How do you vet booking requests?

1

Considering prevention is better than cure, what’s the step-by-step process you’ve now built for vetting booking requests?

2

I have instant book, so I’m not doing much vetting.

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3

Even then, aren’t there any steps you go through to ensure you’re happy with the booking? As far as I understand, you have the right to say no if you’re uncomfortable with it.

4

Yes I am on instant book, you can require government id and also that the guest has been recommended by other hosts ie no thumbs down.
As other hosts have discussed I draw attention to house rules etc. in the initial communication. A lack of communication from the potential guest is a red flag.

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5

Hi @ Fahed

This is a question that’s been discussed here quite a few times before. Probably worth using the search function to find the previous threads.

6

Thanks. I posted through my phone, so the search results didn’t pop up as usual.

Will search for them now.

Thanks

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7

I think I’ve only declined 3rd party bookings that I can recall.

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8

I vet by talking about all the problems with my listing in the listing.

The worse i make it sound, the better my reviews.

(My cat occasionally bites because he thinks ankles are toys, so I’ve ticked the “dangerous animal lives here” box. I have a toddler and i live in an urban area, so i talk about noise and how we’ve got ear plugs available on request and i highlight that our community is diverse and we like it like that and hope guests will, too.)

So if they’re still interested in booking, they’ve weeded themselves out.

The one time i declined a guest for non- reasonable reasons, it was because her profile pic was a (tasteful!) nude selfie and my inner 12 year old would blurt out “i saw your boobies!” if I had accepted her request.

We all have our limits, and naked selfies in public profiles are mine.

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9

I have IB with no requirements. I don’t care about govt ID or photos and I have no problem with first time users. However, I have an ensuite bedroom and I live here.

I have cancelled two people who IB’d and then I decided I wasn’t comfortable. One was woman who had stayed previously several times but was a borderline PITA. So she booked I sent her the pet fee which she questioned despite previously staying with her pet and I said, “that’s it, cancel and block.” And I did. The other had overall 4 stars and half her reviews were bad or iffy. She was local and going from Airbnb to Airbnb. Canceling due to a prior poor review is penalty free. I’ve had a couple of others that I look at their reviews using the AirReview Chrome extension. I haven’t cancelled but it gives me the heads up about them being potentially difficult in some way. I had one, a travelling nurse, who often left nitpicking reviews. So I was extra careful in prepping her room and accomdating her requests. I did get a 5 star review from her but she was more work than most guests.

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