The sixth sense

[Emiel1]

An experienced host will develop a "sixth sense" to trace guests which are probably going to make trouble.

I am happy to share my "acceptance" rules:

- The guest has no reviews and no ID verified

Ask the guest to verify ID

Ask the guest if he/she is using Airbnb first time

No satisfying answer? -->  decline

- The guest sends an extremely friendly ("raving") introduction message:

Be alerted, something is going on behind the scene.

- The guest sends a one line introduction: "i will be there at 15 PM"

He/she is a student or very young. Ask for more information

- The guest clearly did not read your listing at all :

Ask the guest to read the listing and houserules.

If no good match, ask guest to retract the booking request.

- For "long term stays" (28 nights and longer) :

Do not accept guests without verified ID, preferable also with good reviews.

- For booking requests from local people: Ask for reason of stay.

Be aware of scamming

There is much more to say (feel free to add in this thread) , but never ignore your "gut feeling" or "sixth sense" when accepting a guest !

[Denise1369]

I would call them and voice your concern to a representative. 

[Sue51]

I had this happen for the 1st time last night. Why!! Waste my time. There time. Wanted to pay cash but not till later as hadn't been paid ect ect wanted 3 months. Didn't feel right. Only 1st name. Really left me feeling anxious as my space is my home. 

[Laurelle3]

@Sue51 my answer is No! No!No! Always listen to your gut feeling.

[Richard531]

@Emiel1  This is a great thread!  And you nailed it: you can usually tell when someone's going to be trouble.  And once in a while, you'll be wrong!  But 95% of the time, you just know!  Listen to that 6th sense!  And love the other comments that other posters made.  Spot on for those too.  

My question about problem guests/communicators (and thus problem people): Do these people know they're terrible?  I mean, they have to get in situations like this all the time right?  Haven't they been told to buzz off countless times?  Don't they know that nobody can stand them?  Or do they have money from a prior source and pay people to hang out with them?  Haven't enough people told them how awful they are by now?  Wouldn't they have improved by now by being just a little less awful?  

It boggles the mind for me, really.  

[Sudsrung0]

@Richard531 

You know from day one this trouble, I leave it to my husband he puts a stop to it, 

[Huma0]

@Richard531 

No, unfortunately not. Mostly, they do not know. If they had that self awareness, they might stop being awful, but some people will just blame everyone else.

When I reviewed my most awful guests of all time, I mentioned that even the other guests had complained about them and that was the first time that had ever happened at my listing. The response was a tirade, starting off with calling me a liar. Well, you know, those guests have no way of knowing if I was lying about that or not, other than that they should have had the self awareness to know that their actions (which were extreme) frightened the life out one of the poor girls staying with me.

This girl described them as the most negative people she had ever met, yet they seemed to think she was their best friend and would be delighted to spend every morning listening to their constant (and pretty outrageous) complaints. The other girl who was staying described them as 'completely vile', which is pretty strong, considering I never heard her say a bad word about anyone else during the 2.5 months she stayed with me!

The thing is, these types NEVER question themselves, and that is why they are so awful in the first place.

[Ann72]

@Emiel1  I have a new one that doesn't appear before the booking, but tells me they did something wrong during the stay.  They give me a 5-star review, then use private feedback to point out a series of extremely minor issues.  I or my housekeeper find out they broke something and tried to hide it.  Their guilt leads to a 5-star review, but then they use private feedback to blame me for their transgressions.