What are your experiences with bad guests?

[M-and-I0]

In the time that we've been hosting, I've noted bad guests tend to belong to these categories:

1. last minute/low rate bookings
2. Locals
3. Experienced guests (5 or more reviews)

The first two are easy to spot and we can filter depending on the quality of their communication at the time of booking.

The last group is the most frustrating and tricky. They look like decent people, sound like decent people and have more than a few great reviews.

While there are great guests with numerous reviews, I'm talking about the group that seems to think they are entitled to everything and you need to appease them at all costs. They expect you to provide more than what you outlined in your listing or to bend the rules for them. Some will even outright break the house rules (for example come before the check in time without any notice and expect to be able to use the unit) without any concern. Even if you call them out for it, they act like they did nothing wrong and you're the one who's not providing quality service.

Perhaps in their experience with Airbnb, they've found that they generally cannot be penalized unless they damage property. They've come to see hosts as business owners that need to provide customer service plus put on that "customer is always right" attitude.

Through all the experience with hosting, I've now come to be skeptical when I see a guest with more than 4/5 reviews, which is something I used to be excited about because I thought for sure those were the no-fuss guests.

I'm not sure if these people know how to play their cards just right to not get in trouble, and only manage to get positive reviews (when hosts cancel on them, they don't get reviewed) or if at some point a switch turned on and they realized they are pretty much untouchable as long as they stay legal.

When I cancel on these guests, despite the clear disregard for policies, the guests always get their full refund and their accounts are not flagged or removed so they can just continue on with their behaviour. They may have figured, well if I try to get things my way the host will probably accommodate since I'm the paying customer but if the host gets refuses, they can't touch me anyway. Worse comes to worst they could just create a new account.

So I'm wondering if other hosts have had similar experiences with Airbnb-familiar guests and what you think could be done by Airbnb and/or the community to ensure that guests, not only hosts, are held accountable for their behaviours?

[M-and-I0]

Thanks for sharing that! I'm definitely not saying guests in these categories are bad, but that bad guests generally belong in these categories. We had a #3 who instant booked for 2 but indicated he was going to bring 5 and he "accidentally booked for 2" and absolutely could not afford the extra guest fees. We told him respectfully that if he wasn't going to book for the proper amount of guests, we would not host him. He then came back at me angry and said that I could have just waived the fee for him the way others have in the past. No, if you want a discount, you ask first, you don't book and then expect a discount. This is the kind of entitled behavior I'm talking about and the more these people use Airbnb and are treated courteously by Airbnb/other hosts despite this behavior, the more entitled they become.

[MicheleandLouw0]

I find our local guests to be the worst!

[Robin4]

@M-and-I0

I have to agree with the others, no profile photo on your part is a worry! It hasn't happened to me yet but if I did receive a request from someone I can't actually see, and furthermore could not find the fortitude to actually put their name on their profile, and restrict it to an initial, I would probably hit the decline button without wanting to find out any more. You may have a lot of reviews and you may be Superhosts but, you tell others nothing about you! Why not put Mark and Ivy out there and be proud of how good you are!

What you are saying about locals is relevant....people who want to party or have some sort of clandestine encounter do not stray far from home to do it!

But contrary to your first point, last minute or 'Instant books' I like because in all instances they just want to pull their credit card out and book! They don't have a heap of questions, they like what they see and want to commit. Of the 45 Instant Bookings I have had since last November all have turned out to be wonderful guests. I was not a fan of IB but I have become a convert!

The ones you really have to be wary of are the 'hagglers'....and you can pick them by the way they come to you!

If someone sends me a message...."We have seen your lovely listing and want a couple of days away from the kids and would like to book"....Bingo, I can't hit that accept tab fast enough! They have come to me in a passive complimentary way, and I know they will be good guests to host, they just want to book and stay!

If someone sends me a message....We are in Mt Barker for xxxxxxxx, is there offstreet parking? What cooking facilities does your listing have, is there free Wifi and what is the download limit? When I see a message like that I want to do a lot more digging! I want to see their past guest history and I want to know what other hosts have thought of them before I proceed. They have come to me in an aggresive fashion which indicates there is going to be some haggling involved in satisfying this guest. 

They have done it all their lives and it is a form of powerplay to them....Nine times out of ten their questions are covered in the listing description anyway but, the more they require or demand the more they strengthen their position and weaken yours. And hagglers are not like a fine bottle of wine they do not improve as they go along!

So @M-and-I0, I base my decision to accept or decline by my senses...what does this person, first of all, visually look like, and what is the manner in which they have approached me! In most instances I have made a decision before I have done any checking, and in over 110+ hostings the only time I have has cause to regret a hosting decision was the one time I agreed to a special price and the addition of a pet to the hosting. I tried to help, deviated from my gut senses and ended up regreting it....

It won't happen again.

But thanks for your comments, every day teaches us something and it is because of well thought out posts like your Mark, or Ivy, that we all learn.

Cheers.....Rob 

[Sarah-Fortuna0]

yes , i agree. i stay away from" hagglers", and i listen to my gut feelings. i do not like aggressive questioning about my listings especially that i posted specifics in my listings. i hit decline when guests appears like they haven't read my house rules and specifics

[Marsha-and-Cody0]

I have instant booking and have not had problems with people who read and are willing to go by the rules. However when they start by asking question after question I often discourage by not preapproving. Needing attention is not my purpose for hosting. We are more than willing to be helpful but I am NOT the momma.

[Todd-and-Reese0]

Yes!  I don't approve people who ask a ton of questions either,  especially if all the questions they ask is information in the listing already,  and definitely if they start asking for extras before they've even booked. Huge nope!  They have always been so high maintenance but I finally learned to decline.

[Sharon64]

I normally just tell them to read the information and if they continue with the questions I just decline.

[Joanna85]

I agree with a few things others have said.  Guests are all unpredictable...whether they have no reviews, tons or reviews..there is no way of telling how they will be in my home.  I have no issues with IB because guests are unpredictable anyway, so to me, IB or not, doesn't guage how they will be as a guest, so I take IB.  I do wish there was a way to block a guest so I can never have that guest again, but I can't seem to find a way to do that.  I have had a guest who is just wondering around town with Airbnb spaces...doesn't have his own home and is difficult and demanding--not a bad guest, just has stayed several times and not left me five stars but keeps coming back with his sensitive night owl habits and being a light day sleeper.  This is another issue you did not hit on- lots of people are using Airbnb as a way to not be homeless.  I've had several guests this summer who live in town..but their primary home is various Airbnb's.  This potentially could be an issue once they have no place to go the next day---Airbnb rules do not supercede city or county laws regarding evictions, so if a 'homeless' person does not leave...I have to serve the 5 day notice, etc etc and guess what....if I"m booked like crazy with Airbnb guests but have a guest that won't leave until he is prperly evicted, then I will be in really big trouble.  It's going to happen at some point.  These are the people that make me super nervous, the folks that use Airbnb as their homes.  I don't see many people talking about this on the message boards, but these are the only category of guest that we cannot guage beforehand but I know there are a lot of them out there.  Maybe this category is not common elsewhere, but I see this is super common where I live lately.

[M-and-I0]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your experience with that. Unfortunately, it's true Airbnb does not have a way of blocking a guest from ever hosting you again although they should. However, I would suggest that you switch IB to "recommended guests only," so that if you host someone you would prefer not to host again, clicking on the "Not Recommended" in your review should deter them from being able to IB with you again. Hope this may help you. 

[Todd-and-Reese0]

 We don't allow locals or solo males,  and we especially don't allow local solo males.  In the beginning we had some locals and holy cow they were horrible.  One brought home tinder dates. I was furious. So now on our house rules and booking message we say no locals.  I have canceled people who have instant book that were not only local but also a solo dude.  They didn't even bother to read the pre-booking message so you know they're going to be awful. 

[Alicia85]

I don't do local people scary!! I request medical professionals only like travel nurses because they have a background checked by hospitals and only if they come with a travel nursing company. 

[Sarah-Fortuna0]

are you able to request Medical Professionals Only? i didn't know we can do that? i am new too (only 4 guests so far)

[M-and-I0]

@Sarah-Fortuna0

I don't think it's a good idea to do this as Airbnb has a super strict policy on discrimination. Anything even slightly out of line could be blown up into a huge media frenzy risking their reputation in our politically correct society. You can certainly make your own choices when accepting guests, but openly stating that you only accept medical professionals on your listing or in any communications can cost your account. 

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

You can ask that your guests be medical professional only.

The protected classes in the United States are gender (although there are exceptions if you're sharing a home), sexual orientation, religion, and race.  You can't refuse a black nurse, but you can refuse a plumber.

[Sharon64]

Just put in your information somewhere that business travellers are welcome. They set up your account for business folks; not much more to do. I like having business travellers....they are usually tidy, gone all day, eat out, and are quiet and night and up and gone again early in the morning.