How to deal with irresponsible guest

[Des1939]

Hello fellow AirBnB community,

I am just hosting my third guest since listing my unit on AirBnB early this month. I can’t say I am lucky with the guests so far.

The first were college football fans who partied at 7am (yes 7 am). The current ones look under 20s and smoke (that thing) and party all night (usually until 3am) although the house rule prohibits those things. I reported the current ones to AirBnB which sent them “instruction to educate the guest and put a strike on his account”.

AirBnB said if the guest violate the rules again, I can cancel the reservation but guess what, the guests still carried on smoking. Not sure whether I should cancel since they  are moving out tomorrow anyway. I now modified the “instant book on” option to work only for guests with good rating. I am hoping guests with bad ratings need to request and I have the option to decline. I am yet to see how that works

My question is, how do you deal with disrespectful guests like that? Do you list your properties with “instant book on”? AirBnB strongly recommends it to secure bookings especially for new hosts like me.

Any advice is appreciated 🙏🏽

[Emiel1]

@Des1939 

I never use Instant Book, as i want to be able to accept each guest manually after considering the request. But you changed settings for IB, so that's a step forward if you stay on IB.

BTW Do not use IB (or anything else like "suggested prices") because "AirBnB recommends it".

[Des1939]

Thanks! My plan is to keep IB and other common sense recommendations until I get more reviews and then I will change those options

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Des1939 It may be that your prices are too low - Anywhere remotely near Airbnb's price suggestions will likely get you bad guests.

[Des1939]

That may be true. I actually set it at more than what AirBnB suggests but you are right it is still considered low. Since my listing is new and  the season is not pick season, I thought the price may make me competitive 

[Elaine701 · Accepted solution]

@Des1939 

Disable instant book, or enable all IB filters, especially the good reviews filter. That tends to weed out the worst of them. 

Anyone who doesn't qualify must "inquire" or "request". And that's your cue to ask questions such as verifying how many persons, are you coming for holiday? Family vacation? What is the age range of the persons staying? 

From their responses, you can usually determine what they're up to. If it's a bad fit, or just smells funny, then politely scare them away or ask a large security deposit (which usually scares them away). 

There's plenty of others who will book it. It's Airbnb's greatest strength. 

[Des1939]

I now enabled all IB filters. I will give it some time and may disable IB altogether

Thanks for the tips on how to vet the guest. Can you, however, ask security deposit if the listing doesn’t have one? 

[Helen3]

My question is how are you vetting your quests to ensure there is a good fit with your place before you accept their bookings @Des1939 

if your guest break your house rules by partying or smoking dope then contact airbnb tell them you want the booking cancelled and kick the guests out . 

[Des1939]

I have “Instant book on” therefore if the guest has verified phone and identity, they can instantly book. However, I just made it a bit stricter so that the guest will have to present government ID and should have good reviews before I accept the booking. Hope it helps. 

I already notified AirBnB and they “put a strike on his account”. But they advised I should cancel the reservation only if the guest violates the rule again which they did. 

[Helen3]

So do I . Doesn't mean I don't check previous reviews or include vetting questions the guest is required to answer. 

and absolutely having guest Photo ID should be a minimum requirement 

[Xyz1]

Does anyone ask the guests to upload government ID to the owners message board? I "ask" the guest if they are over 26 but I am relying on them being honest without verifying it with ID. I have as yet had a guest upload a picture of ID. I have also had guests that said they were the only ones renting and then I note on my "ring" video that there are multiple persons entering and going away from my door. How do I handle this situation while they are renting?