Do you maintain a "Do Not Rent" List of Airbnb Guests?

[Anthony209]

Today I contacted multiple condo owners in Maui who are within my complex to fight Airbnb's extenuating circumstances policy. We are advocating a "do not rent" list of Airbnb guests who continuously abuse the extenuating circumstances policy without the need of purchasing travel insurance. 

I have forewarned many condo owners of the following cancelation that occurred to me today. I will not put up with the way Airbnb muddles in the management of my small business. Therefore, condo owners in Maui are in the process of creating a "do not rent" list of Airbnb guests because Airbnb refuses to honor host cancelation policies.

The couple canceled their booking less than 24-hours prior to arrival. They were to arrive today at 3 PM HST (January 22, 2022) and they canceled the booking around 11:30 PM, MST on January 21, 2022. The guests were automatically given back their cleaning fee via Airbnb. They then submitted a request for reconsideration for a full booking refund through the Airbnb dispute resolution portal. Airbnb said that I could either give them a full refund, a partial refund, or no refund. Because the guest was aware of my cancelation policy (see below), I chose to honor the contractual obligations agreed upon when making the booking. The guest booked the condo on October 24, 2021, for a 7-night stay starting on January 22, 2022. 

Firm Cancelation Policy (as described under Airbnb)

• To receive a full refund, guests must cancel at least 30 days before check-in
• If they cancel between 7 and 30 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 50% for all nights
• If they cancel less than 7 days before check-in, you’ll be paid 100% for all nights
• Guests can also receive a full refund if they cancel within 48 hours of booking if the cancellation occurs at least 14 days before check-in

Because I refused to give them a full refund, the guests then filed an extenuating circumstances policy claiming the husband had covid; however, there is no substantiating evidence to support that husband truly did and Airbnb went ahead and gave them back a full refund of $1,676. Airbnb did not confirm with the medical establishment community. They simply took the guest's words verbatim. These guests clearly did not have traveler's insurance and hence took advantage of the extenuating circumstances policy on Airbnb. Whether you agree with what Airbnb did was correct or not, does not negate the fact that I will not be able to book the condo on a short-notice cancelation like this. Nor will I be able to provide the guests with a credit for a future booking of one of my two condos; hence, I lost a potential future booking as well. This could happen to anyone and it was my understanding that Airbnb was no longer going to honor guest cancelations as a result of the extenuating circumstances policy due to covid after May 2020. This is not true. They continue to grant guests full refunds and overrule owners' cancelation policies. Airbnb wrote the following, "We apologize for the inconvenience, and sincerely appreciate your understanding." I spent an hour with Airbnb customer support at 2 AM this morning but to no avail.  Airbnb does not care about their host, let alone a Super Host, or part owner (i.e., stockholder) of their company. They will continue to side with their guests to make them happy, meanwhile, the host is left with an empty condo during peak tourist season on Maui. 

Moreover, I emailed the guests through the Airbnb messaging portal a welcome letter and condo guest guide on January 18, 2022, with lockbox info, directions to the condo, wifi password, etc., and asked them politely to confirm that they had received the information so that I was assured they would not have problems at check-in. They refused to confirm receipt of the welcome letter and condo guest guide. I followed up with a second notification message using the Airbnb portal and I finally received a confirmation message late in the evening on January 21, 2022, acknowledging that they in fact received it. Again, the couple was not polite enough to promptly acknowledge the original message that I sent. Consequently, I had to follow up again. This goes to show that they are the typical Airbnb guests who do not care to follow the host's house rules when making a booking. I am sure this is not a surprise for any of you Airbnb hosts. (Typical guest treats your home like a hotel).

Furthermore, when I accepted the booking, the guest had only one online review for me to read to make an informed decision as to whether or not to accept their booking request. Note: I do not allow guests to book automatically without inquiring with me first. Today, the guest now has zero reviews under their profile, yet the guest has been a member of Airbnb since 2016. How is it possible that a guest has zero reviews AND has been an online member of the Airbnb community SINCE 2016 when previously she had one online review? Do you smell something fishy? 

I informed the condo owners within my complex that It is time that hosts take matters into their own hands by sharing guest information with one another and by advocating for a local online "do not rent" database that hosts can tap into and see which guests not to rent to and to input the names and other relevant data of bad guests. This is the only way to fight back against Airbnb muddling in the host's management of their small business. Host deserve to be treated fairly.  Brian Chesky and his pals built his company on the back of Airbnb hosts. Yet, the host is the one who continuously gets the short end of the stick for the guest's failure to purchase travel insurance and yet they are provided a caution notification when making the booking of the host's cancelation policy.  

So my question is do you maintain a private "do not rent" list of Airbnb guests and share it with other condo owners? 

[Nanxing0]

That is unfortunate and I am sure a lot of hosts have encountered such cancellations in the past, where Airbnb would either side with the guest directly, or try their best to persuade us(hosts) to bow to the guests. 

As I said in another thread, the existence of "extenuating circumstance" is completely unfair to any host and Airbnb should offer guests the option to buy travel insurance (either by partnering with a travel insurance company or provide by themselves) to cover unforeseeable situations. Even Brian Chesky admitted that the establishment of COVID-19 EC is based on the consideration of public health, rather than a legal/fairness ground. However the fact is that the existence of such EC makes the hosts bear all the lost while guests and Airbnb would have no loss at all.

On the other hand, I personally don't think this "list" would help too much. Guests can still find ways to book --- Airbnb is waaaaay toooooo loose on the establishment of guest accounts -- I've seen people having multiple accounts all the time and honestly majority of the bookings I receive are from new accounts...

[Anthony209]

Word of mouth goes a long way. I have had multiple hosts in South Maui today thank me for providing them with the guests' full names. It does not matter what future platform they book on, the small business owners watch out for one another because Brian Chesky and his Super Host Ambassadors don't care. Brian continues to line his deep pockets on the back of hosts, meanwhile, we get nothing. What is mind-blowing is that Chesky and his cronies know this happens and they get away with it. The couple has been a member since 2016 and goes from one review to zero. How is that possible Brian Chesky? Sounds to me like there are guests who take full advantage of the EC policy and you let them get away with it. 

The "ambassador" said that Brian Chesky's organization has an internal validation processing team to verify whether the uploaded documentation from guests is valid. I don't buy it for a cent. Who on this "processing team" is going to call a medical professional late at night when most labs, doctor offices are closed? The decision was instantaneously made without any "validation" on Airbnb's end. They claim they validated the information, which in fact, anyone can forge a document and upload it. This is not rocket science. Guest get away with it, Airbnb Ambassadors get paid, Chesky makes money, and hosts,,,,,well, we get _________d. 

[Tonya118]

Hi Anthony.

I think a Do Not Rent list is an excellent idea.  I have a friend that lives in Brooklyn,  NY. The very first guest that she had trashed her place.  When she returned to her apt , the unit smelled terrible and there was drug paraphernalia all over the apt. and her furniture was damaged. 

The person who rented her place closed their page down. Consequently, she immediately stopped doing Airbnb.  Maybe you were better off  not allowing such an irresponsible person stay in your condo after all. Sorry for your terrible experience. 

[Normen0]

@Anthony209 We aren’t in an area such as yours where there is such high traffic and units

in close proximity.
I have three listings of my own and cohost multiple other listings for which I also do the communication. When I decline someone from one because of either a previous bad stay or games such as you have mentioned or abusive communication, I take some particular joy when they inquire at another one I host or cohost and I get to greet them in that message thread. Lol. 
I hosted a FB page for landlords when we had long term rentals for such a purpose. I was advised that it was illegal to do so, so we kept it hush hush.  
I if we’re in you’re position, I would do the same. 

[Basha0]

I am a ling time member (host) with maybe one review. Too busy hosting to go on vacation! I’d rather have a long time member with no reviews than a brand new member with no reviews.