How do I prevent this mistake from happening?

[Mariam160]

Hello,

shortly after a group of guests arrived at my house I realized it may have not been the best idea to accept their bookings. They have been smoking in my house non stop although I have a no smoking policy and I also sent a reminder txt to the guest with no avail. They have been drinking booze since they got to my house 4 days ago. Yesterday they started putting up strong lights and DJ stuff and I emailed the guest and literally begged him not to have parties. They park their cars on my driveway with half the car literally on the street making it really dangerous for in coming cars. The guests they brought looked very sketchy almost looked like a pimp (excuse my language).
I feel very embarrassed for putting my neighbors in Jeopardy and I have been in a constant anxiety state since they arrived and counting the minutes until they leave on Wednesday. How could I have seen this coming? With the no picture policy from Air BnB, I feel there is no way for me to have known what I was putting myself and others into.  Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mariam 

[Sarah977]

@Mariam160  So it seems that what you were really asking is how to vet guests so as to not let disrepectful ones actually be able to book your place? That wasn't really obvious from your initial post. Like I'm not sure what you were referring to by "mistake".

Aside from reading reviews (which you can't always trust, not everyone is as honest in their reviews as they should be) and having requirements on your listing to Instant Book, it's really key to communicate with guests when they book or request to book. Make sure they have thoroughly read your listing info, reiterate the house rules and expectations and that they agree to abide by them. Ask if the booker is booking for themselves or a 3rd party (don't accept 3rd party reservations) and let them know that only registered guests will be allowed on the property. Make sure they have entered the correct amount of guests. Let them know that you live close by, which usually leads those who intend to party to cancel or withdraw their request. Make mention of your cameras. Don't hesitate to ask questions, like why they are coming to your area, if they've ever been there before. You can do that in a chatty, friendly way, not like you are giving them the 3rd degree.

Most hosts can get a pretty good sense of what the guests are like by the way they communicate. That doesn't mean that there aren't some smooth talkers who can slip through your net. If they do, that's where you need to have a plan of action for how to deal with them if they arrive and start breaking your rules or disrespecting you or your home.

From the reviews I see on your profile, it looks like you've had nice guests and good experiences up to now. So have I. When that's all we've known, it can be surprising and throw us off-kilter if we get a bad guest, not knowing how to handle it effectively. That's why I read these forums- to know what sort of things can happen that I might never anticipate and how other hosts have dealt with it.

[Mariam160]

Thank you very much Sarah.  Yes, that was my question and you answered it thoroughly.  Thanks again.  

[Rowena29]

@Mariam160 @Leslie564 

There have been some very experienced hosts on this thread offering (IMO) some very good advice  May I offer you more advice?

I would spend lots and lots adn LOTS of time reading these boards

you quickly discover a great deal about guests, other hosts, airbnb proceedures, airbnb support - or lack thereof scams guests pull adn a whole lot more. I also found it useful to go to hosts listings and study what they wrote in their description, and also what they wrote in their house rules. I still do this. There is always something to learn, because aribnb  CS are not particularly interested or able to help in many many instances.   IT is also a great way of getting exposure to different communication styles- these are worldwide boards with many hosts from many different cultural backgrounds  -  just like guests we may well be greeting in our homes.  Personally I find a detailed listing, detailed house rules, a firm pre booking message, surveillance at the front door,  a requirement to have the full legal names of every guest staying, and a substantial security deposit, effective tools for screening and vetting guests. I have IB  - If I dont' have sufficient info to feel comfortable I follow up with questions. If I'm still not comfortable I'd cancel.   You have to develop quite a thick skin - it can be much more confrontational adn upsetting than any of the constructive criticism offered here. Just my thoughts. 🙂

[Leslie564]

Thankyou so much for your helpful remarks. I am very grateful.

[Mariam160]

Would you Immediately rule out guests with no reviews or would you have conversations with them before assessing if you want to accept their reservations?  

[Sarah977]

@Mariam160  Here's a thread where that is being discussed. https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Declining-a-guest-with-no-reviews/m-p/1237997#M296683

[Helen3]

I am sorry @Mariam160  I know you haven't reacted well to advice about this, but I agree with others, these guests smoking non stop in your house against your rules have been really disrespectful.

You allowing them to carry on smoking will make it difficult for you with future guests as you are advertising a non smoking space, and the smell of smoke can take days to get out of your place and could affect your ratings with future guests.

The parking where they are not meant to,  the music etc just shows you how disrespectful your guest are, however polite they are to your face.

The guests know that you are happy for them to continue to break your house rules and you won't do anything about it, so they will continue to break them.  

Quite honestly, why have house rules, if you are just going to let your guests ignore them and cause you stress and worry?

In answer to your other question, about 60 per cent of my guests are new, but I vet guests when they book, have photo ID and would never let a guest continue to stay with in my place,  when they had broken so many major house rules and been so disrespectful. They would have been out the first day this happened.

In the UK we would say your guests are 'taking the piss'.

[Rowena29]

@Mariam160 

Just a head's up if you are asking a question of someone in particular you need to "tag" them with the @ symbol - as I did with your username - otherwise in the middle of a thread it's hard to know if you are asking a general question or if you are addressing it to someone in particular.

I  have IB and I DON'T have "must have previous reviews" selected, so I personally DO accept guests with no reviews, -  everyone has to start somewhere.  However I have a number of pre booking questions and I also have a code word hidden in my house rules.  One of my pre booking questions is "have you really read my house rules? what's the key word?  If someone IB's and then doesn't answer any of my pre booking questions or give me much info at all, I'd immediately start to be on alert. Id follow up with questions. If they still didn't respond I'd  get CS to ring them to point out that they had not answered my pre booking queries and were not communicating. If that did not good, I'd cancel.

I have had an experienced guest with great reviews IB and say " looking forward to staying with my family for a beach  holiday. I agree to the house rules" which told me she hadn't even read the house rules. She stayed, but she was VERY high maintenance prior to check in and a pretty mediocre guest. 

By contrast I had a brand new guest with no profile picture IB and say something like" Hi Rowena we are new to airbnb and can't wait to stay in your lovely home. There are five of us, myself and my wife, my son and daughter and my mother in law. We are also bringing our bird if that is OK with you.  We are just looking to have a few days away before we all go back to work and plan to arrive about 2 pm.   Could we have all the rooms set up with queen beds please? the code word is gotcha ( hilarious) 

 Cheers Phillip   

My gut feeling was that this guest would be terrific and he was. I personally do not care about a profile pic ( it isnt' necessarily them anyway, they can upload a photo of anyone or anything) or prior reviews - but I care very much about communication - or lack thereof. 

I suppose I could still get someone who was communicative, charming and really awful, but not so far.

[Emilia42]

Hey @Mariam160 how did this end? Did you ask the guest to leave? Was there any damage to your home? Any help from Airbnb?

[Mariam160]

@Emilia42 

Hi Emilia, I’m sorry for the late reply as I just saw your post. Thank you for asking.  Yes, as I suspected, they trashed the place. They damaged one of my bathroom sinks and took some items. They rented movies from my direct tv. I contacted the guest for additional charges but they refused to pay. Air BnB paid for the sink minus depreciation. It was about $700 plus the iPhone cords they took. They also took my bed blanket and broke dishes  but I found that out later on.  Air BnB just compensated me $100 for the 4-5 nights of 4 additional people, but I appreciate them covering some of the cost because I can’t simply afford replacing all the damaged stuff. Although the sink was paid for, I still had to pay for the plumber for the installation. There are a lot of additional costs and it’s not just the cost of the item itself. 
I had great guests until again this past weekend. Same thing happened. RSVP was for 5 and they had 9 guests staying plus 2 to 3 who came in an out. The person who rsvp’d has sent me this nice and thorough message about his purpose of stay which he said was to attend a baby shower. Asked if four of his cousins can come for a couple hours to wrap the gifts and take pics in the garden. This was far from the truth. They stayed in the entire weekend and trashed my place. The last night of their stay I could hear their voice and loud music from my ring camera outside at midnight. I could see someone on my interior stairs camera dancing on my kitchen cabinet and one guy jumping on my leather sofa with his shoes on.  I was having a heart attack. After the guest didn’t respond to my message i called him and told him that the neighbors have contacted me and are going to call the police if he doesn’t stop. He did stop but still my place was carelessly handled by 9 guys who had no regards for hard work. I keep thinking how I could attract more honest and decent clientele and how I could possibly know their true intent and i don’t have an answer. I put great value and care so my guests enjoy and have a great experience being in my house but  Every time I  see my hard work is trashed like this, I’m upset for days and my heart is broken for these stuff that I don’t have the means to continuously replace.  These guests just left yesterday and I will have to contact them for ruining my area rugs.