Picky, picky picky... How do you handle THOSE nitpicking and/or demanding guests?

[Huma0]

Oh, so here we go again. I had a guest check in yesterday evening and I already have a bad feeling. Okay, so she hasn't said or done anything major, but it's only a day since she arrived and, already:

1. Asked some questions, but ignored my questions and then instant booked anyway.

2. Wanted to check in at 1am. My check in is from 3-9pm.

3. Agreed to check in the next day, but was vague about the time and seemed surprised that I would want to know. I asked her in that case to give me an hour's notice, to which she agreed. Instead, she messaged me 15 minutes before arrival.

4. Didn't mention to me prior to booking that she has an allergy to cats. I have three of them and clearly state in my house rules to not book if you are allergic.

5. Making comments about how many stairs there are to her room (not only on the listing but reiterated to her in the message thread before she booked).

5. Asking if she could keep her toiletries in the bathroom, to which I said yes, but then she wanted to put them in my personal cupboard, to which I said no. Now she wants me to provide an 'attractive' basket for them.

6. Complained that the WiFi in her room doesn't work properly and has disrupted her work meeting. WiFi is working fine for everyone else, but I go up to check and there are five bars. All seems to be working fine, but I reboot anyway.

7. When asked if the room was warm enough, said yes, but later said the radiators weren't working properly. When I asked if it was okay to go check them, suddenly she says they are working now. I literally haven't adjusted anything so that makes no sense.

8. Questions about the door handle on her bedroom door. She is having trouble using it.

9. Asking for 'communal' food items that are neither specified on my listing, nor shown to guests on the check in tour, when they are clearly shown which things are there for their use and told not to help themselves to other food.

10. There was also some miscommunication RE her work set up, which I am not totally comfortable with.

So, this is all small stuff (I have probably forgotten something), but has all happened prior to or within 24 hours of the guests arrival and she is here for one month. Normally I would have asked the guest by this stage if everything is okay with their stay, but I hardly need to as she is quite happy to find ways to keep me on my toes.

[Huma0]

@Lenore22 

Thank you for your response. I am particularly sore about this because I have a current guest who is lovely (been here for two months) who wanted to extend for another month. There was only one room available for the whole month that she wanted. She asked me about it when we were out one evening and said she would let me know 100% in the morning but was pretty sure. Knowing this other guests was interested in booking, I told her I would block the dates in the meantime but, as soon as I opened my laptop to do so, my phone pinged because the other guest had instant booked. Now I am kicking myself.

I didn't expect her to go ahead and do that because she had not answered ANY of the questions that I had stated very clearly that she needed to answer BEFORE booking. 

[Lenore22]

Yes, nip it in the bud & let her know you can offer a full refund. I think you'll both be happier in the long run.

[Susan990]

Lesson to learn...never ever do Instant book... that is the red flag for the abuser/user gang who haunt Airbnb for listings that are Instant Book and also no criteria for guests which means anything goes to this caliber of user.

[Huma0]

@Susan990 

I never wanted to use instant book, but had to turn it on after Airbnb really started pushing it and my listings suddenly went from fully booked to no bookings at all. They were simply buried under pages and pages of other listings in London. There are thousands of them, after all. As soon as I turned it on, the bookings flooded in again, and I mean immediately.

I did turn on all the available filters and tried to vet guests best as I could and use the penalty free cancellations when needed. For quite a long time, that was sufficient and I didn't notice that I got worse guests via IB than via request. 

Also, at some point I decided to focus on long term stays and only a minority of long term guests seem to use IB. Most sent enquiries first, or sometimes booking requests. So, it was not really much of a problem. I got the visibility without the hassles.

However, something has changed since the pandemic and I am finding IBs for long term are starting to become more and more common and that's where the problems started.

Anyway, for now I have turned it off on all my bookings. I haven't checked yet to see where my listings appear in the searches but time will tell how much of a difference it makes. Because I host long term, I don't need a lot of bookings, but I still need my listings to be visible!

[Mark116]

@Huma0  Yes, us too.  We ultimately had no choice but to turn on Instant Book otherwise no one would ever even see the listing.  We did the same, turned on everything we could and tried to hit as many key issues in our automatic message.

Did anything else happen today?  

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

I literally just posted an update (on page 3 of this topic). No, the guest seems to have stopped nit picking or asking for random stuff and to be settling in. She did spend several hours today working downstairs in the dining area (which is where I work, so that was kind of distracting).

Meanwhile, I have another guest who checked in yesterday, that makes me feel a bit uneasy and it's hard to pinpoint why. He hasn't complained about anything at all, but seems quite high maintenance too. The two guests are very similar in numerous ways, in terms of same nationality, same jobs (I mean in a really specific way), similar work routine, similar plans in terms of their travels/work life set up, similarly asking for really specific things all the time. So, while the young lady has for the moment stopped asking for these things, he just seems to be getting started!

It feels like it's going to be a rough month, but I am trying to keep my cool and not overreact to any of it. They are just the type of guest who thinks that an Airbnb host (or an on site one at least) has the sole purpose of pandering to them. It's like they have never heard of Google. And yet, some of them are probably very independent and self sufficient when they need to be. They just think because they are paying for a room that you should be the one doing all the legwork.

[Helen744]

@Huma0  I am glad that I am not an on site host having to negotiate people daily. I always tell people where things are available for them to obtain . So if they say'where can I buy , such and such , fine ,but if they say 'can you get me , then I would say "It is not provided , you can probably get it at the shops when you go next, I recommend that you go shopping every day as they are so close' ' have you ever done your own shopping ? ,because now is the time to start. H 

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

Yes, I think it must be quite different being off site. Apart from asking for material things, homestay guests can ask so many random questions because the host is there for the asking. Would they message an off site host about these things? Maybe some would, but I bet most would think twice about constantly messaging their host about things not related to the listing and maybe try Google instead?

I stayed at an Airbnb in Athens for a few days and I only messaged my host two questions:

1. Where could I find the parasol that was shown in the photos of the roof terrace (it was hot as Hades and there was no shade). He said a previous guest had broken it but he could buy a new one and bring it over. I told him not to worry about it.

2. Where should I put my trash/recycling when I checked out. He told me I didn't need to do it. I wanted to leave the place clean though and the bin was very small, so I found out for myself and took it there.

The host had left a nice local guidebook and provided a clear house manual. In my view, he had done his job and I did not need to contact him for every little question. I can figure out for myself where to find the next pharmacy if the nearest one didn't have what I was looking for or how to book a walking tour. 

I also assumed that what he had left in the apartment for guest use (the basics + a welcome bottle of wine) was what I got. I would never have dreamed of asking for this or that type of coffee or whatever. I just went out and bought what I needed. I am an adult after all!

Being a homestay host, I do see offering local advice and helping guests with questions as part of my role and I'm happy to do so. I mean, having the local insight and recommendations is part of the appeal of staying with a homeshare host and 'living like a local'. I get it. Some people just take it too far though.

[Helen744]

@Susan990 I use IB all the time and although it does involve figuring out why guests may or may not sometimes not communicate ,it is used also by people with five star reviews and those who are more than happy to tell you all about themselves.The amount of time that you have to spend with enquiries would be exactly the same. We have two day minimum and that seems to cover most guests stay time . Other than that bookings tend to to rarely be more than a week. also we attract a lot of interstate visitors who really do not know the area ,are turning up for an event and do not want  to miss out on having somewhere to stay.Mostly these bookings happen a few weeks before arrival.We have a conversation immediately and then a follow up after a week if there is no communication and at this time will resolve all remaining issues including cancellation if necessary,it rarely is and then the nitty gritty convo about little things before they arrive. The only guests to truly avoid seem to be last minute ones who refuse or cannot provide correct ID,  are vague about facts and  are not actual travellers as such.Most family travellers who book late and stay overnight depending on their travel times do not generally book two days.So I think the minimum day booking prevents problematic bookings but none of us have a crystal ball but I think the fear of IB is not really justified. H.

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

I was very reluctant to turn on IB but, once I did, I found that it was not so bad after all. I didn't really have problems because of it because it was mostly short term guests that used it. Long term guests almost always request booked, usually with a nice message containing most of the information I needed to know.

I feel like something has changed though. Now, many long term guests seem to be using IB and often just hitting the IB button without sending any info about themselves, just one sentence along the lines of 'looking forward to my stay'. Sometimes it can be a real mission to drag any information out of them. Some seem confused as to why you would need to know anything about them even though they are going to be staying in your home with you for weeks or even months. It's bizarre.

At the same time, I've been getting totally unsuitable guests trying to IB. I had one week where I had to cancel three instant bookings and that doesn't include the ones where I convinced the guest to cancel from their end. Bear in mind I host long term so I don't get the volume of bookings a short term host does. Three or more cancellations in a week is a lot. Before, that would have been unusual in the space of a year!

So, I've turned it off for now. Maybe I will have to turn it back on if my bookings stop, but let's see.

[Mark116]

@Huma0  I don't know if you remember Robin in Australia's post a few years ago where he said he loved Instant Book because the guest has just decided they want the property and there are no asks for discounts or special requests.  I still don't really like IB and would prefer to vet everyone myself, but his perspective did soften my view and show there can be some positives to it.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Yes, I can see that IB rules out the requests for discounts, but I don't think it rules out the special requests. There is nothing to stop those guests making the requests after they book.

Also, you could say the same for Request Bookings. The guest has sent the request because they have already chosen the place and are happy with the price, the same as with IB.

A recent example was an IB that immediately had red flags for me:

1. Third party booking.

2. Problems with payment.

3. Guest eventually agreed to book via their own account but only after I had to get Airbnb involved as it was a last minute booking, so the 48 hour grace period didn't apply.

4. Guest told only to book AFTER they answered some questions from me (I was already nervous about this one), they went ahead and IBed again without answering the questions.

5. Turns out no attempt at payment had been made yet (weird. I didn't even know that could happen) as the guest said she would pay after I'd answered some questions. 

6. It's suddenly three people instead of two. My maximum occupancy and what they've booked for is two. It was supposed to be a couple and suddenly they had a brother or cousin (story kept changing) sleeping in the room with them???!!!

7. Turns out they are expecting to quarantine at my house when literally the first thing in my house rules at the time was something like, THIS IS A SHARED HOME. YOU CANNOT QUARANTINE HERE, or more likely they were planning on ignoring the quarantine rules.

This was only one of several highly problematic IBs I got that week alone. I had to call CS several times. I wasted countless hours on this.

So, my own personal experience in recent months is that IB does not save me time and hassle at all. Quite the contrary. With an enquiry, you can just say no. With a request, you can decline. With IB, sure you can cancel penalty free, but only three times a year, and I could easily have used those up in that one week. You can try to persuade the guest to cancel within 48 hours but if the stay is less than two weeks away, that doesn't work either. Then you have to get Airbnb involved. It's a pain in the backside!

[Christine615]

@Huma0 

If the guest instant booked without answering your questions, you can decline the booking because the guest didn't follow the rules. Just say the listing isn't a good fit, or call Airbnb and tell them you'e uncomfortable. Also change your instant book listing to require the guest to have previous good reviews and recommendations. Otherwise they have to "request" to book instead.

But clearly, if your house rules require them to answer questions, and they didn't, they're in violation of the house rules and subject to your cancelling the booking.

You can also tell the guests you DO want to go ahead and book even if they're not sure. They have 48 hours to cancel if needed penalty free. That works and you don't have to block the dates. (Once you block, the good guests won't be able to book or find you in the system for their dates).

Sorry about your current guest. When I was renting my apartment long term I had two difficult tenants, one of whom admitted she suffered from mental health issues. A test of patience for sure.

[Huma0]

@Christine615 

In this particular instance, the guest told me she had meant to respond about the house rule and just forgot to send the message (it was quite late at night). My IB settings already required good reviews, verified ID and responding to the pre-booking message (which includes asking guests to confirm they have read the house rules). The problem with the latter is, as I only discovered recently from a discussion here on the CC, is that if guests who have already sent an enquiry then decide to IB from there, they don't see that pre-booking message at all. I don't know why Airbnb has set it up that way. It seems pretty stupid to me.

Anyway, I have now turned off IB on all my listings for the time being. Let's see how that goes.

Also, re the blocking, that was again a specific circumstance. It wasn't a guest who had requested to book but lost out because the other guest IBed. It was a current guest who wanted to extend. She told me verbally, and was going to book the following morning, which is why I wanted to block the dates for her. I wouldn't normally have blocked them.

[Huma0]

@Christine615 

You are right of course that by not confirming they have read the house rules before/when booking, they are technically already breaking those rules, as that is something that I ask all guests to do, right at the beginning of my house rules.

So, yes, I could have turned the guest away. At this point though, there weren't any obvious red flags and I did not know 100% if the other guest was going to extend her stay. More importantly though, we only get three penalty free cancellations per year (unless this has changed?) and I save these for the guests that I ABSOLUTELY do not want to host. I've been getting quite a few bookings from those in the past few months. I may have already used up those three cancellations already.