Is this common? Could it be a red flag?
Yes it’s common. Not a red flag. I have many properties and see people like this all the time without issue.
I’ve had a couple of guests like that and it wasn’t a problem. If you’re OK with a guest that joined in the past month and has no reviews, then this shouldn’t bother you.
Perfectly okay…
It’s quite common. Some of my best guests had no reviews. Just make sure they’re verified and provided a government ID.
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Hi, I’m new to this forum and decided to join because I have received so many odd inquiries too, especially (6 inquiries) on the day of the STR ban in Palm Springs…
4 out of the 6 had no history or reviews. My calendar is of course now blocked.
Call me paranoid, but I’m starting to wonder if the city or county is setting up hosts to try to entrap renters & serve a $5,000. fine.
Yes, it seems sleezy and so wrong during this time of Covid 19! However, I do have to warn everyone that I have had someone contact me recently on another site, posing as a canadian guest, that was hired by Palm Springs VRD because they did not see my rental listing info…Isn’t entrapment against the law, or is this now acceptable??
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Yes, it could be a red flag, if they were bad guests and the host simply declined to review. But I’ve had several guests like this, and they all turrned out to be great. However, I do ask, in a friendly way about it, working it into a message where I’m talking to them about other things, so they don’t feel put on the spot. “So, XX, I’m just curious-I see you’ve been a member since 2016 but have no reviews- did you join, but never actually booked anywhere before?” One said he’d joined, but never had a chance to take the trip he was planning at the time, one said she’d had 2 stays, but the hosts hadn’t left a review, one said she’d always travelled with her husband, but liked to “armchair travel” and this was the first time she was going to be vacationing on her own. Their replies didn’t leave me doubting them, because all the rest of their communication with me was straightforward, articulate, open, and friendly.
no, i’ve been a member since long time and didn’t travel in the begining. i was busy with other things, I didnt want to book it by myself because i didnt know what exactly to expect and it was 2-3 years since I created the account until i went with a couple of friends. This is how I decided to become a host actually.
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I don’t think it’s a flag. A lot of hosts don’t leave reviews, regardless if the guest is great or awful.
I was the same way. I think my profile shows member since 2014. I signed up bc I’d just heard of ABB and wanted to see what it was. However, I ended up traveling on VRBO bc their fees were/are cheaper for the guest. I have only traveled with ABB once, and that was last year, bc I had to use or lose my superhost credit. Guess I better think about that again this year but hell of a time for that, haha
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It’s possible. But it’s also unlikely. The only people it would affect are hosts who are hosting despite the ban, therefore hosting illegally. Any host who is abiding by the rules and regulations hasn’t anything to worry about and can simply not even think about it.
Our local tourism bureau and newspaper did something along these lines. They contacted rentals with stories and questions regarding renting while the county was on lockdown, what things were open, what they could do, etc. With all the weird requests I was getting I am 99% sure we were contacted, maybe even more than once. I wasn’t willing to rent to anyone but essential responders. Unfortunately, from the results they published, about 1/3 of the contacted rentals either said they didn’t know about the lockdown or told people they’d be safe to travel anyway.
Yes, I agree with Jackie, and my calendar is blocked, but still I’m getting inquiries that seem odd.
I have to say there are probably a lot of people that may be confused about what’s going on…
I’ve bee trying to get updates on potential lift of STR ban, which is difficult to find, even on Riverside Co site.