Is this a red flag?

[Elizabeth2494]

Hi, all.  As a new host, I am trying to be flexible about my minimum stay policy in order to build up momentum.  Last Friday I got a booking for 8 people (my house's max) for one night from a Friday to a Saturday in May, with no note alongside it.  I sent my usual nice welcome note to the guy, with the following addendum at the end: "As a new host, I would love to get a better sense of what bring our guests to us - can you shoot me a note letting me know the purpose of your trip?"  No response.  Yesterday afternoon (Monday) I asked him "Hi - following up on this, can you please let me know the purpose of your trip?" with a little more info on the bed situation given the size of his group (some of the beds are bunks and full-out futons).  No word again.

He does have one review from this past fall and it was a standard "no problems with this guest" sort of thing.

I'm feeling very nervous about this guest, but wanted to run this past you more experienced hosts since I'm not sure if I'm just being new-host-nervous.  Is it normal for guests to not respond to any host messages?  Is a large group for a one-night stay a likely indicator of a party?  Can I rely on one good review?

All that said, what would you guys do in this situation?  I understand that there are penalties for hosts cancelling, and that my concerns about them partying being conjecture, but then again, I don't want them to trash the home and disturb the neighbors either...

For what it's worth, now I changed the minimum nights up to 2 in order to limit this kind of situation in the future.

Thanks!

[Colleen253]

@M199 Ditto Ann, I did not suggest calling the guest.

[John5097]

@Elizabeth2494 

Using Instant Book allows three penalty free cancelations. You can do this yourself or call CS. I would try and do it yourself. Go to the reservation and click on the cancel option. It will give you options to choose from. You have to be careful here. Only one or two of the options are without penalty. It changes. I think the only one is "Not a good fit" is one of the only penalty free options and it will say so for which ever one you choose, before proceeding. This changes so often a lot of host still think "I'm not comfortable with this guest" is penality free but as I recall host has to provide proof. But which ever one you select it will let you know how many of the 3 cancelations you have left. (And this all may have changed again) 

BTW I've done this with a guest who also had zero communication when making the reservation. ABB had changed the settings. And guest simply wouldn't respond at all so I just couldn't accept a guest with zero communication at all and blank profile. (You can go into your Instant Book settings and click on require guest to include a message when making a reservation and you can include instructions on what info they should provide that the guest will see when checking out. 

Another recent Instant Book had a blank profile and no phone number. I called customer support to cancel it, and they contacted the guest who provided it again, I suppose, as the customer support suddenly claimed it was there. I refreshed the page and the phone number magically reappeared. That is also a bare minimum I need to accept a guest, and first time that ever happened. 

At any rate this was the reason Instant Book has been allowed three cancelations. 

I host over a 100 reservations a year and this would be very common trying to chaise down guest to provide even the most basic info, so its essential to include some brief instructions on what info they need to include when making the reservation. 

[Colleen253]

@John5097 "...this would be very common trying to chaise down guest to provide even the most basic info, so its essential to include some brief instructions on what info they need to include when making the reservation."

If only people would read and follow the instruction to provide certain info. None of my IB guests provide the info I request in the pre booking message. The only reason I used IB is to avoid the dreaded 'Awaiting Verification/Payment' Requests from blocking my calendar. 

[John5097]

@Colleen253 I've only had one who didn't provide exact info. They also asked for check out instructions which are on a stand on the info table in bold which means they didn't read anything. Still good guest, a couple with ten very positive reviews.  

I also live at the same property so don't need to be as vigilant.  

I liked request to book but wish it had some of the same features as IB. I've only declined one guest out of 300 when I used RTB for a week, once again no communication. I may still may try RTB but I don't need much info, just a message, so like the option to request info during reservation process. 

[John5097]

@Colleen253  I was only explaining some features of Instant Book that the OP may not have been aware of. As many of the post suggested she cancel the reservation, including yours, I believe. I only explained there were three penalty free cancelations and a few other features. The question she cited is also the one of the ones I ask and haven't had any issues with IB. I realize some host request a lot more info, so its up to each host to choose which method works for them. 

[Colleen253]

@John5097 All I ask is for the booking guest to supply the full names of all other guests directly to me in their booking message. It's simple, direct, clear. I am baffled as to why it gets ignored. Every time.

[John5097]

@Colleen253 

That is strange. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered how you managed some of your booking requirements.  

One thing I don't like about IB, is that a guest was able to book with two recent bad reviews and 4.5 stars overall. The guest also was a host. Go figure, right? I didn't cancel and it still worked out well. As it turned out a dumpster got dropped off and picked up at 6:10 am during their stay 30 feet from their bedroom window. It all ended well and no complaints. Thank goodness. But would not trust IB as guest with two bad reviews and 4.5 rating can book. I recall another one also a while ago. No written review but had a less than 5 star overall review and smoked in open doorway or something. Its a challenging process for me but so far nothing bad. I expect some minor things. 

I agree I just want some basic info during reservation. A blank screen just doesn't work for me.  

[M199]

@Ann72   @Colleen253 

My apologies to you both, it was a general comment to the conversation from host postings at that time. No offense intended.

[Elizabeth2494]

Thank you, everyone!  I didn't know about the question feature in Instant Book so will get that set up ASAP and will go ahead and cancel this specific guest.

[Emilia42]

@Elizabeth2494 If you are going to use Instant book you NEED a pre-booking message. Right now you don't have one set up. Go into your Instant Book settings and create an initial message that guests will be prompted to respond to when booking. A large portion of guests will comply with this.

As it stands now, guests are simply able to click 'book' with not a word of communication. Your guests probably does not have notifications turned on and is not getting your messages until they eventually log back into Airbnb.

[Gillian166]

i've had plenty of guests who don't interact. If people are used to hotels they are used to not sharing their life stories with the vendor, and this is no different. I personally don't get overly chatty when I travel. As a host I am way more chatty because i'm promoting my local region, but 20% of guests prefer to remain silent. This isn't a red flag, is just normal, not everyone wants to chat. 

[Colleen253]

@Gillian166 Ignoring a request for information from a host is not the same thing as just preferring not to interact or chat. Booking related questions require answers. It’s non negotiable. 

[Gillian166]

@Colleen253  well, YOU say it's non-negotiable, but guests don't know that, because if they are used to hotels they have no clue that airbnb can be very different. and not every abb host requires a chat, so your personal preference is exactly that.   I suggest trying to understand that, guests have vastly different experiences and hosts who are too demanding might not be seen in a positive light. Just this week i had 1 person say how weird it was to have to respond with a code word that i had hidden into my guest info, and I have to agree with them.  I personally don't want to read pages of "rules" just to stay 1 night somewhere, and especially if this one place is very ordinary (at least my place is not ordinary, but still having all these rules feels wrong to me, even if i know they are just to protect me from libel, but what a terrible reason!), but hosts who make me submit to all sorts of regulations to stay in their ordinary offering are a bit off-putting. 

[Colleen253]

@Gillian166 How does it matter if a place is ‘ordinary’ or otherwise? What’s that got to do with it? Any Airbnb is still someone’s personal property which is important to them and that they are solely responsible for. It’s still something they mean to protect. If a potential guest doesn’t care for my house rules, doesn’t want to answer my questions, and finds me off putting because I dare to have them, that’s more than fine with me. Those are massive red flags to me, and I’m thankful when a guest starts waving them before I hand the keys over. After all, if they show that little regard at booking stage, how will that translate into how they treat my property?

[Ann72]

I agree about excessive rules @Gillian166 but the OP's guest was bringing 5 people and staying for one night.  That could be a party, and with no communication, I wouldn't have wanted this guest either.  In general I don't need to hear from the guests (no news is good news, in my mind), but I don't like it when they can't or won't answer simple, non-obtrusive questions.  It only takes a brief exchange to set a host's mind at rest.