How do you make guests read house rules?

[Carol90]

Most do not read house rules and so break them, even the simplest. Contemplating adding in the welcome message, but how to write it without putting off guests?

[Dede0]

I don't think you can MAKE the potential guests read the house rules, but you CAN make the guests CLAIM that they've read them, which could be very helpful in case of problems. What we do is that every time we receive a booking request, we follow up with a boilerplate message that starts off with:

"Thanks for contacting us! We hope to have you as a guest. Before we approve your booking request, please read our brief House Rules (below) and Cancellation Policy (online) and let us know that you're okay with them:"

And then we present our half-dozen pretty blunt and clear House Rules. If the requestor doesn't respond within 18 hours (we don't even wait the full 24), then we decline the request. If they DO respond affirmatively (which 99% do), then we approve their request. And, not coincidentally, then have their "confirmation" on record in the AirBnB messaging system. Which might come in handy later.

We have had exactly ZERO problem guests in the past year. Besides requiring confirmation of the House Rules, we also 1) require verified IDs, and 2) only approve guests who have at least two positive reviews. We don't discriminate on ANY basis -- we don't care about race, sexual orientation, whatever; but only about ID verification, positive reviews, and proper personal interaction. We've had 99% GREAT guests ever since we started our listing.

[Carol90]

This is a good idea! I will rework it and add to my IB message if you don't mind.

I  think your approach  shows from the word go, you are serious about and stand by your rules and could explain no issues in one year!

[Dawn33]

I do the same thing above and ask for them to confirm their guest count. I have had some recent "miscounted" requests lately.

[Dede0]

@Dawn33 One of the house rules we send to the prospective guest explains that we don't allow more than 2 guests under any circumstance, that one of us lives directly below the apartment, and that we'll know if they try to bring in add'l guests. We mention how embarassing it would be for all of us if we had to have AirBnB cancel their stay w/o a refund. The only time anyone has even tried to sneak in an extra person, it was a very young baby. We let that ride.

[Dawn33]

@Dede0 Can you check on your phone and see if you can read your house rules clearly?  I have an iPhone and mine are showing up, but super chopped up and not complete.

[Dede0]

@Dawn33 I have an iphone and, yes, the house rules look totally fine. A coupole of questions... Do you use the Chrome browser to enter your house rules? Even if so, you *might* need to use this little trick to make sure you have a blank line between each rule (not sure if this is part of your problem, but I'm throwing this out there): Even if you've typed a blank line between each rule, go back and, on that blank line, type a single blank space (space bar). That will ensure that no matter what browser the viewer is using, they'll see a blank line between rules.

[Dawn33]

@Dede0 Thank you for getting back to me. My rules are completely butchered when I click on mine via phone.  I will check on a Chrome browser. Thank you again.

[Dawn33]

[Dede0]

@Dawn33 You listing's house rules look totally normal to me, viewed in four different ways: In both the Chrome and Safari browsers on my laptop, in the AirBnB app on my iPhone, and even in the Safari browser on my phone. Are they still appearing whacky to you, or have you done something to "repair" them?

(BY the way, when I mentioned the Chrome browser, I was referring to using it to edit the rules, not just view them. AirBnB used to state that Chrome was the only fully-supported browser for managing listings. I don't know if they still prefer it or not.)

[Dawn33]

Thank you, @Dede0! I haven't done anything to fix what I am seeing since I didn't want to make matters worse. 😂

Thank you for checking on your end.  

[Barb6]

@Carol90  I have put a code word in my rules. The guests must respond with that code word inorder to book. They may just scan for the word but I know they at least know where the rules are.

[Carol90]

@Barb6 Thanks that is creative!

[Jason91]

Your house rules are a saved message you can resend to each guest who is booking without having to retype the entire thing.