Post by High Priestess on Sept 30, 2015 16:43:18 GMT
Alessandro shared in jUne 2015:
Troubling "non verification" process for Airbnb guests
On a daily basis, I am now receiving inquiries/requests from potential guests that absolutely are not "verified" by Airbnb...WTF?
It's like a pandemic spreading across the city. When I receive an inquiry from a gray faced cartoon image stranger with a bizarre first name & not one shred of information, I just throw up my hands in disbelief.
Is this happening across all of SF? Honestly, I can't believe the strange, generic inquiries I've been receiving in the past two weeks. Just shot off a message to Airbnb about this issue, but of course I expect to receive a non committal, politically correct suggestion as to how I, as a host, might make the best of such inquiries & magically transform them into a stellar booking.
Guess I sound a bit peeved and I am. Honestly, hoping someone out there has a suggestion for how to reject my upcoming Superhost status. Been there, done that...was dethroned on April 1st & frankly would like to reject the "honor" when it's bestowed upon me again on July 1.
Stan:
If you have the new decline drop down there is "other" category with space to comment that I find very therapeutic! ( be aware the guest can see what you write tho)
Alessandro:
I don't believe I do have it-where exactly is it? Do you mean that they can see what you write even in the inquiry stage of a booking?
Alexina:
Yes, perhaps as many as half, despite a very thorough listing that carefully details exactly what I'm looking for in a Guest. Example: yesterday, I received the following Reservation Request from a new member who had just signed up. "Good afternoon. I have a guest comming from los angeles, and invited her to a B&B, also it would be great to experience the west portal area, its so beautiful there. I am a resident of San Francisco." He had a photo and all his verifications, but no Profile or About Me. He also did not include the embedded "bait word," (that's a deal-breaker for me, although I give them all a second chance) and clearly had not read through my listing, because he didn't follow one single instruction. I sent him a very nice "Welcome to Airbnb, blah blah blah," and asked him to tell me about his travel partner, and would he need to arrange a parking spot, and to please re-read my listing in order to include the missing information I request from all potential guests. No response. Twelve hours later, I sent a second letter. Still no response. With less than one hour left on the ticking 24-hour clock, I finally just declined him. Talk about lack of communication! BTW, his name is Anthony, and he's looking for June 12-14, if you happen to be the lucky recipient of his second attempt at being an Airbnb guest!!
Stan:
When you hit decline there would have been an option drop down.
LOL Alessandro, we should start an elite club of given up super hosts! Our stars dropped 4% yesterday so I guess we will get kicked off the boat! Sooo over all this c##p! I would phone CX but can't face the inane platitudes
Alessandro:
Great idea! Had to decline someone today who was booking for 1, but coming with an unspecified "group" from Australia. Young guy, no reviews + no bio. My last family "group" ate their way thru our place. Used everything, including 4 spare toothbrushes & every single item in cabinets. I'm quickly learning to become more selective!
Stan:
Had a couple of small issues to resolve with CX so I decided to get to the bottom of the fading stars issue :-( should have known better, very sweet rep told me I had lost the 5 star rating as less than 50% of my guests had left any reviews, ( I know we need 50% for super host status) then she read the whole nine yards straight from the website, maybe I come across as really dumb :-? On the phone. I asked her to email the gist ie: our review count being -52% and that was why our star rating dropped 4% overnight. LOL Of course the email was just straight off the page!
Sharon:
I am booked ALL the time...I don't care if I am SUPERHOST or not. My shortcoming is I had to cancel a reservation less than an hour after it was made because my daughter was coming home as an unexpected surprise for me. I think most people look for locale and price...with good reviews...those I have.
Troubling "non verification" process for Airbnb guests
On a daily basis, I am now receiving inquiries/requests from potential guests that absolutely are not "verified" by Airbnb...WTF?
It's like a pandemic spreading across the city. When I receive an inquiry from a gray faced cartoon image stranger with a bizarre first name & not one shred of information, I just throw up my hands in disbelief.
Is this happening across all of SF? Honestly, I can't believe the strange, generic inquiries I've been receiving in the past two weeks. Just shot off a message to Airbnb about this issue, but of course I expect to receive a non committal, politically correct suggestion as to how I, as a host, might make the best of such inquiries & magically transform them into a stellar booking.
Guess I sound a bit peeved and I am. Honestly, hoping someone out there has a suggestion for how to reject my upcoming Superhost status. Been there, done that...was dethroned on April 1st & frankly would like to reject the "honor" when it's bestowed upon me again on July 1.
Stan:
If you have the new decline drop down there is "other" category with space to comment that I find very therapeutic! ( be aware the guest can see what you write tho)
Alessandro:
I don't believe I do have it-where exactly is it? Do you mean that they can see what you write even in the inquiry stage of a booking?
Alexina:
Yes, perhaps as many as half, despite a very thorough listing that carefully details exactly what I'm looking for in a Guest. Example: yesterday, I received the following Reservation Request from a new member who had just signed up. "Good afternoon. I have a guest comming from los angeles, and invited her to a B&B, also it would be great to experience the west portal area, its so beautiful there. I am a resident of San Francisco." He had a photo and all his verifications, but no Profile or About Me. He also did not include the embedded "bait word," (that's a deal-breaker for me, although I give them all a second chance) and clearly had not read through my listing, because he didn't follow one single instruction. I sent him a very nice "Welcome to Airbnb, blah blah blah," and asked him to tell me about his travel partner, and would he need to arrange a parking spot, and to please re-read my listing in order to include the missing information I request from all potential guests. No response. Twelve hours later, I sent a second letter. Still no response. With less than one hour left on the ticking 24-hour clock, I finally just declined him. Talk about lack of communication! BTW, his name is Anthony, and he's looking for June 12-14, if you happen to be the lucky recipient of his second attempt at being an Airbnb guest!!
Stan:
When you hit decline there would have been an option drop down.
LOL Alessandro, we should start an elite club of given up super hosts! Our stars dropped 4% yesterday so I guess we will get kicked off the boat! Sooo over all this c##p! I would phone CX but can't face the inane platitudes
Alessandro:
Great idea! Had to decline someone today who was booking for 1, but coming with an unspecified "group" from Australia. Young guy, no reviews + no bio. My last family "group" ate their way thru our place. Used everything, including 4 spare toothbrushes & every single item in cabinets. I'm quickly learning to become more selective!
Stan:
Had a couple of small issues to resolve with CX so I decided to get to the bottom of the fading stars issue :-( should have known better, very sweet rep told me I had lost the 5 star rating as less than 50% of my guests had left any reviews, ( I know we need 50% for super host status) then she read the whole nine yards straight from the website, maybe I come across as really dumb :-? On the phone. I asked her to email the gist ie: our review count being -52% and that was why our star rating dropped 4% overnight. LOL Of course the email was just straight off the page!
Sharon:
I am booked ALL the time...I don't care if I am SUPERHOST or not. My shortcoming is I had to cancel a reservation less than an hour after it was made because my daughter was coming home as an unexpected surprise for me. I think most people look for locale and price...with good reviews...those I have.