will they be alerted (or be able to find out) that you/I did that?
Thank you all for your suggestions. As I mentioned before I called airbnb and they actually gave me a very good solution. Anyhow the guest finally uploaded a photo after she checked in and lam glad to say she turned out to be one of my best guests.
I know Iām not a good judge, even in real life. I work somewhere where I deal with people that seem like the sweetest things ever. Then I pull them up in my computer and am often shocked at what I find!!! How can this sweet lady have beat the crap out of her dog? People present what they want and a photo is useless