Guests who ignore you

[Diana1027]

After three years of gutting and renovating a beautiful lake house my dream of having an Airbnb began today.  I listed it last Friday and it automatically started me on reservations being instantly booked.  Today I have my first guests.  They have never replied to any texts or direct questions.  When they booked they did write "hope you have a fully equipped kitchen and are barbaque prepared" - thats it - no other communication.  So I was scared.  They also booked 6 adults and 2 children.  In my text with checkin instructions I gave directions and told them there was parking in front of the house and in the driveway behind the house.  Because we  never heard from them after the initial booking my husband drove by the house tonight to see if they showed up.  They had driven around the garage in back and had three cars parked on the lawn in the backyard. After a week of rain.  I sent them a text and informed them that is was illegal to park on lawns in our city (true) and could they please move their cars to the front of the house or the driveway.  Parking on lawns is actually against our city ordinance in addition to causing ruts and being rude.  We drove by 6 hours later and they are still parked on our lawn.  I know he gets my messages because he had the code to check into the house - which also including parking instructions.  SO PLEASE help.  What do you do when a guests has no communication with you and ignores your texts and parks on your lawn?  And this is my first booking and experience.

[Helen3]

Most guests are polite and answer you. However some don't have their Airbnb account to automatically receive messages, so may not know you are contacting them.. And a small element are just rude.

In your situation, if I haven't  received a reply I would have called the guest. And follow that up with a message on Airbnb i.e."further to our recent call thanks for agreeing to move your cars this morning"

If they then don.t respond I would call Airbnb and explain that your guests have not replied to any of your messages, are illegally parked on your lawn and refuse to move the three cars parked there.

if you don't have CCTV door install that or video doorbell so you can monitor how many guests are using your property.

If you haven't done so already including in your house rules, that only those who have booked and paid can stay at the property and extra guests on the property without advance written permission of the host, can be grounds for a booking to be cancelled.

[Gordon0]

Firstly, @Diana1027, you've got a lovely listing there - well done. I'm sure it's going to be popular. As for the current guest's initial communications (or lack of), my heckles would have been raised. It's nothing short of rudeness and typical of the type who think we're machines, not people who are simply renting out our space.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you may want to try a little harder next time when dealing with non-communative guests. If no response, get Airbnb CS on to it. That's what you're paying a service fee for.

As for the lot you've got in now - call them, or get Airbnb to, and move those cars!  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Diana1027 

uh, this doesn't sound good ....

- In the future, if possible try to check in your guests personally and then you can give them the access code.  Or at least don't give them the code until they answer all your questions.

- Build up your house rules.

- Call them now and demand they move their cars immediately. If they don't or are rude call Airbnb and cancel the reservation and kick them out.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Diana1027 🙂

Maybe turn instant book off for a period of time. I don't have instant book on at the moment for the same reason and I used to have instant book. People used to be more polite when I started out. Now many guests seem to think that answering the host is not nessecary. I really think it is rude. I don't want guests like that.

Best, Sandra 

[Carl160]

It sounds hard, but when I have reason to be skeptical I casually remind guests that this facility allows No events, pets or smoking and tell them that we have had bad experiences in the past.  Because of that we have a no tolerance policy and have police remove anyone from the premise that is in violation.  They either understand and don't plan to violate, or get offended and go somewhere else.  (With my blessing)

[Quincy]

Hello @Diana1027, 

Welcome to the Community Center. 

I am sorry to hear about this situation. Have you seen all the comments that have been posted here?

It would be great if you could let us all know how everything went. 

Quincy

[Diana1027]

Hello everyone and thank you for your replies.  We drove by the next afternoon and they were still on the lawn.  We rang the bell but they must have been at the beach.  We left a note saying it was against city ordinance to park on lawns in our city and would they please move.  They finally move.  They checked out yesterday and someone had spilled chocolate ice cream on the white dresser and then sat the kleenex box in it.  It stuck like glue and was a mess.  I have three cutting boards on the counter and in addition to using them someone took the shelf out of my brand new cabinet and used that as a cutting board.  It is totally sliced up as it was made as a shelf not a cutting board.  So is this what I have to expect and do you just have to blow things off.  I put a lot of money into the kitchen and someone just used my shelf as a cutting board.  I am in disbelief.

[Sarah977]

@Diana1027   As another poster suggested, turn off Instant Book until you get more experienced with vetting guests and hosting.

These guests are rude, disrespectful and self-absorbed.

Using your shelf as a cutting board, while clueless, is minor compared to some of the things hosts have to deal with. If that's going to put you over the edge, you may want to reconsider hosting. Not all guests are going to respect your beautiful home the way you would like them to- some will leave it spotless, some will leave it a pigsty. An Airbnb should be fairly bulletproof, not filled with expensive things ( not that a kitchen shelf is a luxury item).

The inital message you received from this guest was a red flag. Bad guests send messages which only center on their own needs and expectations. Good guests send messages like "Hi XX, just found your listing and it looks perfect for us. My husband and I would be coming to attend our nephew's graduation and our grown son may come as well-if he decides to, I will add him to the reservation. Looking forward to meeting you and staying at your lovely place."

So when you get an initial message that's a red flag, respond by asking them for further info on themselves and the purpose of their trip and ask questions to ensure that they have thoroughly read the listing description. If they don't answer your messages, contact Airbnb to tell them this and that you need them to contact the guest and tell them to communicate.

Use the Airbnb messaging function to communicate with guests, not texting or phone calls, if possible. That way there is a record of what transpired for Airbnb to look at should there be any disputes. 

All of my guests have been lovely, but I host a private room in my home- they can't get away with much and I've gotten pretty adept at vetting them through messaging and looking at their past reviews.