Instant Booking: How Do We Protect Ourselves from Nefarious Elements

[John1574]

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WARNING:  LONG POST  (what's new) Lol

As anyone who reads here knows, Instant Booking (IB) can be a problem when guests who have nefarious purposes in mind use IB.  Most of the time they have little or no profile, sometimes no photo, and usually no reviews or recommendations from other hosts.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but I don't wish to argue those exceptions.  This thread is about sharing ideas about how to protect ourselves as hosts from nefarious people using IB for their fraudulent purposes.

One of my goals in using AirBnB, and I mean “using” is to never have to contact AirBnB customer service: to have as little contact with the company as possible, to manage my listing so closely and professionally that I avoid the many problems we read about here on a daily basis. I will tell you that I will never file a claim with AirBnB, that I will handle all problems in-house, that I will take the hit financially for my mistakes, and I will delist if AirBnB screws me. Now back to Instant Booking.

Many hosts do not use IB and are adamant about its evils.

I chose to use it in order to get all the bookings I can while realizing I will have to closely manage IB in order to avoid the pitfalls it can present.

To that end I wrote what I refer to as My Boilerplate Acknowledgement Form – I keep tweaking it and revising it.

I send it to anyone who Instant Books.  It has already chased away two very suspicious IB’s that I was uncomfortable with from the start.

My goal is to not alienate any guest that is on the up and up but to gently make them understand the reason for my asking them to confirm the four items in the boilerplate.

I understand I may lose the occasional booking because it may sound a bit harsh and legalistic to some, but so far no legit guest has refused, whereas several suspicious guests have canceled upon receiving the boilerplate.  I say better safe than sorry.  I’d rather make less money than deal with the police, AirBnB, or the stress and unpleasantness that comes with bad guests.

Please feel free to use it if you wish, improve it if you wish, or criticize it if you wish --  it is a gift back to this community for all I have learned here.

---------------------------------------------------------  My BoilerPlate Acknowledgement Form  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Gustavo DeGuest,

Thanks for using Instant Booking to book XYZ House, our AirBnB.

We look forward to hosting you.

But before we confirm your Instant Booking, please read the following and provide the four (4) necessary acknowledgements for confirmation.

AirBnB instituted a penalty free cancelation policy for Hosts who use Instant Booking (IB): IB is a real convenience for guests. That is probably why you used it. 

However, some people have begun using IB for nefarious purposes, creating fake profiles, misusing the platform to defraud, and even using accommodations for criminal enterprises.

Many of these types of people are new to AirBnB, have joined recently, have no profile picture, few if any recommendations from other hosts and communicate in a suspicious manner.

As a host I can cancel any reservation made with IB without question if I am uncomfortable with a guest, based on their profile, their communication or their behavior.

I want to be comfortable with you and your booking.

That is why, for me to confirm your Instant Booking, I ask you to please confirm the following four items for the protection of all parties.

1. Please, briefly explain the purpose of your trip.
2. Please provide the full names of the all people who will be checking in with you.
3. Please, acknowledge you have read and will adhere to the House Rules.
4. Please acknowledge you understand our pricing: Our base price is for one person with an additional charge of $40 per person per night up to a total of four guests. Please, acknowledge that only your named guests will be checking in and staying with you and that if you need to accommodate additional guests you will compensate us using AirBnB. Violating this policy will result in instant cancellation and you will need to vacate immediately and find new accommodations.

Please, respond to this email as soon as possible so your booking can be confirmed -- no later than 24 hours if booking in advance and before checking in if same-day. 

A non-response, a failure to respond, a refusal to respond or responding with incomplete information may cause your Instant Booking to be canceled for failure to comply with AirBnB policy.

Thank you.  We look forward to hearing from you and hosting you in our XYZ AirBnB.

Mr. ZYX

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[Cathie19]

@John1574. I do run a tight ship in preparations, then sit back and relax and enjoy it when the guest arrives and they enjoy the space... 

As you correctly stated, I do protect number one, us and our asset. I come with a WHS (OHS) background, so I risk assess often! Set up to mitigate risk, then you can relax and be flexible with guest’s needs.

John, my prerequisites on IB work BUT do not necessarily stop the newer good guest from booking. People who have a real interest in renting the space, make contact and enquiries to me through the Airbnb messages. They usually give me as much info so I’ll say yes!  The general conversation, if it feels right, still frees me up to offer a preapproval. So don’t feel you have to take everyone by whatever means. You have the control on IB and outside IB.

🙂

Cathie

[John1574]

@Cathie19@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0

You are so right.

When you use due diligence and run an AirBnB using basic business principals things should go well.  The nightmares with CS emerge when AirBnB gets involved on a guest's behalf and CS fails to backup and support hosts.

I'm in agreement about IB:  managed well it should not present a problem but several new threads have appeared recently on this topic that I will link to below.

I agree, C & O, to screen IB guests, especially newbies, is crucial.  No to reject them out-of-hand. I just walked a newbie through the process of updating her provile, getting verified, and she instant booked for a week and could not be gratefull enough for my helping her through the process.

So far I'm loving most of myAirBnB guests, just not the ones who wish to use it as a motel/hotel.  I've had guests who sneaked in xtra people and guests who booked a weekend, never said hi or bye, helped themselves to my wife's incredible baked good and never botherd to leave a review.  Not a problem but an irritation.

I now have a phrase/paragraph I use in my communications with potential guests, IB or inquiry, something like this:

AirBnB is different than the much more impersonal motel/hotel industry where you might be dcealing with an employee of a corporation when booking.  When you book an AirBnB you are dealing with the owner of the property who is leasing their private property to a private individual through AirBnB.  It is not an impersonal process and good communications between the guest and the host are very important and much appreciated. I hope younderstand.

Some more Links of Shame:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Instant-book-for-new-members-without-referrals/m-p/718787#M...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Instant-Book-Hosting-nightmare/m-p/763726#M169170

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/This-is-how-badly-Airbnb-favors-guests-over-Superhosts/m...

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@John1574 I understand that you want to welcome new guests who have never used Airbnb before booking your place.I have actually done this quite a few times and in some cases it was very difficult to educate a new guest on how Airbnb works etc.I have also noticed that many new guests do not know how the review system works.I am still accepting people who are new to the platform but i am starting to wonder if it is really worth it.If someone has enough time to deal with newbies good luck but if you do not just use the IB system with the options that i have previously mentioned.

[Susan151]

I would be out of business if I didn't accept people who are new to the platform. Of my 160+ guest groups so far, only about 5%, maybe 8%,  have ever used AirBNB before. To date, nothing nefarious has occurred, to my knowledge. My worst guest was the only one who had more than 10 [positive] reviews.

[John1574]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0

I definately use those options, Oomesh, and I'd suggest anyone who uses IB also use them.

I use the Verified ID option.  I do not require reviews from other hosts because that would restrict those w/o reviews.  But time and experience will tell.  I'm always reviewing my options and policies based on what I learn.

Like politics, all business is local.  What works in one locale may be a disaster in another.  Also types of listings matter:  what is appropriate for an entire house may be inappropriate for an in-house listing.

But being up to speed on all the options and how to screen guests, no matter how they book, we can agree is crucial to success and avoiding problems.

Thanks for stressing the IB options: they are an important safeguard for IB users.

I would not have agreed to IB without them.

[Jones5]

@John1574 Sorry I am late to the party. I just noticed this post and while I have not had any issues that have turned out badly, I am very concerned about safeguarding myself and my home. In the 3 yrs that I have been hosting, I have had some noticed a few red flags, but I do not have IB turned on. So far I have consistently been booked so I don't feel I am missing out on much. I also have a 2-day minimum stay to avoid having a lot of in and out local traffic. Currently, I host more business professionals that are working on contract and that has been great! I was listed as a Host with Airbnb for work. The House Rules are Great and I will tweak them to include my House Rules when I receive a request, especially if I feel some concern about the locals that have sent reservation requests. Also, I like the idea of checking the guest's ID for myself even though Airbnb is supposed to verify the guests. I have had some concerns about avoiding some of the unpleasant issues that I have heard about lately. 

[Sarah977]

@Jones5  Same here. I've been hosting for 3 years, have never used IB and never will. I am a home-share host and I want to have some dialogue with guests before accepting a reservation. My guests have been consistently great (I get people coming for a beach holiday rather than business travelers) I don't get steady back-to-back bookings, but I'm much more interested in quality rather than quantity. Hassle-free guests, no demanding princess-types, no people looking for some excuse to demand a refund, no guests who damage things, and they all leave nice 5* reviews.

[John1574]

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@Jones5 @Sarah977 

This thread was addressed explicitly to people who do use Instant Booking (IB) as a forum to discuss techniques used to keep nefarious people at bay, those who try to prey on hosts who use instant booking.

Some Hosts contributed valuable comments and ideas on the subject in the first two pages of the thread.

if you don't use IB at all, have never used it and never will use IB, then this thread will not benefit by you stating that you don't use it and never will.

I began this thread for people who do use instant booking and and are committed to using instant booking.

There are many posts, and I assume threads, about how bad instant booking is, but many of us are committed to using instant booking because of the locale in which we're located.

I might not be using instant booking if I were in a locale similar to Sarah or Ms Jones. But I am in the gritty Northeast of the United States and it's essential for me to use instant booking. I am in a city near a number of major universities. Most of my bookings come through IB. A small percentage of those IB bookings raise my hackles, the hair on the back of my neck, or, if you will, make my Spidey senses tingle.

I said, a small, even tiny, percentage of IB bookings cause me suspicion.

My biggest fear is that someone will book to use my place as a party house (like in these horrendous party house incidents that you read about in the paper) and they trash the house, someone gets hurt, even killed, and my business is ruined.

To me that's the worst case scenario.

There is an entire thread on this subject about an incident in California. I'm sure you can find it easily enough: I can't copy the link easily, as I'm using my phone for this .

Whether or not you use instant booking is a personal choice and it depends upon your business acumen, your location and any number of other factors depending on your individual business situation.

To use or not to use IB should be it's own individual thread, and I think it has been thoroughly addressed.

I began this thread for people who do use IB to discuss the techniques they use to control their business while being committed to using the very valuable instant booking feature.

if you don't use instant booking then you don't have the concern addressed by the topic of this thread.

Whatever approach you use, I wish you all the success in the world and thanks for contributing to the thread.

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[Jones5]

@John1574 @Sarah977 While I realize that the topic of concern was addressed to Hosts that use IB. Although I currently do not use IB, I have and based on my personal situation or circumstances will turn it on from time to time. I have times when turning it on is a benefit. I do enjoy having the freedom to make that decision based on my circumstances. With that being said, I did gain value from reviewing the comments. I was not in any way trying to suggest that IB is not a valuable tool in its own way.  Thank you for taking the time out to share your thoughts and suggestions. 

[John1574]

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@Jones5 

I agree with you wholeheartedly, and I think your approach is the correct one, for you have to be flexible in this business or in any business.

I just wanted to reiterate that this thread is for people who do use instant booking not to debate whether Instant booking is good or bad.

See the latest post, below, that is what this thread is for.

Occasionally we get an instant booking that makes us uncomfortable and the one that @Yulianna0 described below is a perfect example.

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[Jones5]

@John1574 I never mentioned IB being BAD or Good. That is subjective. Personally, my bookings haven't been better! I STAY booked. I would probably turn it back on if I wasn't but so far, I don't feel that I am at a loss. People do whatever works for them...I am no different. So just my two cents. I realize the purpose of your thread, however, I did get value from the shared hosts so I am happy I took the time to join in. Thanks for sharing!

[John1574]

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@Jones5 

I just wish to reiterated that this thread is not about whether to use or not to use Instant Booking.

And it is not about whether instant booking is good or bad.

This thread was written for people who do use instant booking not for people who do not use instant booking.

But all contributors are welcome here.

Most welcome though are those who do you use Instant booking and have something to say about the process.

See the post, below:  that is what this thread is for: occasionally, using instant booking, we get an instant booking that makes us uncomfortable and the one that @Yulianna0 described below is a perfect example.

Thanks for your contribution to this thread about those who use instant booking.

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[Yulianna0]

@John1574, good moment for me to see your topic! 
I do use IB, but for sure asking for ID and other possible verifications. Normally it works smoothly, but one of my upcoming reservations worries me. 
First red flag - the guests first message was “we are a couple”. Nothing more, not even hello. 
She did not answer my pre-booking questions, even when I repeated them. With the help of CS I got her answer: ”that’s ok”. Rrrrrr. What is ok?! No info about ETA, no confirmation about reading the description and acceptance of the house rules. 
I insisted and seems that she read something, mentioning that there are too many:) 

I put stress on amenities limitations. No endless hot water, just 80 lt boiler. She asked to explain it, as they have habits to have 3 showers per day... (what?! In winter?!) I explained that only short showers are possible. No reaction. 
Will you give them some time to organize their trip and return with information? Or it is waste of time? I do not like such type of communication at all... 

[John1574]

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@Yulianna0 

OMG. I would not host them under any circumstances.

When I had a similar situation I contacted Airbnb over the phone: you can easily find the phone number for your area of the world. 

As it is an instant booking, you have the right to cancel for any reason, and you have more than enough reasons to cancel just based on the way they have so poorly communicated.

You do have the documentation there in your emails which are on the Airbnb website, I assume, and you should make sure when you talk to the CS rep that this is a penalty free cancellation.

I had no problem with them when I did that the one time that I had to cancel because I was so uncomfortable with a person.

You must stress the fact that you are very uncomfortable and you don't want to host them under any circumstance.  Stress the vague communication makes you suspicious and very uncomfortable. 

Do this as soon as you can regardless of the time of day or night.

That is what I would advise if it it's not too late.

Others of course may disagree with me and they have every right to do so, but it's it's your call though.

I agree with the better safe than sorry mantra.

[Larry339]

I have used instant bookings since I started hosting and have had no problems. @John1574 I also have a saved message to fill in any details missing such as;

The profile must be complete including photo and government ID

Purpose of the trip

Name of all registered guests

Pre advised of any day visitors

Confirm house rules

Top house rules reiterated and sent by email

Confirm no parties, no smoking

Outside video cameras operating

They have self-check-in, but I meet ALL guests at check-in

There have been some initial concerns before all the details were available, but once we have dialogued, all bookings went well.