Be careful out there fellow hosts

[Zacharias0]

I just had my first run in with a last minute skecthy reservation that got weirder by the minute. I ended up waiting on hold for 30 minutes to tell AirBnB to cancel the reservation.

I'm finding that the safeguards AirBnB puts in place are not verified and AirBnB should put in more. We are sharing our homes with strangers and the fact that we can't even get a copy of their DL or ID sent to us via the web is unfortunate. Telling us they are verified by a Google Account doesnt mean crap.  It feels like we have to hound these guests for minor details so we are more comfortable hosting them...simple arrival and departure times are hard to come by, the reason WHY they are visiting our city, the exact names of people and the number of people visiting, what are their FB names, what is their real phone number or exact email address these are just some of the key pieces of information that we need to feel comfortable. All hotels collect most of this information why aren't we allowed access to these details? If left up to guest they will provide nothing until prompted.

I had a guest book today and it was weird because they booked 5 days at the last minute and he only stated it was 1 person for a 2 bedroom house when he could just book one room out of the house (first red flag). Before I approved I wanted to know details about his stay as he just opened a profile on AirBnB. It took him an hour to respond and everything seemed to lack specifics which most guest would provide to some degree (red flag). Most honest guests seem to overshare vs not provide enough details. I eventually approved and sent him arrival instructions. Well he gave me a time frame of his arrival and I was debating all day if I should wait around for those 3 hours. I found a movie and just decided to wait it out. The movie ended and I decided to leave and hoped he could figure everything out when he arrived in my absence. I eventually called him to see where he was, turns out the number listed was a local number, but on his profile it stated he was arriving from NY (red flag). The person picked up and they had no idea who I was or who the person was who I was looking for (another red flag). I jetted back to my listing because the whole scenario was wrong. One young guy came to my door in jeans and tshirt- no luggage to be found and he had a XTS waiting for him with tinted windows and the engine still running. I asked for an ID and it clearly wasnt the guy who had booked and his ID was from Oklahoma and I told him that the person who booked had to be here to check in. I never check IDs but this reservation just seemed off. I made him wait at the door while he called the person who booked the reservation and he just left that person a VM. I told him I noticed it was a local number and he said "we just got a new phone with a local number." If youre coming for a convention and for business you don't need a new phone number. He eventually got back in the XTS and they sped off. I did a reverse search on the number and it doesn't belong to either of the two people I interacted with. Perhaps, a stolen ID, phone and CCs.

I wrote in the AirBnB message for him to clarify what was going on and I didn't receive a response. I didn't want to deal with them showing back up at midnight with  a new story so I had AirBnB cancel the reservation due to being uncomfortable. Oddly enough, I had lowered my rates the same morning to get the rooms booked and this is what happens. This is why I don't charge low rates. If a person wants a cheap rate to do something shady go to a Motel 6.

The AirBnB rep could not have cared less. After stating the shady dealings going on, she simply stated "what do you want out of this?". I want you guys to do your jobs and verify that people are who they say they are so I can feel safe giving my house keys to a **bleep** stranger or letting a stranger sleep under the same roof as me.

[Dawn86]

So sorry.  I too had a shady one just leave my lake house and trashed it!! My sister got there to clean and there is trash everywhere outside,  they spilt something sticky and wet on the tv and it won't come on now.  The house reeks too!! I am seriously thinking about getting out of this whole thing and taking my house off.

[Al19]

The costs of democracy. What an irony. In our place it is mandatory to register all the guests - locals and foreigners - with their ID in hand.

[Zacharias0]

It doesn't have anything to do with democracy. This has more to do with just bad business practices which can also exist under a socialist government.

AirBnB could install the same safeguards and make the registered info of the guests available to host should something go wrong, but they choose not to.

[Debra76]

Yes, I agree!

[Philip86]

Lol

[Debra76]

Hi Zacharias, 

I totally agree with everything you said. I also keep my prices up for that reason, and I have an online form that guests MUST fill out after their registration with Airbnb. I feel comfortable knowing who everyone is that I am trusting to stay at my retreat. Best of luck to you in the future.

Debra

[Mary_Jeff0]

How do you put an online form up?  Can you post yours so I can follow your guidelines?

Thanks....New to all this...getting scared... Can you charge a refundable damage/theft fee?  and if so how do you do that?

Thanks for any help...Mary

[Debra76]

Hi Mary, Please see my reply to Zacharias below. As for damage/theft fee, I believe you can set that up with Airbnb. Debra

[Zacharias0]

What if the guest does not fill out the form? Its become increasingly difficult to get a quick response from guests for things that benefit them such as confirming check in times. How challenging is it to get them to fill out the form which benefits the host? Do you find yourself calling to cancel because the guests doesn't fill out the form?

[Debra76]

Perhaps since I'm in PEI, Canada, I don't have nearly the amount of problems that you encounter in Las Vegas. FYI, after I receive the guests email info. from Airbnb, I send them a very informal form/letter. I thank them for their reservation, confirm their dates with check-in and check-out times, and provide them with a cell# to contact me at if they plan to arrive at some other time, or they can contact me at any time regardless of where i am. I find that very helpful, so that I'm not tied down.  I ask them for names and ages of all the guests with addresses and ph#'s, home/cell, etc. And  I ask them about their expectations, and if there'e anything that I can help them with during their stay, and if they need any information for children. I find that by showing a real interest in their needs that they respond very well, and so far this hasn't been an issue. I hope this helps! 🙂 Debra

[Anna544]

Im not entirely satisfied with Airbnb customer/host protection myself.  I had a death in the family the day I was to check a guest in, tried to cancel (despite the awful penalties i was going to incure) however, the guest was MORE than gracious and told me not to worry that we would handle the situation once my crisis settled.  Now I am trying to figure out how to refund my guest and it is seemingly impossible.  I waited for over an HOUR for an airbnb customer Rep on Friday and never got ahold of anyone.  Pretty bad.

Just thought i would sahre:)

-A

[Rosie--Ron0]

     As someone new to Airbnb, I feel quite uncomfortable that so many

hosts have had a problem trying to communicate with a "real person"

for Airbnb. Is there an actual phone #, with a real person that one can speak with???                                                   Rosie

[Rory15]

Allegdedly there are phone numbers, but you need a Phd to find them

[Helen3]

Hardly a PHD @Rory15  🙂 😞

A two second search on these forums will bring up the answer or just look at the 2nd post on the Community Help forum.

I do hope your PHD was a little more involved and took you a little longer.

[Rory15]

I have done the 2 second search, and the all day search as well.

If I was trying to hide the ways to contact a human being with a precise question that needs a specific answer Air B&B would be the model I would use. It completely useless.

The USA phone number is just that, a phone number to somewhere on the other side of the world. I live in the middle of the bush in East Africa and we have no landlines. all calls are on pay as you go cell phones or true satillite phones. The cost of a 30 minute call is about equal to my daily room rate, so I don't want to ring the buggers if I can avoid it. Don't give me the they call back rubbish, because in my experience they don't.

My one attempt at calling the USA number ended in a hour of mostly holding, several conversations with people where I repeated my request each time, and finally being cut off as my credit ran out. Its a 45 minuyes drive to buy anymore phone credit where I live. I was never rung back and still have no answer some 6 months on.

There isn't an email contact that deals with specific issues, in my opinion that is insane if the object of the exercise ts to help hosts. if someone takes an interst in your bleats about problems chucked out on these community pages maybe you get an answer. It's anything but helpful and advise is often conflicting. There is no certainty you will be contacted, and any tricky questions are ignored or glossed over.

I have had two specific problems that I never get an answer to, nobody rings about them and so they linger on and on.  God forbid I ever need to contact somebody in a hurry.

The help system is not fit for purpose, its frustrating, detrimental to the brand and completely hit or miss.