college students requesting rental

college students requesting rental

We are new (first guests arriving this weekend) and we rec'd our 3rd request for a booking in Feb.  First 2 we loved their reviews and they have stayed at Airbnb's many times so looking forward to their stays.  This 3rd request is from a college student who wants to bring 3 of his buddies for a week of skiing that's close to our house.  Because this is our house, I'm having a bad feeling about 4 college kids staying a full week (we live 11 hours away) and rely on a neighbor 1/2 mile away to help us.  One of the problems is I accidently "pre-approved" this without thinking this through.  Have the more "seasoned" renters here gone through something like this before and if so, what is your recommendations.  I truly rely on my gut feelings, and this one is hurting... I wish I had known about the community prior, I've learned so much in these posts already of things I need to do and change for future guests.  Anyone have advice on this one?

 

Bob

19 Replies 19
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

@Bob-and-Karen1  Does the 3rd guest's profile meet your requirement of previous positive reiews?  If not, you might contact Air BNB to see if you can reverse the pre-approval to a decline.  Alternatively, you might ask the guest some pointed questions about plans for the ski week with friends.  Express your concern about any party activities and confirm that the guest has read your rules.  If you do not get an appropriate response, that would support your desire to reverse your pre-approval.

Thanks Linda, the 3rd guest profile has a picture, member since Jun '16 and verified but no reviews... another concern of mine.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

I think you didn't get REQUEST but INQUIRY. Because if that was a request and you preaproved it,  it would be booked already

You can withdraw your preaproval without any problems. If you don't have instant book on than they will not be able to book

 

 

Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Bob-and-Karen1

I may be wrong, but my alarm bells are chiming.

 

Your listing is in a remote area - meaning no supervision (yikes!)

 

You have no security deposit. An open invitation that they would not be charged if they trashed the place.

 

You are surprisingly cheap for 6 persons.

 

Your ad also says "Extra guests: No charge". An unfortunate wording by Airbnb. AND an open invitation to no-good-doers and to invite the rest of the gang!!

Change your booking settings to an extra charge of x amount after maybe 4 guests.

 

You have no reviews or references, and from what I've seen is that new hosts love to be targeted by college kids due to the above.

 

Do retract your pre-approval.

 

And honestly, I would not have Instant Book on until you have more experience as hosts in handling difficult or suspicious situations. Otherwise you'll be opening yourselves up to even more chances for something to go wrong.

 

Wishing your happy hosting! 

 

Thanks for your reply!  I changed everything you recommended and re-tracted his pre-approval.  If you turn off "instant book" Airbnb hit's you with all these things like 1) your listing won't be highlighted in search, so you may get fewer reservations 2) You'll only have 24 hours to respond to request without penalty and 3) you'll lose instant book controls like penalty-free cancellations or requiring positive reviews.  Seems like some things not worth losing?  

 

Also, on the security deposit... why wouldn't you just max it out since no charges or authorizations will be made unless I make a claim with Airbnb within 14 days?  

BNB says that because it wants hosts to use Instant Book. I've never had it on and have the bookings I want.

 

You don't need penalty free cancellations because you can see whether the guest fits yours property by their booking request and you have 24 hours to message back and forth to make sure there is a good fit.

 

If a guest doesn't meet your house rules, then you can cancel anyway regardless of whether or not you have instant book.

 

I don't really understand your point about the deposit. 

@Bob-and-Karen1  I hope you are glad you posted on this site.  Seems you have gotten great advice from some of the most experienced hosts and you have already incorporated some of it. Good for you!  I am also a bit confused by your Security Deposit question.  On this platform, the security deposit is not actually collected but the amount can be accessed should there be a claim.  Since even a good guest can have an accident that is expensive to correct, it is best to have a SD that can be easily accessed.  Please look at the Help Center articles about security deposit.  Most other SD are handled differently.  Check out your competition for an idea of how much you need to have.

 

As to Instant Book, I have it turned on and you may want to do so as well.  However, you need to have a few guests under your belt so you can quickly determine when an IB guest is not a good fit.  It's not a bad thing to take it slow.  You have a wonderful listing and will do well, but best not to move faster than you can handle.  Remember when you learned to ride a bike...?:)

Thanks everyone for all your replies and I'm understanding this SD much better!  Not to drag this out even further, but after retracting the "pre-approval" the guest instantly emailed me saying he was still working on getting guys together (red flag?) and I responded back saying "I was uncomfortable hosting anyone who did not have reviews on Airbnb"; he has since emailed me back stating he had already booked airfare and rental car (kind of strange since he stated he was still working out details) but I believe bottom line I did not approve his stay so therefore I have no obligation to approve him, right?  He has inquired again, I assume I just hit "decline" ... am I missing anything here? Can he push this back to Airbnb with any type of complaint?

@Bob-and-Karen1

No he can't. If he keeps bothering you can always report him (little gray flag in message corner) and state as reason that you are uncomfortable with hosting a group of very young college students of which all participants are also not even know  yet.

@Bob-and-Karen1

 

"Also, on the security deposit... why wouldn't you just max it out since no charges or authorizations will be made unless I make a claim with Airbnb within 14 days? "

 

Not sure what you mean with max it out... @Linda108 explained it well. Also consider that even having a security deposit isn't a guarantee of getting your losses back if you don't go through the process back properly, and even making a claim doesn't mean Airbnb actually decides (yes, they decide and often it's No) that the host is to be reimbursed. Or sometimes the reimbursement will only cover  (a small) part of the damage. And the security deposit isn't collected from the guest right away. What it does is more psychological and helps instill the fact into a guest's mind that they WILL be held accountable. So a larger deterrent for some.

 

 

 

" turn off "instant book" Airbnb hit's you with all these things like 1) your listing won't be highlighted in search, so you may get fewer reservations 2) You'll only have 24 hours to respond to request without penalty and 3) you'll lose instant book controls like penalty-free cancellations or requiring positive reviews.  Seems like some things not worth losing?"

 

I can't remember the exact data but Airbnb's goal was to have a million or so IB listings by the beginning or middle of this year, and what better way to push people into it than with such 'threats'.

Even I (rental of room in my home) decided to give it a try several months back to either alleviate my fears or be cured for good. Beefed up my house rules even more, set the highest guest booking  permission (only with positive reviews). And the first booking was by somebody who obviously didn't bother to read my house rules. So had to have that undone, but I decided then and there that IB was going to be too stressful for me. And even my finger trembled to hit the Yes button after I got that list of negative things that would happen to me!

 

And @Linda108's advice is sound. There are too many first-time hosts who drank the Airbnb Koolaid and were overwhelmed at first because of situations arising due to IB and their inexperience at hosting. Hosting muscle needs to be built up over time. 

 

As @Helen3 says, without IB you can vet your guests better. It's true that if they don't adhere to house rules you can have the booking cancelled, but never simply cancel without first contacting  Airbnb about it. But consider - how in your case as absentee host you even plan to even know if guests break the house rules during their stay. 

 

 

 

This is SOOOO SADDD. This is pure BLACKMAIL, these conditions by Airbnb in case you/we cancel instant booking.

 1) your listing won't be highlighted in search, so you may get fewer reservations 2) You'll only have 24 hours to respond to request without penalty and 3) you'll lose instant book controls like penalty-free cancellations or requiring positive reviews. 

This year I have worked only with Airbnb and now they ara warning me to be more caraful, to have paralell an other booking site.

Two years ago I had plenty of problems with Booking.com site, 8 cancelation by them due to their mistakes in rearangement of my info I give them on their request.

They all are the same, pressure, pressure, blackmail.....

alija

Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Bob-and-Karen1

 

Always alwasy go with your gut feeling - if you are uncomfortable now, you will be even more uncomfortable when they are staying. It's not worth the stress.

I agree with @Gerry-And-Rashid0

 

Your guest shouldn't have made travel arrangements without a confirmed booking and I am sure you are not the only host or accommodation in the area.

 

Just decline the booking and include a message to say you hope he enjoys his visit to your area.

 

If he continues to hassle him, you can report his profile and/or contact BNB.

Daryle0
Level 2
Colorado Springs, CO

I feel very much like Karen. I am a newbie also, my first guest being this Sunday and I just got a requet from a college girl who is bringing 6 friends to surprise visit their boyfriends at the Air Force Academy. I have a gut feeling that those "boyfriends" are going to end up at my house even though I have no parties in my profile. I also don't have a Security Deposit on my listing. How much would be a good amount to have for a Security Deposit? I am renting out my whole house which accommodates up to 8 people. I, too, just found this community and I can see that it is going to be very useful.