Warning on student Chinense guests

[Susan1372]

So we have been told by 3 seperate Chinese  guests now that if a friend recomends them to AIRBNB they get a voucher to use as does the newbie. Seems setting up a new profile and sending the offer back and forth doesn't count. Someone is missing this activity AIRBNB. So we get a new profile, no profile pic and no reviews to check and they move there name around from "Tooesie Hu"  to " Hu Tooesie" and then to " Tooesie Mae Hu" or even "Mae Tooesie Hu"   from China it all gets verified because there is no standard for presentation of the name. Only after the booking is made then it starts to come out. That they are students in a group doing a cheap holiday and all the members in the group have multiable profiles  and Facebook pages for verification and if they get a bad review they wipe that profile and start a new one.

The group I had this weekend were as bad as the last group. Yes they were well behaved and quiet. But shut up all the windows and smoked inside a NON SMOKING HOUSE. Left the unit looking like a dorm room. Used 2 or 3 towels a person opening the linen cupboard to use extras.Swimming in the spa wrapped in a towel then dumping the wet towel on the bedding or carpet. We use Chorine in our spa and have a sign up and tell them only use white towels for spa and DO NOT TAKE INTO SPA. and that all Bathers using Spa MUST HAVE SWIM WEAR ON.  Leaving food scrapes on the bench or in the sink when a Large bin is beside the bench.  Makes no difference they work under there own rules.

They just say no understand English - but they are students attending a Australian University?????? they have to be able to" understand English to get in"  time to do more checking Airbnb. Unless they are prepared to have a chat first I will no longer invite people with no reviews and no profile from china into my home

[Robin4]

@Susan1372

Strange how we each have differing experiences, I love young Asian guests Susan, they are very respectful of the property and they treat Ade and I with the utmost respect, and all love our dog. As we are in our 70's Asians do have a strong sense of respect for their elders and they probably see us a parent figures.

They are simply happy with what they get instead of all the time expecting more as most middle aged western women seem to do. I never get less than a 5 star from young Asian travellers, more than I can say for other demographic groups!

That is what is great about hosting, we all get to experience something a little bit different and by sharing our experiences we all learn

Have a great new year Susan.....all the best!

Cheers......Rob

[Susan1372]

HI Robin and Happy new year to you !

look we have had some wonderful Asian guests and many we keep in contact with along with Finnish, German and travellers from USA we love hosting. We are in our 60's and semi retired and I appreciate they are quiet and repectful normally, but these students are not and they seem to be all from one proveince in China. It is like two cartons beer in the front door and bottle of Jim Beam and we are here to party and you introduce yourself and you get no name back and not even a hi.  And I don't mind anyone relaxing at our place with a few drink and a sit in the spa -  but wet towels rolled up in the bed and wet towels on the lounge suite - and we are not talking damp we are talking being in the spa wrapped around them to bathe wet. As for the smoking - if you must smoke go outside we have 3000sq/m of yard  but putting your butts under the bed....come on. we have No smoking No Pets and No parties as a starter in our profile. Maybe I have hit a bad lot of students but all tell us the same thing OH we got a free voucher because a friend invited us to jion and we just change our profile to be reborn

Regards Sue

[Robin4]

@Susan1372, You can report them for that Susan, that is against Airbnb's rules, and by the sound of it, if this is repetitious you have struck a 'pocket' of them. Maybe this has come through a Facebook page instructing followers how to work the system!

I have never had any experience of this in my hosting and as I said, I love them, can't get enough of them.

Susan, I hope you avoid too many of them this year.....weather looks good up there in Brisbane today, similar to what we are having down here in South Oz.

Cheers.....Rob

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Susan1372

Based on the description, I do not think the behavior you explained has anything to do with nationality - I'd imagine any group of irresponsible people who never learned any manners and lack common sense would act that way. 

[Susan1372]

Just strange that the 3 groups we have had are all from the same region of China

[Helen3]

I agree with @Jessica-and-Henry0 this is nothing to do with nationality and everything to do with being rude, entitled young people.

This could just as well of happened with three groups from the same part of the US, Australia etc.

I don't know your check in process @Susan1372 but reinforce with them, when you or your co-host shows them around  that it is a non smoking house and that you will fine any guests found smoking inside to cover clean up costs. (make sure this is in your house rules).

When you show them the jacuzzi, remind them that no towels should be taken into the jacuzzi.

I have had quite a few groups of students from China and Chinese speaking countries who have all been polite, friendly, respectful and tidy.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Susan1372

While what you describe must be frustrating, I think it is way overboard to use the fact that they are Chinese as a reason. We have had the most  charming guests from China. Bad guests come from every walk of life, every nationality every creed and colour - thankfully it's a very rare occurence.

As you mention  their English is limited - we have had that experience too - so perhaps they were unable to understand the house rules. 

If we have a language barrier then we just use Google Translate on our phone and it's fantastic for getting across  the main rules and also answering their questions.

Good luck

[Susan1372]

Hi Gerry & Rashid ,

happy New Year to you both .  

The problem that I am having is only a small group of students that for some reason are getting a promotion that is targeted at China. ( We have had many other Asian guest no problem) BUT these receive a voucher or payment towards a nights stay from AIRBNB  and the person recomending them sign up is also getting a payment. So what they do is delete their profile wait a few days and then rejoin after receiving a invite from there Friend  with a new profile. All 3 groups have told me the same story. And there English is not limited they are using chiense profiles but most have lived in Australia a while but are only elligable for the promotion if using a Chiense profile.

I have not had heard of it anywhere else so really that is what I am trying to find out is anyone else hearing this.  We had a lovely couple stay and tell us about it as there son was doing it for his friends.

And yes thank god for google translate we would be in big trouble if not for it

thanks

Sue

[Robin4]

@Susan1372 @Gerry-And-Rashid0

That brings to mind another thing that works well for me. I had our local Health inspector who is from China write my House Rules in symplified Chinese text, so it makes sense to them....it is like them reading one of their local magazines. So in general, the language thing is not an excuse for not knowing here.

Cheers......Rob

[Ange2]

@Susan1372   Interesting. The promotion could definitley be the reason for the problems and because it is directed at a limited demographic it hones in on one group making it ripe for consideration as a 'norm', a trend, rather than what it is: Airbnb manufactured.  It's a gaping hole and lack of oversight (and for security) when guests can set up profiles, delete them and set them up again with a different name, so much for transparency and trust!

[Christine615]

Agreed. I don't think it's a nationality problem. It has everything to do with how they are raised.  My first guests were the most delightful young people visiting for a concert. They left the apartment meticulous. Two weeks later I had a gentleman chaperoning 5 students for Jr. Olympics and they left projectile vomit in one bedroom, threw away 5 brand new bath towels, generated enough trash for a third world country which was then dumped on my flower bed.

There was a wonderful family with children that left my home meticulous and a family without children that ignored my "no smoking" policy and even put out their cigarette butts in my flower planter.

So it depends - these kids are scammers - but it's important not to blame an entire race or region of the world for the bad acts of a few people.

But you should collect damages if warranted.

BUT - your comment is valid - Airbnb needs to work hard to shut down scams like these when hosts identify them. And do it to protect future hosts.

[Susan1372]

Thanks for your reply Christine  and  Happy New Year  ,

I am not picking on a race - but just strange this is the only place we are getting this promotion from. In fact in the last 6 months of 2018 I have had so many inquires from China it is not funny.  And for some reason I don't always get a translate automatically so a bit of mucking around to sort out what they want.

My main reason I put this up  is to see if anyone else had the same thing going on in there area

Thanks Sue

[Cathie19]

Hi @Susan1372. @Robin4 Is on the mark here..

If any host has a particularly high demographic of guests, who does not have English as their first language, I’d be looking to the nearby university for someone to translate your basic house rules into the languages of your more regular guests. Many students would be happy to do this for a small fee, as they need the money.  You can always crosscheck the information with a second interpreter to ensure the information scribed is accurate.

Make sure you have the house rules available in soft copy if you need to send them to the guest through Airbnb messages, as well as a hard copy to show them on check in. You have covered the basics and then lack of understanding is avoided.

However, I feel they are a group of immature students who are scamming. I’d be notifying Airbnb and giving them bad reviews, and block them from  rebooking. 

Maybe request on arrival, that you require a copy of all guest and visitor drivers licences or government ID for cleaning and damage security. Use your phone to take a shot, then you have the exact details for Airbnb. You can send the images collectively back to them thanking them for their assistance, via the Airbnb message board. This can be for any guest...

I had a bad feeling about a group end of last year, and stated this would be a requirement on arrival, and no surprises, they cancelled.

[Huma0]

I'm not sure if everyone is listening to what @Susan1372 is saying. I don't believe she is discriminating against a whole nationality, but perhaps the title of the post was a bad choice of words.

I'm reading this as @Susan1372 talking about a number of Chinese students misusing a voucher that is currently being promoted to a specific region in China. These students have worked out how to scam the system and are perhaps spreading the info word of mouth or more likely through social media.

Creating a new account to do this protects them from the fall out of bad reviews and they therefore behave badly and yes, some groups of young people WILL behave badly regardless of their nationality (and sometimes regardless of their upbringing) if they can get away with it. Very often that is the nature of being young and let loose on the world for the first time. Most of them will grow into responsible adults, but for now, you do not want them in your property!

Please give the lady a break! She is trying to warn others of a specific scam (that her own guests have informed her of rather than of her imagining), and asking if anyone else has experienced the same. @Susan1372 I really think your best bet is to speak to Airbnb about this and ask them about this voucher and what they are doing to make sure people are not abusing the offer and violating Airbnb policy in the process.