Recent string of bad hosting experiences

[Christina983]

Hello all!

I have been a member as a host and guest  for 4 years. Until last month we have had the best experiences  on both hosting and guest platforms.  I truly have loved being part of the AirBnB community! Having said that, I can  not figure out why and how I have been having such extreme hosting experiences this last month. Any advise on how to avoid and traverse these situations would be greatly appreciated. I have 2 spaces: guest house and a private guest suite. These are my back to back guest experiences in the last 25 days:

1. Guest checked in for two days asked to extend two more days. I did. Her card was declined. Guest kept assuring me she was taking care of it.  I was never given a payout. Guest checked out, and no payout for her extended-stay to date. She continues to claim Airbnb paid out but that did not happen. She had a great experience as a accounted in her messages to me. But no payout for me to date. AirBnB escalated team tells me this account is in collections, however I can see on the guests profile she has stayed with another host after me and it appears they were paid and reservation was completed. 

2 . Guest violated rules, guest lied, guest set off my fire alarm at 2 am  and lied that he was smoking in my room. I had to cancel this guest’s stay and asked AirBnB to find him  a new host.

3. Guest did not communicate about checking in for 24 hours. Guest had a 3.5 rating and review and only one previous  AirBnB experience.The guest lives locally so travel was not the issue. The guest is under 20 years of ages. I believe inexperience and lack of  maturity is the issue here.   This guest Finally communicated with me around midnight,  two hours after the check-in time had ended. I was asleep. The guest claimed she had lost her phone. The guest was sending unintelligible text messages to me. I stopped communicating at that point and I canceled this reservation and asked AirbnB to help the guest find a new host.

4. Guest came to check in. We live in a mountainous and rustic area. The guest had trouble walking up the paved driveway, two steps of the deck and walking across the deck. The guest tripped on the deck and complained about the steps. We have a large 2/3 acre property. Guest complained it is dark and she is used to living in the city. She complained she could not see. She is elderly, needs a walker and cane, can not see at night and weighs approx. 300 lbs. she was breathing with heavy gasps just walking up the driveway, which is not at an incline. We have large pine cones from our red wood trees, stones and cobble stone  walkways—-i felt it was not safe or conducive for someone with her conditions to stay with us. She never had asked me if I accommodated someone with disabilities like hers and I do not claim to on the platform. When I told her this, she yelled at me and told me she was a lawyer and would sue me if I cancelled this reservation. I am still waiting for her reservation to be cancelled.

All of these experiences have  happened from Dec 12, 2019 to Jan 4, 2020. What is going on? Am I encouraging these types if guests? Any wisdom with this is most appreciated!

Sincerely,

Christina

[Anonymous]

@Christina983Since you were aware of one guest's rating, it sounds like you've been using Instant Book? If so, I would suggest deactivating that. The best predictor of what kind of experience you're going to have with a guest is always the quality of their communication during the request process. 

[Christina983]

I agree! And you are right. I just tried out instant booking in the last three months. And up until this last month it was working very well. I had continuous bookings without it. I am going to deactivate it. Thank you for your comment!

[Christina983]

In reflection, I believe these “bad” experiences were  due in part on my willingness to host guests who have either had bad reviews from previous hosts, no reviews or no experience on Airbnb. I work to not judge people on past experiences but like to always approach a situation with a fresh perspective. But in this situation and to protect my family and home and to continue with excellent service on this platform, I need to discern between guests  with good reviews and good experiences prior to booking with me. I did ask a series of questions on the message platform,  and some of these guests gave very appropriate and clear answers but, when  they checked in, this last month only, it was a different situation in the way they handled themselves and behaved. 

For me now, only guests with great reviews and experience on AirBnB!

[Sarah977]

@Christina983  I would never accept a guest who I saw had bad reviews, unless it was a one -off and the host seemed to be nit-picking about things that wouldn't bother me at all.

But I have accepted quite a few guests with no reviews and they have all turned out to be lovely guests. It's all about how they communicate with me, and I don't just mean that I put questions to them. A guest who sends a message along with their request that says something like "Hi Sarah, I just found your listing and I love it- it's exactly what I'm looking for. I'll be traveling solo and looking forward to some rest and relaxation, some beach time and some reading. I also love dogs and can't wait to meet yours", I know I have nothing to worry about. One that only says "Arriving around noon", when I haven't even accepted their booking yet will prompt me to ask some questions, and if they continue to communicate in the same "I can't be bothered" vein, I'd not accept.

[Tammi50]

The bad thing about turning off instant book, is that you don't get as many reservations.

I am a super host and recently I started co-hosting for my friend who travels outside the country a lot so she can't host by herself. We just listed her place in mid-December and we have had the WORST guests!  They complain about EVERYTHING! Even things that are clearly in the listing!  I don't think Aibnb should allow reviews from people who complain about things that are clearly stated in the listing.  It' s not fair. 

One guest asked for a refund only AFTER she checked out.  I refused to issue her a refund because I told her she should have called me during her stay and I could have helped her out.  She left a horrible review and said she tried to call me twice. That was a total lie because I never got a call or a text, and she did not try to call Airbnb either.  But Airbnb still allowed her to leave a bad review. So I have to give in to extortion to not get a bad review?????  It sucks because this is a new listing and now we only have 3 stars. 

Airbnb should make guests have to check a box that they have read the terms and conditions before being able to book!  Then if people complain in a review, they should take it down if they are complaining about something that is clearly stated in the listing. 

[Sarah977]

@Tammi50  It's not so bad not get as many reservations if it means the reservations you do get are nice, appreciative guests. If you get lots of bookings, but many of those are big hassle guest who demand refunds and leave bad reviews, that's not very good value. I'd rather have quality over quantity any day.

[Juan63]

In theory you may be correct but in reality it's a different story. Low bookings won't pay the mortgage nor can one guarantee a 5 star guest will be better than a new Airbnb guest. 

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  Well to my mind, reality is that if you get guests who damage things you can't manage to collect on, who turn the heat or AC way up and cost you a small fortune in utilities, or who go through 4 towels and 4 rolls of toilet paper in 2 days, or who make up complaints and get Airbnb to refund them, that doesn't pay the mortgage either. 

But you're quite correct that new to Airbnb guests aren't automatic red flags at all, nor are guests with good reviews necessarily going to prove to be great guests.

[Juan63]

I think as smart hosts you develop ways to minimize these bad experience but of course you can't prevent it completely. When you are a host relying on income to pay the mortgage you don't have the luxury to turning off instant booking. I think that's a terrible idea if you are trying to maximize profits. The algorithms prefer instant booking hosts.

[Christina983]

I understand and conquer! I am starting to  feel less supported as a host and more taken advantage of by misbehaving guests, since December 2019. I still have yet to be issued a payout for a guest whose, credit card was denied on an Instant book, and completed a stay with me!

[Kathy502]

I have been an Airbnb host for 10 years and have had mostly good experiences. I don't use instant book as I feel I need to know something about guests before they arrive.

I was very disappointed by Airbnb's response / support to a recent issue which is similar toTammi50. Upon arrival a guest expressed annoyance that they were unable to use my kitchen. The listing clearly states that the hosts kitchen is not available for guest use, not only in the amenities section but also on the front page (About this place - other things to note).

The guest noted on their review that there were no kitchen facilities and rated their stay 5 stars for Cleanliness, Check in and Communication and 4 stars for Accuracy and Location. However, the overall rating given was 3 stars. This clearly reflects dissatisfaction with the kitchen issue.

The 3 star review was flagged by Airbnb as a reportable issue and that as a Superhost this was not an acceptable standard! Airbnb refused to remove the review which will now have an effect on my overall rating and Superhost status.

Airbnb's argument was that the guest did not lie, on the review, when they said there were no kitchen facilities. I asked the Airbnb ambassador what they would do if a guest had arrived and asked to use my car during their stay and after a refusal posted a low review saying car not provided. I could not get an answer.

I feel that the customer service staff (Ambassadors') at Airbnb are heavily scripted. trained to say the same thing 5 different ways and have no discretion to assess individual circumstances. What is equally frustrating is that there is no escalation facility to address issues that may not fall into the pre-set categories / rules set by Airbnb.

[Kaylee18]

@Christina983 

I've always used instant booking and within 12 months have had only 4 issues with guests. 

I have also taken A LOT of new airbnb guests who have no reviews and they've all been great! The 4 guests I had issues with last year all had 4+ stars and good reviews (go figure! LOL). 

You can always try turning the instant book off and see if that helps. I really think every host needs to find what works for them and makes them most comfortable 🙂 

[Anonymous]

4 issues is quite a lot to have in only a year. Would you believe me if I told you, if your listing is desirable enough and your screening judicious enough, it's entirely possible to get through a year without any significant problems and also meet your occupancy targets? 

[Juan63]

How can you say that? You really don't know what her issues are. Plus 4 issues maybe a lot if you had 20 reservations but not if you had 50.