Host Guarantee is not very inclusive or helpful

[Corey184]

Had 2 out of the last 3 guests completely trash the home, broken windows, holes in walls, items in pool. AirBnB is not supporting us very well.

[Sarah977]

@Corey184 I see you have plenty of reviews, you're not a new host. How did these people manage to sneak through your vetting and do this trashing without you being aware? 

You're right, Airbnb support has fallen off a cliff so hosts have to be super vigilant at prevention, because remediation is really difficult.

You have the kind of listing that attracts partiers- big place for 10 guests, pool, etc. And hosts have been reporting that guests have been really bad lately.

[Corey184]

Unfortunately, you can't really discover much about a potential renter/guest until you approve the Inquiry.  And to make it even more difficult, if they have certain number of reviews already, it can be auto-booked.  I turned that feature off immediately.  It is just a shame that AirBnB encourages guests to trash a home, since there is no attempt for recourse.  Some entitled individuals think that a cleaning fee gives them the right to leave the home trashed - with no consequences.  I am very disheartened.  AirBnB has done fairly well with my listing.  Looking into VRBO a this point.  My other properties on there don't have some of the constraints that AirBnB has, and the VRBO customer service experience has been amazing to date.  Live and learn.

That single poor review guest only left that negative review because we had to file a request for money and Resolution Center request prior to the arrival of the next guest.  I have text and email messages from him that he loved the home and that everything was good.  He trashed me as a response to the request for fees incurred to get the home cleaned in time for the next guest.  He also brought unauthorized pets.  AirBnB has done nothing to rectify the situation, and in fact, has emboldened guests like him to repeat their abhorrent behavior.  They won't even take down his review.  Every other guests (60+) have left us 5 stars.  Just this one jerk can ruin it.  I will most certainly be cancelling more reservations now, SuperHost designation be dammed.

[Sarah977]

@Corey184 I don't understand what you mean by not being able to assess a guest until after you've approved an inquiry or request.

I have never used IB. When a guest sends an inquiry or request, I right away look at their reviews, their profile, sometimes I'll cross check to see what sort of reviews they've left for past hosts. Some guests have no reviews, some are new, some haven't bothered to write up any profile info, don't show verified ID. I look at all this before I even answer their message. A seasoned Airbnb guest with pages of good reviews is a no brainer approval. Otherwise, I might need to ask some questions, make sure they've read the info provided, house rules, etc.

Then I communicate with them as much as I need to before pre-approving or accepting. If a guest is impatient to get their booking approved, as far as I'm concerned, they can look for another place.

If you get red flag feelings, if a guest communicates poorly, don't pre-approve an inquiry. You don't have to either pre-approve or decline an inquiry- just messaging back within 24 hours is all that's required.

If it's a request, you do have to accept or decline within 24 hours, but you can dialogue with the guest before doing that, and again, if there are red flags, try to get the guest to withdraw the request, so you don't have to decline. 

If you don't use IB, and become adept at vetting guests, you should almost never, if ever,  have to cancel a booking.

I don't have these party scene issues because I just host a private room/bath in my home, but the scenario you describe with this guest and the revenge review, is a story told ad nauseum on this forum. Spend some time on this forum- there are thousands of hosts this has happened to. 

[Corey184]

Thank you for your insight Sarah.  The only point that I would disagree with is that sometimes, even if they have a few great reviews, at any time they can deviate and be horrible guests.  Also, simply replying in messages does not stop the clock on being punctual in the AirBnB system.  When I first started, I believed that when a guest sends an Inquiry, for example, asking if the pool is open, I replied in a message that it may not be.  Then the guest can decide if the pool is a non-starter or if they don't mind not having the pool.  That message alone does not count as replying.  I know because AirBnB rated me as slow response since the Inquiry was not Accepted or Declined.  I don't do either of those actions because I have not yet determined the level of commitment from the guest based upon the new information.  Anyway, neither here or there.  I am most certainly going to be more careful.  I don't know why AirBnB doesn't do like VRBO does - simply charge the guest credit card for the damages.  All the rules are spelled out - so any trashing/damage should be charged to the guest card.  Done.

[Colleen253]

@Corey184 Sarah is correct, a reply of some sort within 24 hrs is the only requirement with an Inquiry. There must have been another reason why you took a hit to response rate, or it was a system glitch of some sort…glitches and bugs are far too common on this platform. 

“…even if they have a few great reviews, at any time they can deviate and be horrible guests”. Yes, this is true, in large part because many hosts struggle with leaving any sort of negative review. They either won’t review at all,  or will just write something nice. We cannot rely on reviews, and we certainly cannot rely on Airbnb, but we can learn a lot about how a potential guest will behave, through their communications at booking. THAT is where the red flags will show themselves. 

[Sarah977]

@Corey184 

Inquiry: Choices are Pre-approve or Decline or just message back within 24 hours. You won't take a hit on your response rate if you only message.

Request: Choices are Accept or Decline within 24 hours.

You are mixing up terms (Accept for an Inquiry) and maybe confused about the difference between the two?

[Corey184]

Sarah.  I can tell you with complete confidence that sending an email response to an Inquiry does not count.  If you don't Accept or Decline, you get tagged for slow response.  I can show you emails from AirBnB support.  Now maybe they have changed it recently, I don't know, since I now respond with either an Accept or Decline by nature.

I did read that hosts can cancel a bit easier now, should something come up that makes them uncomfortable.  And I will most certainly be doing that when my researching them comes up with any hint of a red flag.

But back to my initial point, regardless, AirBnB should cover the costs of extra cleaning services when necessary.  The vast majority of folks are respectful and adhere to the departure procedures - just some entitled jerks some times.  And in those times, AirBnB needs to step it up.

Thanks!

[Sarah977]

@Corey184  I'm sorry to have to say this again, but you are still mixing up terms, so it's unclear if you understand. "Accept" is not a choice on Inquiries. If you see "Accept", it's a Booking Request.

On Inquiries, you see "Pre-approve".

I have never had my response rate dinged by simply answering an Inquiry. @Colleen253 has told you the same thing.

Perhaps something has very recently changed in this regard, but I haven't read any other posts indicating this is the case.

[Corey184]

You are correct, I had the terms incorrect.  It is "Pre-Approve / Decline".  But my statement is still accurate.  I got dinged for only sending emails.  I confirmed by checking my emails from support.

Enough on this matter.  I am focused on the poor support after the fact.

Thanks!

[Colleen253]

@Corey184 “ I confirmed by checking my emails from support.” 

Know that Airbnb outsources it’s CS to a third party outfit which uses contract workers who, more often than not, are not familiar with Airbnb and it’s policies. This forum is littered with posts from hosts and guests who have received misinformation and nonsense answers from CS reps. Those ‘support’ reps often just pull an answer out of thin air that seems to them to make sense. I imagine this is what happened in your case. 

Re “Enough on this matter.”

It’s important to clarify things on this community board so that new hosts reading posts don’t become confused. It remains that the only thing required with an INQUIRY is a response. Again, there would be another reason why you got dinged, if you did. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tutorials/Difference-between-a-Reservation-Inquiry-or-Reque...

And from the help pages on Airbnb:

“If a guest sends you an inquiry—a question, or any kind of message other than a reservation request—via Contact Host, you’ll need to respond to the inquiry within 24 hours to maintain your response rate. If the guest sends you a reservation request, you’ll need to accept or decline within 24 hours to maintain your response rate.”

[Christine615]

Weeks after I told a guest with no reviews and only recently joined that they had to have a verified ID to book (they didn’t comply) , Airbnb insisted I accept or decline. The guest also wanted me to increase my maximum headcount saying he could make our place work. I pointed out he only searched for one person and even if I could allow an extra person his price would increase per listing rules. 

what’s odd? Another guest with plenty of reviews booked the same weekend within hours so the dates became unavailable. That did not deter Airbnb from insisting I decline the first request. I finally did because it was driving me crazy. 

We need to roll back the platform to the 2012 version imho.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Christine615  I don't know how the platform looked like back in 2012 but I would be happy with 2016 version but with  multi-calendar

@Corey184I am sorry your guests trashed your home, it's every host nightmare. I hope you will be able to fix it.  Airbnb with its pro guest policies become a playground for the worst type of guests so going to VRBO seems like a good idea... but... check if VRBO still charges the security deposit, I think I've seen somewhere they don't charge it anymore 😞

[Elaine701]

Look, if you're unhappy with Airbnb's nonexistent "security deposit", charge your own. It's easy. 

First, explain to the inquiring guest why they are statistically "high risk" (example: under 30's group of males) . Explain why you need to charge a security deposit of xxx$. You will pay it back in cash at checkout time if all is ok.

If they agree to those terms, you'll be happy to approve their booking. If they agree, approve them. Some will, some won't. But if they don't, you don't want their booking anyway. 

Then, as soon as they book it, go to resolutions and request money in the amount of the agreed deposit. 

They explicitly agreed "on the record", and are unlikely to know that it's rather unenforceable, so they're very likely to pay it. If they don't pay it, cancel and accept the consequences. But so far, for us, every guest that's agreed, has paid it. 

Now, this isn't a "sanctioned" Airbnb function, so be sure you deal with this with total fairness and wisdom. It's a damage deposit (smoking in the house is demonstrable damage, IMO) not a deposit that you can keep if they were a bit messy. If there's no damage, ALWAYS give it back as agreed, and it should continue to work fine. But if hosts start to play petty games with this, it will end quickly, and badly. For all of us. Guests almost always win in these disputes. Do it right, or don't do it at all. 

It's also worth noting that VRBO has a real security deposit, but it applies to everyone. You can't apply it at your discretion. And so that means that you're also requiring it from good, low-risk guests, and that tends to scare away the very ones you want.

Also, VRBO is generally less productive than Airbnb in terms of market reach and bookings, and their guests aren't any better than those booking on Airbnb. They also charge more from hosts and have additional hidden charges. You'll need to raise your prices on VRBO to compensate. 

Good luck. 

[Corey184]

Thank you Elaine, that was a lot of very helpful instruction.  Very much appreciated.