A new system to hold guests accountable

Sybe
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
Terneuzen, Netherlands

A new system to hold guests accountable

guest-accountability-XL copia.png

 

 

 

When you welcome guests to stay in your space, it’s essential that they respect your home, follow your house rules, communicate promptly if issues arise, and avoid creating a mess. So, we’re introducing ground rules for guests – a new set of enforceable standards that all guests must follow.

 

If a guest breaks ground rules, they get a warning the first time. If the issues persist, they'll be suspended and, if necessary, permanently removed from Airbnb.

 

You’ll still be able to write any additional house rules for guests to follow. And if a guest violates any of your house rules, we’ll support you if you need to cancel the reservation early. 

 

Read more about it on the Resource Center.

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Please follow the Community Guidelines // Volg de communityrichtlijnen

101 Replies 101
Tom934
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Totally agree, hosts are still being held to ransom or punished by guests playing the system. If a house has a repeat rating average, anything way off the this should be a red flag and be reviewed with the host involved to being allowed to respond prior to posting.

Michele1348
Level 5
New York, NY

thanks for the ground rules.  It is truly necessary today.  I’ve been with Airbnb for almost 10 years and I can say the guests and how they act has changed.  But again I think it’s because Airbnb became less of a sharing of your home or space and more of a hotel alternative.  For the first time I have had 2 guests tell me they would like theirs sheets changed weekly like they do in a hotel.  One even said like other Airbnbs.   These are young people who have never traveled but there is this “hotel” like expectation.    

The ground rules help.  

i would like to make a couple of recommendations on the whole review system.   Idea 1:  if a review is clearly abnormal from host’s other reviews - allow the review to be removed.  

2). Create a step before a review is posted where the host and guest must approve each others reviews.    

thanks again. 

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hey @Michele1348 ,

 

Thank you so much for posting your suggestions as well. I will make sure to pass it to the relevant teams.

 

You can also pose this feedback for Airbnb directly via the Feedback Form, in case you would like to elaborate on it.

 

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Please follow the Community Guidelines

I thought health and hygiene would be a natural state of changing sheets weekly. I leave clean sheets and towels with a linen bag to place used linen in if they wish to change after 4 nights. Explain to guests when showing through cottage. No one has changed the sheets but have used the towels. We also have a washing machine and supply washing powder l.

Sophannara0
Level 2
Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

Thanks for your this community and we are really got some good guest now.

Downtown6
Level 2
Orlando, FL

Hi, when do the bad reviews drop off for the ground rules? After how long? 

Greetings Sybe,

 

We are new to Hosting and we have had our 1st long-term booking. The person has a “verified” profile using the name, **. However, the actual name in the NY State issued identification is ** (age 20). She and her male partner, ** (21) signed a written agreement and began their stay on August 1st. It was supposed to be a 9 month stay. They violated House Rules, damaged the property, took towels and wash cloths, and decided to cancel the reservation after our 3rd meeting to discuss House Rule violations.

 

The issue that We have is that AirBnB opens the door for scammers and people to engage in criminal behavior by allowing verifying profiles using an alias. How can you foster trust when the person’s profile is verified based solely on a picture and phone number. Thankfully, they decided to end the stay early; however, after leaving they gave us a 1 star review which was taken down because it was deemed baseless. 

There should be a way for Hosts to post pictures of Guests who engage in scamming, damage property, and violate House Rules so that other Hosts can be alerted. Is there a section for this on the Host Resource forum?

 

**[Name hidden due to privacy concerns - Community Center Guidelines]

Agreed. And people who violate and then are malicious should be permanently removed. This is not a joke to hosts, their homes, their income.

 

AirBNB allowed a malicious renter who violated vaping policies to get a refund on their stay, taking away an entire month's worth of income for me. Not a joke. I am not a hotel chain. And the AirBNB process does not follow good-faith principles. Not at all confident of the legality of processes at this point.

Cathy170
Level 3
Saint Paul Charlestown Parish, Saint Kitts and Nevis

My apology, I just saw this.  My recent Airbnb experiences have really not been good at all.  I had two rentals back to back that trashed the house I was renting.  The damages were very high and Airbnb did not pay enough to even pay to fix the beds that were broken, forget anything else that was damaged.  I still find things periodically that were damaged.  And I found out that one daughters boyfriend was local and known to break in and hurt people and Airbnb cared not at all.

 

Now since my last rental, I should have received payment by the 22nd but still not payment and it has been escalated, but no one contacts me to let me know what is wrong.  I have a homeowner that is furious and blames me and I’m not sure if he even believes me.  I am very unhappy and may take the homes off Airbnb at this point.  I don’t need the amount of stress this is giving me.

Cathy Yearwood
Jaime810
Level 2
Richland, WA

Hello Sybe,

 

As a new Airbnb host, I recently encountered a situation where guests violated numerous house rules, including smoking on the property, damaging pool equipment, attempting to kick in the front door, and displaying hostile behavior. Despite clear communication of rules through our listing, electronic guest book, and reminders, the guests disregarded them shortly after arrival. We were forced to involve the police for the safety of our property and neighbors, resulting in their eviction approximately 13 hours before checkout. The damages caused amounted to around $1,000, prompting us to submit claims to Airbnb's coverage program.


However, the guest managed to persuade SOME Airbnb support person to grant a refund for the night the guest was evicted, falsely claiming I had undisclosed cameras on the property. This assertion is untrue, as all cameras are visible and their locations are clearly stated in the guest book and listing description, including the use of a Ring camera. It's frustrating that despite our efforts to uphold rules and ensure transparency, the guest was able to manipulate the situation to their advantage. This reservation was NOT cancelled; the guests were removed from the property by the Police Department for being hostile, breaking house rules, kicking my front door, and being highly intoxicated.

 

Out of the $588 reimbursement from Aircover, only $132 was received, as they refunded the guest for one night's stay and deducted it from the reimbursement for damaged pool equipment.

 

I find it concerning that Airbnb failed to connect the dots, allowing the guest to manipulate the situation while I deal with an ongoing investigation into the events at my property. It's disappointing that Airbnb didn't thoroughly investigate before issuing the refund, which likely would have prevented it. I would really like to know how someone who was lawfully evicted, causing damage to property, kicking in my front door, breaking numerous house rules, flipping me the middle finger on my Ring camera, being highly intoxicated, can receive a refund?

WITH ALL of the appropriate documentation, pictures, and a police report send to Airbnb. 

Ultimately, I've decided to withdraw my investment from the platform after my last guest, as I no longer feel supported by Airbnb.

 

I would like your advice and take on my situation. 

Wow.  Reveals a dark side of the Aircover process. 

James3985
Level 1
Louisiana, United States

Terrible, this is definitely a horror story. Thanks for sharing and best of luck to you going forward.