Thank you for your advice and I went ahead an updated all of that and kept IB on. When this guy booked I didn’t have time to check, he booked last minute and showed up 5 minutes later gave me no time. And after seeing his reviews, I wasn’t suspicious, I didn’t do the checking until after he checked out, that is when I check the cameras and saw the activity and then I did the background check. Thanks
Then avoid taking literally last minute bookings @ValleyRanch why not change your settings so those wanting same day bookings need to send you a request rather than having IB @ValleyRanch
Yes thanks, It was set up like that, he had to send a request to book and I do make a rule of thumb not to take last minute bookings for people with no reviews, but he had the reviews and I accepted this booking. But never again.
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One more thing to put on the list of deterrents: No self check in! If I were a drug dealer or prostitute I would search out places where I don’t have to face the host at all, right? I’m sure that keeps the shady ones and the partiers away from my place. I’ve been really lucky so far.
Sounds to me like the risk is the combination of IB and last minutes. Is that the majority of your business? Sounds scary to me. I require 2 days notice.
I’ve found the most important place to put any info for IBers is in the message they get after reserving. It’s very short, so you have to prioritize! But what I say is “Thanks for booking my place. Instant Booking? Read house rules fully BEFORE you book! Check-in is before 8 pm and by appointment, see house rules for details.”
That pretty much uses up all the characters but here is my hack: you also have the space where you can ask people a question about themselves. If you unclick all the standard useless questions “where do you come from why are you coming etc”, you can put some more instructions in there. Such as: No self check-in, cameras on premises, drug-busting-dog training center next door, etc…
You could find a way to say there that for same day bookings there is NO self check in you must make an appointment and meet the host with your ID. Or something like that.
If you have to keep that set up maybe some other more crazy ideas would be:
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say you work in law enforcement on your profile (its kinda true you are enforcing laws!)
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make your profile picture look somehow security-reassuring for honest people but intimidating for a drug dealer like maybe wearing some kind of uniform, standing next to a police station sign, I dunno… just something that would subliminally put off a wrongdoer but not a normal person!
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say your hobby is raising and training dogs used for drug busts or your partner works for the narcotic police
I’m sure the addition of all these small little things will act as a deterrent. Let me know!
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Noone is banned believe me . I hosted a total psycho we months ago and when she saw me dialing police she evaporated from the house .
Then I found records in her that she was even arrested because one host called police for traaapassing . She has few very bad reviews from hosts .
Yes, I was offering self-check-in, but turned that off thank you for reminding me. I do require 2 days notice, so when they try to book last minute it comes as a request. Mostly IB is the majority, but mostly new people with no reviews and one-nighter and I never had a problem until now. We get all types from all around the world and now I’m going through my listing and changing the rules and description from your advice. Thank you
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just tick the ‘would not recommend’ box FFS
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I had a person request to book. Did a run on her name in her state and up popped the picture of her in the orange jumpsuit, arrested for larceny and drugs. Reported this to Airbnb. Still had to “decline” her per Airbnb- reason? Oh you are a criminal? No Air told me to use the safety of house not suitable for young kids (it is not kid proof). Well, I was curious…did Air book her with another host locally? YES! Airbnb did NOT care that she was a criminal. And yes, while I believe in rehabilitation, etc, her timeline from recent incarceration to booking was not years apart.
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How did you have her full name on a request to book to look it up?
This was in 2017…maybe they changed it after that? Not sure, but I had it.
Oh I didn’t realize sine the post was a day ago.
Airbnb are just a middle man booking service they don’t give a damn anymore. Years ago they were advocating renting a room in a locals home and living like a local. Those days are long gone. I would never have instant book again each and everyone who came through that route… 3 of them turned out to be major agrevations and left the apartment in a bad state. There something there. The risks are too high for the hosts. The guests get their rights protected and the expense of the hosts.
Or the previous hosts, didn’t have a clue as to what was going on, on their property. Many of these problems are perpetuated by our own.