I have been getting more and more request with incomplete profile with no photos or photos of objects.
How would you feel if Airbnb no longer make this a requirement to book ?
Yes I have. I have no need for a photo. Iām in the minority on this here on this forum. If you search for previous posts on the topic weāve discussed this vigorously before.
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Iām not too fussy about who I host either. The worst guest I ever had was a fellow host with good reviews. Some of the best have had no profile pic or reviews.
Yes, I have not problem with not having a profile picture.
But yesterday I refused a request form a guest with no profile picture, no reviews and his message with the booking was ānoneā.
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I would accept someone with no profile photo but wish Airbnb would make it a requirement for guests.
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For me, it depends on what they say in their message. I recently accepted one with no photo as he explained that his niece was still helping him set his account up in full. Another I really wish Iād declined; he was a bloody nightmare! Had a photo of some brand of coffee and called himself āBarristaā. When I queried this before accepting the booking, he swiftly changed it but came up with some nonsensical, marketing nonsense. A portent of things to comeā¦
I wonāt accept without a valid photo ā not a silhouette, not facepainted, not their kid or their pet or a picture when they were a baby or a teenager. I want to know that the person I meet at the door is indeed the person who booked my place.
This is one reason I wonāt Instant Book ā no chance to ālook overā a potential guest.
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I use IB and take reservations from pretty much anyone. Recently hosted a guy with Superman as his profile pic. Not uncommon to find pets as profile pics.
Iāve never had any issues I can recall from people with strange profile pics. Just the opposite.
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Almost all guests are tourists, quite a few newbies. Most my listings are on IB and a couple are also listed on booking.com
There is āZEROā information available about guests from booking.com, so a missing profile photo or one of something else doesnāt bother me in the least.
That said, when I had the Treehouse not yet on IB, I would often mention a missing profile photo mentioning ā¦I noticed you havenāt had a chance to add a profile photo, but it would be so much nicer as it makes for a much pleasant hosting experienceā¦
By the way there are lots of hosts with no profile pic.
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Hello @Miken1999, with me is the same as @KKC described, I was on IB from day one, and take ALL bookings, no profile picture, fake names, new profiles on air with no reviewsā¦ so far almost 300 bookings, and the only ones that were problematic were the ones with picture, real name, and lot of good reviews!! Maybe Iām just taking a walk on the wild sideā¦
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People like to feel they are in control. Having guest pictures give some people that feeling.
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Pictures are an odd thing and they do trigger reactions in the beholder (not always a good thing, IMO.)
Until recently, only my husband was in the host profile pic. Women guests would message in a very flirty way (heās a handsome devil.) I have since changed the pic to include me and I say in the profile that he greets and I handle correspondence. It has helped so far.
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I do, but I REALLY wish I didnāt have too.
I do. I have instant book on, buy by the time someone has a government issued id sorted i assume theyāre legit until they prove otherwise.
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Yes like me. I have my cat in an attempt to get cat haters not to book my place. Mind you hosts are not such a moveable feast as guests so itās not so important.
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I require a profile photo but I only rent a room in my house where my young son and I live. I want to know who is showing up before they arrive.
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Weāre flexible. It depends on a lot of things. Weāve always had IB turned on and generally accept anybody and everybody.
But every now and then, somebody rubs us the wrong way in their messages and Iāll sometimes use the photo as the excuse for ānot feeling comfortableā to back out of the reservation.
The thing is - even if you require photos, you donāt know what youāre going to get. We just had our worst guest ever - a real ghetto thug who literally scared me when they walked into the house. Fortunately, they were here to PARTY and bring girls over (against all our rules)ā¦ and they came to me and said they made a mistake and theyād like to cancel. I said, PLEASE DO!! Noā¦ I said, āsure, no problem, I understand.ā!
But he used a totally fake photo. He used a photo of a businessman dressed in a suit. The photo looked plenty real but it was definitely not this guest.
I have on a few occassions asked guests who had photos of plants or objects to post a photo of themselves - telling them I need to know when they arrive that they are the same person who booked through Airbnb. Theyāve done it very quickly and without complaint. But Iāve only asked after they made the reservation.
Just had a guy today write in with a photo where his face is in total darkness (why do they do that?) but heās been perfectly normal in his messages. If he books the reservation I will ask him to put a photo where I can see him - so I will know itās him when he arrives.
But really, Iām only asking because it annoys me so much that people donāt seem to understand that the purpose of the photo is so we can SEE who weāre talking to!
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And thinking about how the people I asked to put real photos did - and didnāt hesitate to do it - maybe if all hosts would ask a lot more people would actually do it.
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When we get someone that doesnāt have a photo nor a bio, this is what we write to them after they inquire/book and after weāve thanked them for their inquiry and answered any of their questions:
In the meantime, weāve noticed your profile is incomplete. May we ask you to please add a picture of yourself/yourselves, where youāre from and a little something about you, what you like when you travel, etcā¦ completing your profile is an important step for future hosts as some will require it before you can book at their place.
The last person promptly added their photo and bio and responded to us āThanks for the info, I just updated my profile. I didnāt realize we needed to do that.ā
Turned out to be a great bio and a lovely photo of the two of them. They had only inquired and ended up not booking with us, but at least for the next host, there was a little something about them.
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