Is it fishy for AirB&B host to ask for personal details and possible extra payments with an off-site link?

[Kije]

Just booked an AirB&B in Dorset for an impromptu short break (2 nights) to do a few specific things in that area, next week.

Obviously, booking so late in the day in August was going to be a bit touch and go, but there were a few places available and I found somewhere a bit inland, near where we've stayed before so I know driving times, etc, and it looks fine for our purposes. It's neither too costly nor suspiciously cheap.

We booked and paid (via Paypal) last night and then I got two (automated?) messages from the host. One says thanks for your booking, looking forward to welcoming you, etc, if you have a dog please clear up after it in the garden promptly (we have no dog and I think it would have been booked in along with the number of human guests). Then this:

'You will shortly receive another message with our check-in link. Please complete this at your earliest convenience so we can collect the essential information needed to finalise your booking. If you'd like to extend your stay, early check-in and late check-out are available where possible. You can add these extras when you complete your check-in link.'

And there is indeed another AirB&B message in my inbox with this link, which says it's from http charge automation/secure/blablabla

Ok, that's a new one on me! I'm very reluctant to go off the AirB&B site with any personal information at all, let alone payment (we don't want extra time and have no dog). I checked AirB&B 'what are hosts allowed to do' and basically, not this! ("ff-Platform Activity: To maintain the integrity of our community and transactions on Airbnb, we prohibit users from communicating, booking and paying, or sharing personal contact information outside of the platform.")

And then I realised, this house has no reviews and the hosts have no reviews and I feel stupid. We did this about 11pm last night in a hurry as other likely places had gone unavailable. DH says, well every property has to start with their first customers. Yeeeeessss ... I suppose so.

I politely messaged back the hosts to say I'm not comfortable giving out personal information off-site and we don't require extras like dogs or more time, so could I just give any additional guest info via the messaging platform on AirB&B?

Does this smell fishy? I've always had good experiences with AirB&B before now. It's not like it's another country where you might need to give extra info as a foreign national, or pay tourist tax (like in Venice, where in fact I remember I paid this in hand to the host when I got there).

It removes any protection you get from AirBNB so don't do it. I refused this with a host abroad recently and it's just as well I did.

There were multiple problems with cleanliness, maintenance and them trying to charge extras not mentioned in the listing when we arrived.

I complained via Airbnb, hosts didn't resolve adequately, and raised a formal Airbnb complaint afterwards. We got almost a third of the booking fee back.

This was also a property with no other reviews - I won't make that mistake again.

that's what I figured - I know AirB&B customer service is reputed not to be great these days but going off-site will allow me NO protection at all. It's like eBay.

At the end of the day, if this place actually exists then I think it'll be ok, and the photos look lovely but I'm a bit suspicious of that now! It's also up a footpath/lane by the church where we can unload but not park (it's a village, we will park on the road close by, that's ok) but also Google street view doesn't extend up that path so I can't do my usual sleuthing.

I just feel a bit of a tit now. I wouldn't normally rent without reviews, but it was late last night and booked very much in the spirit of a last-minute, let's see what we can find, break.

I found Airbnb customer service to be excellent. They actually refunded more than I asked for after I supplied them with photos and a lot of information.

Be firm, refuse to communicate or give personal data off Airbnb and see what happens.

Our place existed but there were so many problems it became exhausting to deal with.

It would have been perfect if it had been properly cleaned and maintained and if the hosts had communicated and responded promptly.

We use Airbnb a lot and it always takes payment via the site with our credit card; no fuss as easy as buying clothes online. We send one message to the host saying tge ages of the kids and tge town we are travelling from as they sometimes recommend things. I don't give any personal details. One time we had a cleaning issue and the host refunded a small amount via the Airbnb site and it credited my card. Contact Airbnb; we've needed them before to sort issues and they are very good.