Hi all. Lately I’ve had several reservation inquiries from people who press hard to know the exact location of my AirBnB unit, then disappear. (No it’s not in a brownfield!) I talked to Abuse at AirBnB; they say that the messages are definitely coming through their servers, i.e., they believe the msgs to be from legit AirBnB members. Anyone had similar experiences? Should I be concerned?
Likewise. You never know what they may be up to. It was especially creepy the time early on when I foolishly agreed to allow someone to come take a look before booking and they never showed up, even after getting the full address…
A few others have requested a full address to check driving times, but the location of the pin on the map is pretty darn close. They can get directions based on a nearby cross-street until they book.
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In general my hosting experience (~ 25 guests) has been extremely pleasant, I mean, fun – a few glitches, nothing serious. When my internal alarm goes off, though, I dump 'em pronto – I don’t need the agita, we have plenty of business. One way or another this one got by me – or, maybe she was legit and rude and I paranoid, that happens too – but, I don’t need the rude ones either!
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Keep in mind showing your place before booking is a violation of the TOS. There is literally zero need to show our place to anyone before booking anyway. A waste of time and just no benefit to you. Who wants a bunch of looking loos?
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I have allowed guests to come and see my place, especially when kids want to see the space for parents. Never had an issues.
Also understand that sometimes, as a guest, you might not know how far a place is from the location you’re going.
To each his own, but locations can be determined via google and descriptions should be complete in the listing. Reviews can fill in the rest. Not sure how you aRe giving directions anyway because all attempts to communicate these kinds of things are usually blocked by the Air platform.
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In Airbnb’s help thingy, it says to contact them if any potential guest wants to see the place. Has anyone done that?
Agita, very cool ‘word’, very retro. 
Yes. Decline these requests.
If you have a good description, pictures and reviews there is no need to show them the place first. Also this implies they are local which can be a red flag.
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I agree, i am always on guard when locals book. Had couple of sex dates just for a few hours and then they never stayed overnight. Was very awkward hearing sounds. 
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We had locals wanting to book our room so they could rent their whole house for more money! We declined.
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@Maggieroni that may have been is 
Sometime we rent a room if our condo gets booked. Ive never had a host have an issue.
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