@carolgrrr you should never feel you should accept all guests. That’s the beauty of not using Instant Book.
I turn down about 1 in 4 bookings.
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I do sometimes receive guests that I don’t meet in person - for example, I will be going on a short summer holiday, tomorrow, and I have three Air bookings coming up during the time I will be away - but I make sure I always have a reliable friend open the door for guests, if I am not personally around. In fact, this guy usually checks back, once a day, to make sure everything is fine and guests are thus able to talk to a real human being (almost) on a daily basis.
In my opinion, if you don’t do this, lots of strange things may happen. Excuse me for being blunt, but I think you might have been a little careless if you didn’t meet guests in person, or have a friend meet them.
Oh, I definitely don’t feel that way anymore! But it took a while for me to feel comfortable declining guests for reasons other than wanting to check in 8 hours earlier than my listing allows.
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Thousands and thousands of Airbnb’s work successfully with remote hosts where guests let themselves into a property. And there is a local manager available.
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I know that’s true. Still, I think it is careless.
And also, I believe that it is contrary to the “core Airbnb values” developed by the founders, Chesky, Gebbia, and Blecharczyk, back in 2010, which included “Hard-working Olympic animal”, “Builds family spirit” and “Passionate about Airbnb”.
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If they really believed in the personal touch they wouldn’t be encouraging large hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and those with multiple properties managed by anonymous management companies to register.
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If someone came to my holiday rental on daily basis I would be mortified, leave a terrible review, and possibly submit a claim to ABB for harassment.
We have 6 properties all over the world and been hosting since 2010, all of our properties have self-check in, 9/10 times everything is fine, which seems to be in line with the stories of other hosts who actually check in people and still have bad guests. I mentioned that I should have just canceled this guest after the initial warning signs, so I will agree I was careless in that aspect, but I will never apologize for having self-check in units.
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What do you mean? You mean 1/10 times not everything is fine? That’s a huge percentage! I make sure everything is fine every single time, and I always try to be personally there to ensure this.
I don’t believe in self-driving cars, in self-check in at my Airbnb, or in self-detonating atomic bombs, for that matter. I am a human being and I believe in the human touch.
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Maybe you should go back to candle lamps and horse and buggy then. I get it, embracing change and innovation is hard.
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And I take it you have a butler to make your toast instead of self-toasting toasters, a tailor to make your shirts instead of self-choosing in a shop, a servant to tie your shoelaces instead of self-tying and a doorman to let you in and out of your house instead of self-reliance.
Human touch.
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@azreala, I am so sorry this is happening to you. I do think this is a specific type of scam. Hopefully your track record of being an excellent host will put you in good stead.
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@Eberhard_Blocher I run my entire rental business remotely because I live two hours away. Many of us do, who rent our vacation homes. None of my guests have ever complained about not being met in person. They want the flexibility of arriving when it is convenient and not working around someone else’s schedule. They know I am available by every other method and they contact me when they arrive to let me know if everything is to their satisfaction and you’re welcome to read all my reviews if you want to know how that has worked out for me.
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Luckily, all communication was done via ABB even though one of the group members got my mobile and ‘bomb texted’ me after I opened the resolution center case. I’m sure it will be fine, but it is just NUTS that some whack job can claim ‘discrimination’ and possibly get my account suspended, or worse. Those accusations are not something to throw around lightly, especially when it affects someone income.
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I don’t think you should entertain such fears. You have written evidence of their communication with you which exposes their unbecoming approach and attitude plus all that’s happened at your place during their stay.
I don’t see why something like account suspension of a successful host should happen, besides Airbnb wants you to continue to attract guests and make money for them?
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One would think! But we all know ABB is a strange and mysterious creature, that does whatever they want with very little reasoning. I know I sound hysterical thinking they may suspend my account, but given the rash of ‘discrimination’ issues in the US (where this property is located), I’m just worried they will act first and asked questions later.
I’ve scheduled some time this afternoon, to sit down and calmly address the email from ABB. I need some cool off time, before firing off a response.
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It’s easy to personally greet guests personally 24/7 if
- You have a shared listing
- You don’t work outside the home
- You have more than one person sharing hosting duties
That’s not the reality for the majority of us.
Hosts choose to host in the way that works best for them and their listings. Just because hosts don’t host in the way you choose to host doesn’t mean they are providing a worse service, just a different one.
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It is horrible to think people do this! Sorry you have to go through this pain. Let us know how it goes with Air CS. Good luck!
I totally agree with you and I also confirm that 1. 2. and 3. all apply to me.
I don’t want to tell anybody how to run their Airbnb business. I simply beg to point out that there are certain ways of running an Airbnb listing that tend to make problems like the one @azreala vividly described here almost impossible to happen.
How is being called racist for no reason impossible to happen if the host had been around? I don’t get it.
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I don’t get it either. These guests had a plan from the get go, and me or a ‘friend’ checking them in would have done nothing to thwart their plans to attempt to get a refund.
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