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I agree with others that as a new host, it might be an idea to stick with the Airbnb message platform. Do bear in mind though that not every request that you haven’t come across before indicates a spammer.
When the guest is actually staying though, I prefer to use whatever communication method the guest prefers. Some like to use the phone, some WhatsApp, some FB messenger, some regular texts … it’s a long list. So I communicate with guests in whatever way they wish - it seems more hospitable to do that rather than dictate that they MUST use the app.
Some guests, fewer nowadays admittedly, don’t install the app if they have booked on their laptop. For many of us, every time you buy something or order something or book something we’re encouraged to download the appropriate app. It’s apps gone mad and I’d have no room on my phone if I got every app I’m encouraged to have.
My Baltimore host has almost 1600 reviews (4.96 avg) across 3 or 4 listings in the historic home where he lives and he says this:
To avoid confusion, let’s keep ALL future communications here on the Airbnb app, please. Also, please be sure the Airbnb app is installed on your phone before you travel.
His list of instructions and rules is longer than I prefer as well but I imagine he’s “seen some things” as they say.
Same here. And even beforehand for some things. I email guests a map to my place and I’ll often just include the written directions along with that email attachment. Or instructions for where to catch the bus from the airport to my town if that’s how they are arriving.
Or when they’re in residence, if I’m out grocery shopping, I might text a guest to see if they’d like me to pick anything up for them. There’s no reason that needs to be done through platform messaging.
I suppose if I got the kind of guests who would claim I never sent them directions to scam a refund, I might rethink the email instructions, but that’s never happened.
Good point. I have a guest staying right now (arrived last night) that wasn’t a good communicator between booking and arrival and that might be part of the problem. He hasn’t responded to my “Everything as expected?” message on the app so I just tried him via text.
@Amy_nyma We can take ideas from other hosts, for sure, it’s a sort of communal learning experience and it’s great that there are forums where we can share our experiences and procedures.
But keep in mind that all hosts and listings, as well as the demographic of guests one gets, are different, so what might work for one host might not work for you.
A host with 70 listings might get a thousand bookings a year and has experienced all sorts of guest behavior that has led to an extensive list of house rules that a host with one listing wouldn’t necessarily need. There are things other hosts do that would never work for me, both because of the nature of my listing, and my own personality and lifestyle.
For instance, as a home-share host who only hosts one guest at a time, I have almost no rules at all. I checked the standard no parties, no pets options, but that’s sort of a moot point since no one throws a party in a private room home share, and they wouldn’t be able to sneak in a pet or extra guests.
For day to day stuff, I have no rules- I assume my guests will behave respectfully and they do. Anything that needs to be explained, I just do in person, as I live here.
I use WhatsApp but also Signal. Since WhatsApp was acquired by FaceBook/meta, they are doing data mining and it’s not as encrypted as it used to be as they’re opening it up to the government and police without subpoenas.
Oh my! I’m shocked this is not been in front page news. What is your source for this accusation? PS Fox News does not count as a valid source of information.
Thank you. Saves me from pulling that article up myself.
@Rolf don’t be an arse with the “Fox News” snark. You don’t know me. I research everything I read, see, hear. I get international economic magazines and literature. I don’t lock step with anyone. I also speak 3 languages and read and understand a couple more. I’m about to add Luxumbourgish to the arsenal. For fun with my family.
Sorry about that! These conspiratorial news items that only appear once and are then never heard from again make me suspicious. As in, why only that one article?
I SO respect you and your research, as you know. Sorry bout that!
I wouldn’t call them conspiratorial- they are what Kurt Vonnegut dubbed “fnords”- articles that appear once and are not picked up by other publications because they are sometimes suppressed or made to disapppear, as they are inconvenient truths. So yes, they are suspicious, but they are suspicious not because of their content, but because they are not widely publicized.
For instance, years ago a friend of mine just happened to be watching TV when the very first footage of the Chernobyl disaster came on.
She distinctly saw 2 reactors blow. That footage was never aired again- she kept looking for it- and they started reporting that only one reactor blew.
I get it. People send me the darndest stuff and I think “Oh boy, critical thinking at its best!” But hey - even Hunter Biden’s laptop turned out to be true.
I get 3 online tech newsletters and watch privacy items with interest. When FB bought WhatsApp I stopped using it and went to Telegram, but that turned into a Reddit for politics and conspiracy theories, so I don’t use that. I’m on Signal now, which doesn’t seem to have the same issues.
Don’t do it. The only time a guest asked to communicate off platform - it went off the rails. I kept documentation of our communication within the app - but they still turned out to be wanna be scammers.
