Guests that jerk you around

Niki24
Level 2
Durban, South Africa

Guests that jerk you around

I have found that if something goes wrong with a booking, it is usually the host that suffers any consequences - you lose your 'Superhost' status, or you are penalised in some way.  But guests also jerk you around, with no consequence.  I recently had an enquiry, where a student wanted to come and stay for two months.  Because it was such a long booking, I offered all kinds of extras for free.  She then asked if she could book for one week initially, to see if this was a comfortable fit.  As that kind of decision cuts both ways, I said yes.  Time went by, she did not confirm the booking or pay.  The booking was still provisional.  Day before she was supposed to arrive, I asked if she was still coming as I would need to prepare the room for her.  Oh, she had found somewhere else.  Sorry she did not let me know!  Now, I would like to warn other hosts about this person, as this is bad manners. But there is no provision to do so.  While her booking was pending, I could have lost other bookings.   Why can't I report an unreliable person like this?

19 Replies 19
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

 Hi @Niki24,  Your profile shows that you haven't had guests review since last October.  Did you recently relist your private room?  Seems that you have had some lovely guests that appreciate your style of hosting.  

What is going on now with these potential guests?  Your previous posts were also about problematic potential guests.  Maybe potential guests are just different now then they were last year.  What do you think?  Your description is welcoming and projects a very laid back style.  I wonder if some potential guests don't get the business side of dealing with you and take advantage.  Just a thought

Dear Linda,

Thanks for the reply... I have not really had many guests since October last year because I closed down for a while, and only recently re-opened, and the few guests I have had have not left reviews - they were one-nighters and I hardly saw them.  I was just a little piqued by this last one, as she booked for two months and kept that booking up while she haggled about the price.  All I would like, is a facility on Airbnb that warns potential hosts against unreliable people who haggle, make promises they don't intend to keep, want to make different arrangements and 'forget' to inform you.  There should also, in my opinion, be a 'SuperGuest' status, so that hosts can also grade their potential guests!

xx

@Niki24 Hey I like the Super Guest idea as well :)!  Your issue highlights how important truthful host reviews are to other hosts.  It's one thing to have problems with a new Air BNB guest when you have nothing to go on but your ability to vet and it is another thing for a guest to have  great reviews and turn out to be a difficult guest.  I don't really think it is Air BNB's place to "warn" hosts unless flagging a profile has reached the level of pulling a profile, but I do think the host community has responsibility.

Zacharias0
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

That is partly your doing and partly that of AirBnB. As the saying goes don't count your eggs until they hatch. Nothing much matters what a guest says or intends to do until they are confirmed. If they aren't confirmed then they aren't booked. AirBnB is partly to blame because the guest can submit however many inquiries they want to in the same vein  you can talk to however many guests as you want. You could have approved the guest for the week or the 2 month stay and she would have 24 hours to book. I suppose you never approved the stay? If you did then it would have expired and you would have known for certain.

 

Many guests don't respond when they send inquiries, but knowing that in advance will save you the headache in the future.

Thank you, Zach, for your advice...

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Niki24

Niki, the world is full of window shoppers. It is most unwise to offer anything other than a pre-approval to potential guests. 

This 'student' probably asked for a pre-approval from a dozen hosts before finally settling on one....and frankly I think that host will come to regret their decision to host this student!

Niki, people who 'haggle' do not make good guests, you are much better off declining them! 

I would suggest you pay a bit more attention to the detail of an enquiry!

 

I analyse thoroughly the way the enquiry has been worded or the Instant booking message has come to me.

If someones says...."We have seen your nice photos and your reviews and are looking forward to staying for a day or two!"

Niki, I don't want to dig any more, I just want to hit that accept tab.....They have come to me in a passive complimentary way and I am sure they will make good guests.

When they come to me with a request like....We are in your area for 'something or other', is there off street parking? what cooking facilities are there, can we invite a friend for a drink....I want to do a lot more digging, I want to see what their past reviews have been like, what have other hosts thought of them....they have come to me in an aggresive fashion and I have found throughout my life that aggresive people are aggresive for a reason....and that reason is to suit themselves!

When they come to me with questions about information that is contained in the house rules, or they are enquiring about a discount, or they just want to 'haggle' over some aspect of the listing or other....decline is really the only satisfactory option.

This type of enquiry comes from people who are used to getting their own way and it is a form of powerplay for them! The more they weaken your ground by bending a bit here or there, the more they strengthen their own and Niki, they are not like a bottle of fine wine, they don't improve as they go along.

I have had 110+ hostings and I have had the most amazing collection of wonderful people walk up my drive and into my life.

But I accept/decline by my experience and a keen sense of cunning. The one time I deviated in that 110 hostings was just recently and I offered a discount to help a guest! I have had cause to regret that decision!

If you give them the opportunity guests will jerk you around, analyse every request. there are of course the ultimate red flags....Locals, Parties, Pets....some will say third party bookings, but I have not had a bad run with wives who have booked for travelling husbands, a daughter giving her mother a weekend away! I know it is not ABB policy but third party booking do not represent disaster for a host.
This is turning into a bit of an epic so I will just conclude by saying, if you read between the lines when these requests come, your chances of being 'jerked around' are really minimal!

Cheers....Rob

Niki24
Level 2
Durban, South Africa

Thank you, Rob, great advice!

100% agree with no haggling rule. My most recent reservation was a mother who wanted to come to see local university with her daughter. She came from the position of weakness and pleaded to the goodness in my heart to give her a discount for 2 week stay, then midnight check in, then 3 am call to Airbnb to tell them that she does not feel safe in my house. They stayed till 4 pm, took showers, ordered breakfast, left garbage -  all for free. Airbnb canceled their reservation.

Lexi666
Level 2
Dodges Ferry, Australia

Hi - this is great advice. The only aspect I disagree with I the third party booking. You do not have the usual Airbnb protections if the person making the booking is not staying. I have had this confirmed twice in the last week with two third party bookings that were not connected. We do not have rental insurance so we require the protection of Airbnb cover. If you have rental insurance and you accept a third party booking, you may be ok if there is an accident to the person or damage to the property but I'd check the small print. They may say you're listing through Airbnb so we don't cover that. We have managed to sort both bookings through Airbnb help centre by person booking cancelling and the actual guests rebooking and us agreeing to a full refund to the original booker. Hope this helps. Kind regards - Lexi and Steve.

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

First rule of landlording;

"Money talks, bull**bleep** walks"

People talk a great game, but until they commit with their own money,it is just a game to them.

We are lucky in Airbnb, a neutral 3rd party is standardizing all the financial transactions.

We owe nothing to the guest until they put up $$.

For me, if a guest sends me more than 1-2 inquiries, I know they are not that serious.

 

 

Niki24
Level 2
Durban, South Africa

Thanks, Paul!

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Niki24

when you pre approve an inquiry you have a option to block this days so someone else can not book them before the person who sent an inquiry  . Or you can leave this days open  (that is what I do)

yes the AirBnB strict rating system treats guests as gods... something goes wrong even if not within your control - guests will give a rating of less than a 5 and then airbnb starts to moan that your account will be suspended as for AirBnb only 5 is good 1-4 are all bad (even worse, guests are not aware of this)

 

recently had a group of guests that made lot of noise that neibghours had to shut them up... they breached the house rules (No noise or parties) which are listed on my page, they had also agreed to them prior to booking and i had also remind them in my welcoming email

 

guest gave me 4 star rating, in the private message said they were never aware that they cannot make noise

which is totally false but i had to suffer the 4 star rating

Nina75
Level 10
LA, CA

Dont count the momey until it is in the bank... Answer their questions and move to the next guest. People will play games with you if you let them.