Multiple guest accounts?

[Melissa63]

Hello,

I have a booking request from a guest who says she has had 6 previous Airbnb stays but her account shows no reviews. When I asked why, she said she can get credit by creating new accounts so she actually has 3 guest accounts and offerred to email me screenshots of her reviews from the other accounts.

Has anyone come across this before? Does Airbnb allow guests to use multiple accounts? I don't want to be complicit in going against the rules if this isn't allowed. It also seems like a way to bypass a bad review.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Melissa

[Linda108]

@Melissa63  It would certainly give me pause if a potential guest had multiple accounts.  I don't believe there are any rules about multiple accounts.  I don't know what is meant by "can get credit by creating accounts."  If someone is gaming the Air BNB system for some reason, I wouldn't trust them as a guest.

[Helen3]

Actually there are. It's against Airbnb's t&Cs to have multiple accounts.

What the guest is going @Linda is to use the new accounts to gain credits from Airbnb as a new guest booking for the first time.

I agree @Melissa63 I wouldn't want someone staying who is doing this.  As you say it's a good way to avoid bad reviews.

I would decline. You could also flag her profile with Airbnb.

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

When you have a new account, you can get $XX credit on your trips.

If she's willing to game the system for $20, I wonder what she would be willing to do to get a refund.

😉

[Melissa63]

Thanks for the insights. I ended up chatting with Airbnb and they are going to educate the guest on the rules (I don't know if it's explicitly stated anywhere, but apparently having multiple accounts is a no-no).

I declined the request and told the guest that without access to her previous reviews, I had no basis for my decision to accept her into my home.

Thanks again for your help!

Melissa

[Steve143]

Hello @Melissa63,

The third paragraph in section 6 of the terms of service says:

Airbnb reserves the right to suspend or terminate your Airbnb Account and your access to the Site, Application and Services if you create more than one (1) Airbnb Account, or if any information provided during the registration process or thereafter proves to be inaccurate, fraudulent, not current, incomplete, or otherwise in violation of these Terms of Service.

Steve.

[Melissa63]

Ah, very good to know, thank you! It makes sense as creating alternate identities would be a clever way to bypass a bad review. I'm glad it's prohibited.

Thanks again!

[Kelly542]

or, they just did it to save $40 and you're a total narc. lol

[Bradley54]

Airbnb has a significant technical issue.  I've been an account holder for several years and now cannot resolve a multiple account issue.  When I linked my facebook page to airbnb it created a separate account and all of the reviews  I've given and all that I had of my stays - perfect by the way - were gone.  Getting help on airbnb is excruciating.  Your issue is not necessarily a nefarious situation.

[Jaxon0]

I just had a guest I had blocked, first try to get her mother to book my listing, then, was able to contact me herself as she created multiple accounts (Airbnb told me this when I reported a blocked guest contacting me).  They were great guests (their first booking), then because they had my cell #, contacted me outside of Airbnb wanting to pay cash for 7 guests for a 2 guest maximum listing.  If Airbnb knows they have multiple accounts, why do they allow that?

[Linda108]

While this doesn't seem to be your situation, I have had guests that have at least two accounts, one for business and one for personal.  I don't have a problem with that and I doubt Air BNB has a way of being able to tell if a profile is being abused without feedback.  You probably know that if you flag the profile of the guest who by passed Air BNB, Air BNB will close it down.