Guest breaking rules and was booked via new Instant Book

Guest breaking rules and was booked via new Instant Book

Before Instant Book was changed last winter, I felt I had a pretty good handle of it.  I turned on all of the extra security measures (verified identity and good reviews) and had a pre-booking message that outlined my rules, asked them their purpose of staying.  It made me feel a lot more comfortable using Instant Book and didn't have any issues with guests.

 

But suddenly I felt Airbnb changed the settings out from under me.  I got an instant book last week for 6 people.  His profile had no photo, 2 trips but no reviews.  He did not message me to say why he was coming or if he agreed to my house rules.  I looked over the new Instant Book policies and realized that everything had changed.  I decided to stop worrying and put my trust into Airbnb since sometimes I over-worry about guests.  I felt like they changed their settings and had a better way of vetting guests now.

 

They checked in on Monday and were obviously 6 young guys in their 20's.  Which is fine, but the guest who booked had a description in his profile that he's 51.  

I'm 90% certain the person who booked is not even staying at the house and is a 3rd party booking.

 

Evening rolled around and now suddenly 3 more young men show up and are all in the backyard enjoying the fire pit.  Unfortunately I clearly state that I live in a quiet neighborhood and that quiet time is at 9pm.  

 

I messaged the guest at 830PM kindly staying that I noticed an extra 3 guests.  I said if they are just visiting then I'm willing to overlook it as long as they can adhere to the 9pm quiet time and douse out their fire when they're finished.  No response.

 

Gathering outside continued and at 11pm I messaged again asking if they could please take their group inside to abide by my rule.  No response.  

 

I didn't receive a message until 6am the next morning that "sorry I didn't get back to you.  Everything is wonderful".  What the heck??

 

I'm honestly so upset and not sure what to do.   I"m upset at Airbnb for letting this person book through instant book.  I'm upset at myself for trusting Airbnb and letting this guy go.  

 

What are my options here?  Am I overreacting?  Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks.

8 Replies 8
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

The winter changes shouldn't have turned off your requirement for guests to have previous positive bookings. So you could have asked Airbnb to cancel the booking penalty free.

 

I am a little confused as to why, having allowed the booking,  you didn't ask the guests vetting questions before their arrival  @Nicole2738 

 

And why when they broke your house rules for having visitors and then exceeding your quiet hours you didn't go over there and remind them of the outside quiet time and give them recommendations of local bars they could socialise at past your quiet time.

 

There is little point messaging guests on the platform in situations like this as many guests don't have alerts set up on the app.

I guess I noticed that the winter release had taken off the pre-booking message.  And what I read about the new release was that the guest would have to automatically agree to all the house rules as a requirement to book.  So that is what I mean when I said that I put my trust in Airbnb that this was already agreed to (and that I didn't have to). I didn't want to subject the guest to redundancy by having them agreeing again to the house rules.  But I guess now I will do that.

 

Also, I messaged the guest first because that what rule #1 in airbnb's tips for resolving issues.  First try and work it out with them.  Step 2 is getting Airbnb involved if that doesn't work.  Also in every place I look, it says keep the communication via airbnb messaging so I'm not really sure why that is so strange or of "little point"?

 

I live 90 minutes from the property which is why I didn't go in person but maybe you have a different situation.

 

Thx for your suggestions.

 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom


@Helen3 wrote:

The winter changes shouldn't have turned off your requirement for guests to have previous positive bookings.

 


@Helen3 Airbnb's new 'good track record' filter is nothing like the previous recommended by other hosts filters.

 

You can find numerous posts here from hosts who have had guests with NO reviews and NO track record IB with them even though that filter is turned on. If you read the actual description (very brief and very vague) that Airbnb has given for that filter, it doesn't say that guests must have one or more positive reviews or any reviews at all. It just says that they must not have had an 'incident' or 'broken house rules' recently, whatever that means (they might have removed the recent part now, I am not sure, since I have IB turned off). 

 

In order for a guest to have not achieved that 'good track record', it means that no hosts have reported them nor rated them down for breaking house rules. It doesn't mean they have good reviews, nor that they have any reviews at all.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Thanks @Huma0  as I don't use this new filter I must admit I stupidly assumed it had the same criteria 🙂

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Helen3 

 

No, I didn't realise immediately either as I turned off IB before these changes. I only found out from reading posts on the CC. It's quite radically different than it was before.

Gillian166
Level 10
Hay Valley, Australia

@Nicole2738  they didn't get back to you because as you suspected, the Booking Guest wasn't staying and he didn't pass on the messages, nor does he seem to care he'll get a bad review from all this. 

 

I hope they didn't do any damage and this is just a random once-off. It happens to us all from time to time. But yeah, trusting Airbnb to care about your property is a touch naive, they only care about the profits and the publicity, which is why they crack down on parties. They've made IB easier. I just got one today from someone with no message, no photo and am waiting for the ID to be 'verified', which is nonsense, no one is "verifying" the ID at ABB, think about how much work it would be to have access to some database in every country for every type of ID. there are privacy laws in place, I'm pretty sure ABB cannot verify a South Australian driver's license via some automated system. 

Anyhoo, you'll have to give the guest a low review for breaking house rules, poor communication and then state it was a third party booking and you value honest guests.  this 3rd party stuff happens a lot and many hosts accept it so it's not the guests' fault entirely if they don't know it's not allowed. I had one 2 weeks ago, was a company booking, why she didn't just tell me I don't know.  She got a 3star review from me for that, but I saw her other reviews actually praised her and the workers who stayed. 

Thanks Gillian for your response.  I agree with you that new IB is easier.  I've turned off IB to see how things go!  I have these guys for 2 more nights and will breathe a lot easier when they go.  I appreciate your input on this and I'll take this as a lesson.

Andrea-and-Glenn0
Level 10
Mill Bay, Canada

I’ve posted this very useful link a few times, but also thought it appropriate in this case. 

All hosts should be intimately aware of what the identification policies and procedures are for guests having an Airbnb account. Please read:

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1237

 

I find this notation below to hosts specifically alarming and makes me extremely uncomfortable with guests who don’t have complete profiles. 

Note: Identity verification by Airbnb isn’t an endorsement, a guarantee of someone’s identity, or an assurance that interacting with them will be safe. Always use your own best judgment, and follow our safety tips for  guests and Hosts.”


Regards/Glenn