She Came To The Door On Drugs!

[Kristin261]

Listed my private unit and our 1st guest was wonderful!  She even left a "thank you" card!  The next guest....hold your breath, was booked by a dude and then at 3am some women on drugs showed up at the door.  We refused to let her in.  We have Nest so we were totally aware of the liability.  He claimed "fraud" and that the "property did not exist" and demanded a refund.  If I included this words in this thread I would probably be banned for life.  I called airbnb at 3am and they agreed with me that the dude broke TOS and was at fault.

Just wanted to give you all my 1st 24hrs of listing my property on airbnb 😕  -Cheers!

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@Kristin261:
It's not unusual for new hosts to get "odd" guests. A certain segment of the guest population looks for new hosts knowing that they are more likely to get away with whatever it is they want to do. Once your listing gets seasoned you should only get odd things every once in a while. Hang in there!

[Kristin261]

I was a mouse click away from quiting 😕 thank you for the encouraging words.

[Robin4]

@Kristin261 

Hi Kristin and welcome here to the CC.

In over 300 hostings, 260 of them here on Airbnb I have only had one that I would put in the same company as that last guest of yours.

Almost all of mine have turned out to be like your first guest and would be welcome back here at any time.

Situations like that one teach you something but realise that there is a very small percentage of guests that you would wish you hadn't met. 

Just think of all the great experiences ahead of you rather than dwell on that one fruit cake!

Good luck Kristin.

Cheers......Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kristin261  ajajaj 😕

to prevent such situations in the future you could write strict house rules, mention your surveillance cameras, that you live close by, you are experienced host (you host on other platforms as well) , you work at police , your husband is in a marines, you have a military trained dog etc... 😄 😄 It should help

[Helen3]

Hi @Kristin261 

I am sorry about your experience. It is definitely not the norm, and you will get better at learning how to vet your guests.

Like @Robin4 Rob I have only had one bad guest (my first, I nearly gave up).

Can I give you some advice to help minimise the risk of bad guests while you are learning the ropes.

1. Remove IB (I know Airbnb will try and persuade you otherwise) this means guests will need to make an inquiry before they book and this gives you a chance to vet them before accepting a booking. Ask your guests about why they chose your place and plans for their stay. This will help you understand whether they are a good fit.

2. Set your listing so you don't accept same day bookings.

3. Only accept guests with photo ID.

4. Don't accept third party bookings.

[Dennis264]

And 5.  If you're attracting the wrong kind of people, raise your rates.

6.  Don't book locals, especially for one night.