Vent - accepting guests with no trips and no reviews / Clueless guests. WHYYY

[Linda793]

I have self check in, separate entrance - my airbnb is in a granny flat / in-law in my house so I never have to really 'see' my guests - they just do their thing. I'm a SuperHost, everything is streamlined, most of my guests are A-MAZING! 

Recent experience - guest is booked for a week, coming from Spain (I'm in San Francisco). They have no reviews; this is their first airbnb trip per their profile (WHY DID I ACCEPT - D'OH -  REGRETS). 

I provide check in instructions as I always do in advance.

I then get a message on Whatsapp 15 hours before their arrival IN SPANISH .. trying to tell me about her arrival.

I direct her to the airbnb app - explaining I've sent the check in instructions there and I don't speak Spanish and the app translates automatically.

I then also provide her with the check in instructions (Which are VERY easy, btw, it's literally punch in the door code) in WhatsApp - JUST IN CASE! 

My last words "Just make sure you have the door code, which is 1234"

OF COURSE - that night, close to midnight they ring my very loud intercom waking up my entire household and my dogs barking, etc...

I was SO MAD but kept it mostly cool. 

She's staring at her phone like the app won't load (probably because she is in a foreign country and her data doesn't work 🙄..How about taking a screenshot.. or connecting to the free wifi at the airport and writing it down.. so many ways).  

Fellow hosts:

This is mostly a vent as I could do with some other stories of clueless guests that inconvenience you as a host because of their own poor planning and cluelessness. Would make me feel better 🙂 

But - aside from that - How do you feel about taking guests with no reviews or Trips?

Airbnb wants us to do it  but more often than not - I have some small or big issue with these types of guests who just don't 'get it.'

(My seasoned airbnb guests are a breeze/dream mostly.  Appreciative, clean, easy... )

Thanks for listening and have a great day!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Linda793 we take lots of guests with no reviews and so far (touch wood) they have been fine.

[Linda793]

Thanks for your input! 

[Jenny349 · Accepted solution]

Go ahead and vent @Linda793  - I hope it makes you feel a bit better 😊 . I’m not on site myself, so I’ve prepared very detailed information, with photos, to make sure check-in goes smoothly for our guests- especially parking, which we provide free of charge, in a secure lot by the apartment. Do what you will,  I still get folks who roll up and call me with a cheery “Hi, we’ve arrived, where do we park?”. As my hubby says, you wonder how they got to the moon!!! 😂😂

As for the no reviews thing, I’m prepared to give it a go -  I’m actually more wary about accepting guests with less than 4 stars in any category. 

[Linda793]

Haha Yes - how did we get to the moon is a great question.

How did they manage to book in the first place!  I find it a bit lazy and self serving that they can figure out how to book by themselves and  they don't take time to read the instructions beyond that. It's certainly easier to just 'ask' than to go sifting through the app - I get it. I've probably done it myself when I've stayed in airbnbs!!! 😵‍💫

[John5097]

@Jenny349 

I get guest who message, "We are in the driveway, when are you going to send the door code?" And I tell them its in the very first message and every message after that I say its in the first message. 

I don't accept guest with less than 5 stars in every category. One of the reasons I turned off IB. 

I think it will only become more challenging for host, as its a guest centric platform. 

[Fred13]

Taking a guest with no reviews and running a place from afar is a bit risque, but considering how many reviews you do have @Linda793, you do have a very good score. Nonetheless, it is fun to vent about the clueless among us, but I also don't think these people where in the team that got us to the moon 50+ years ago. 🙂

[Linda793]

Haha yes.. thanks for letting me vent.. it has helped me feel better about being woken up at midnight.

[John5097]

@Linda793 
I also rent out a guest apartment and only a few guest have knocked on my door. Early on it happened with some guest from England. They were so nice. I invited them and and we chatted for a long time, showing them info on my laptop, maybe a map, I can't remember, but then they finally asked if they could be let into to the apartment. I let them know it was self check in and that I had provided their code in the message. It was all good. They were so apologetic! But maybe guest in Europe just kind of expect to meet the host first? I got that vide from other European guest as well; they said looking forward to meeting me, and we didn't end up seeing each other. 

I get a lot of first time guest without any real issues. Every now and then there is some guest a little lost or confused, or didn't read the messages. 

[Linda793]

Yes you're definitely right - that's the 'old school' expectation and is with older european travelers often. i've had just a couple of guests .. just a few out of hundreds.. ring my doorbell.. - i don't mind the snafu in the middle of the day. At midnight.... that is absolutely not ok... especially after our separate WhatsApp communication were I was very clear on the drill!  😴😴👹

But... I've hosted many many tourists from Europe - thankfully most are 'with it' now and don't expect to be met and 'know the drill' so to speak.  🙂 

Thanks for your response! 

[John5097]

@Linda793 

I actually liked seeing them. They even knocked to say good bye. But know exactly where you are coming from. Renting out a guest apartment, it would much different if host were on call 24/7. 

I put in my listing that I usually just see guest if we happen to be leaving at the same time and say hello. 

The only other time guest wanted to see me was a quite a challenge. Of course it was other host and like some kind of sit com. The first thing they did was accuse me of breaking their phone that they just said quit charging the day before they checked in, because I gave them a little alcohol wipe to clean the charger plug. Then wanted to know if we were giving out candy for trick or treaters! 

Other host who stayed with me said I wouldn't like home sharing, that guest sometime don't even bother to say hello and just walk right by to their room. 

I think good communication though the messaging app is key. Guest like brief on topic info for checking in. 

I'm considering some other things to do for guest where we could schedule some kind of interaction, but for the most part vast majority really appreciate very clear boundaries. 

But even worse situation would be guest who want zero communication and host would have no idea who they are renting to.  

[Helen3]

Hello @Linda793 

I'd say about 50% of my guests are new to Airbnb and I haven't had any issues with them using my self check in.

I would say you will always get the odd guest who despite your best efforts isn't able to follow your self check in, instructions or house rules.

I appreciate how frustrating it is to be woken up by a guest who can't follow self check in instructions, but I see it as part of the hosting experience that occasionally things won't go smoothly.

[L78]

I’m dealing with the aftermath of one of those “no reviews” guests right now, by filing my first ever AirCover claim. She sent all kinds of sketch vibes, I should never have accepted. But I think the take away for me for next time is no to no reviews. I will never again rent to someone with no reviews.