Airbnb to provide temp alternative phone numbers for guests and hosts

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Airbnb to provide temp alternative phone numbers for guests and hosts

Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes

Anyone else get the Airbnb email yesterday?

It said Airbnb will provide a dummy phone number for guests and hosts that expire a few days after checkout.

If there is any texting option with these numbers what do you want to bet they screen out phone numbers in case you try and exchange your real numbers?

We leave a personalized card at our Lake House and it usually includes my phone number.

I may start leaving my lake house business cards and say for future stays please contact me directly!

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Bruce WoodruffPro Member

Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes

7mo

I always give/gave the guest my phone number. I ask for a message when they arrive letting me know that the house is ok, I message again mid-trip, and then ask them to let me know when they leave. I also have a flyer on the fridge with info and numbers, and pictures of other local properties...and to ask them to contact me directly the next time they want to stay (and I mention a discount :-)

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
7mo
One thing I dislike about vrbo and airbnb is NOT being able to talk to the owners of the places I want to stay.. I guess folks these days just dont want to talk to people.. but I find it annoying when I have questions and in one case on a place in MT issues with the unit and no one to talk to.
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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
7mo
I always give/gave the guest my phone number. I ask for a message when they arrive letting me know that the house is ok, I message again mid-trip, and then ask them to let me know when they leave. I also have a flyer on the fridge with info and numbers, and pictures of other local properties...and to ask them to contact me directly the next time they want to stay (and I mention a discount :-)
4 Reply
Sunil Ghosal
Member since 2023 · 39 posts · 13 votes
7mo
We require a signed rental agreement, ID, Selfie (Match to ID/Harder to Fake), and all contact information. The guest has an App they fill out and it automatically updates the Phone Number and Email to their real one.

Don't really want to rent out a property without the contact information. Imagine renting a car without giving some personal information. Would never happen.
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Mike GrudzienPro Member
Lender · Eugene, OR · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7mo
Got the Airbnb email. I always call my new guests upon receiving a booking to thank them and answer questions. So I'll use the fake number system, but when I'm talking to them live, we can exchange information.
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Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7mo
Email used to be anonymous, if you have your info in your house and/or guest agreements its not a big deal, just harder to market to directly via text.
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Christina B.
Boulder, CO · Member since 2023 · 179 posts · 102 votes
7mo
@John Underwood This has been in the works for a while. I guess they do roll-out in stages. FWIW, I thought they had provided dummy numbers for that one guest who called me directly a month ago. But no, she has my actual cell. And now, I have her actual cell- which I verified with her is her actual and not a dummy number. So I'm still unclear on why some people (when they book) say they can't reach the host directly via phone- as clearly on Airbnb, she was able to (and I don't know why).
We have a framed sign inside the property with our direct booking site and contact info. This is also available via our online guidebook which gets updated in real time (and separately, in a physical guidebook).
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Mike Kirby
Rental Property Investor · New Braunfels, TX · Member since 2021 · 291 posts · 257 votes
7mo
Quote from @John Underwood:

Anyone else get the Airbnb email yesterday?

It said Airbnb will provide a dummy phone number for guests and hosts that expire a few days after checkout.

If there is any texting option with these numbers what do you want to bet they screen out phone numbers in case you try and exchange your real numbers?

We leave a personalized card at our Lake House and it usually includes my phone number.

I may start leaving my lake house business cards and say for future stays please contact me directly!
It's so weird that not everyone gets the email. I didn't get one. What kind of software are they using that they can't manage to email all of their current account holders at the same time. What a joke. I was writing software that could do this in the 1990's....
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Lauren Kormylo
Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7mo
My Airbnb bookings have been coming without real phone numbers for months now. It's irritating, because I used the last 5 digits to program their lock code. So I can't do that anymore. Airbnb now gives a 4 digit code suggestion, but I use 5 digits.
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Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
7mo
Like @Bruce Woodruff, I also communicate with my guests directly via text message or simple phone calls.
I check in with them during their stay, but not too often. So far it has worked very well.
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- Bruce WoodruffPro Member
  Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
  7mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  Like @Bruce Woodruff, I also communicate with my guests directly via text message or simple phone calls.
  I check in with them during their stay, but not too often. So far it has worked very well.
  One of the reasons I check in is not for the guest, it's so I have a record of them saying, "I got here and it looks great" or "we're having a great time so far", or similar.....
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Christina B.
Boulder, CO · Member since 2023 · 179 posts · 102 votes
7mo
@Mike Kirby With Airbnb, it's deliberate how they rolled out in phases (my guess). They may have completed roll-out (as I'm seeing it now but it was working the old way for me a month ago and @Lauren Kormylo has dealt with it for months).
I do really think there's an opportunity here for an alternative to the major OTAs which acts as a lead generator for direct booking but offers some sort of guest protection or interface in the event things go wrong (and takes less of a cut from hosts/guests while still making a profit).
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Henry Lazerow
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
7mo
Airbnb is getting worse and worse. Just switched mine over to LTR. The spread over LTR has died out with little growth while LTR rates at least in my market have been up 10% a year the last few years. Not having a direct line of contact would be even more annoying. They scammed me on a tenant whose pet caused damage this year also, claiming that since allow dogs they will not cover any pet related damage. Not worth their BS.
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Patricia Andriolo-Bull
Member since 2022 · 529 posts · 413 votes
7mo
I have them sign a rental agreement when I switched to Owner Rez. I thought this might deter rentals (it's been a few years now) and it hasn't at all. No one has questioned it one bit. In it, they provide email and phone and address. I now have a CMS with all prior client info.
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