It is preferrable to leave no review than a good review for a bad guest, but perhaps you could find someone who is detail-oriented who lived near your rental, who could go in when the cleaner starts to take an inventory and check for damages. You could go over everything with them when you do go there one time. Maybe an active senior who would have a flexible schedule and wouldn’t mind making a bit of extra money. Whatever you pay them might be offset by knowing which guest caused damages or stole stuff and charging them for it.
And that would enable you to leave an honest review for an undesirable guest to warn other hosts.
Thank you! I actually do all the cleanings myself, so we always know who did what. Air bnb has been awful at helping us recover costs.
I live in Las Vegas and have been having similar issues. I believe a lot of these people likely have good reviews from true traveling. Now that they are stuck home with no where to go they just want somewhere to party. I have also been getting lots of homeless people who absolutely decimate the property. Get a camera in the property so as soon as you see them violate your guest occupancy, or any other house rules you can message them. If no response or they don’t cooperate immediately kick them out and contact air bnb (this way you still get paid for their stay). You can only do this if you live nearby obviously. If they manage to finish their stay and still wreck the place, make sure as soon as they check out you document the damage with pictures and immediately request reimbursement with pictures and reasons. When they deny it or let it go more than 72 hours immediately choose to involve AirBNB. Be relentless with AirBNB and keep messaging them for updates. I have gotten payment for every single dispute I have opened due to AirBnB reimbursement insurance or whatever it is called. However, sometimes it takes a week or two of me non-stop messaging them and complaining. I had one incident that was in the thousands of dollars they didn’t want to reimburse so I actually filed a complaint with the better business bureau and they immediately paid me out. To be honest, your best bet right now is to try and rent it out under the table cash to family, friends, locals, traveling nurses, etc. I unlisted mine 2 weeks ago after finding full-time cash renters. I get about $2/3 of the pay, but a lot less headaches and hassle, at least until tourism is back in full swing and real renters start to come back.
Sell you a paragraph, really cheap 
JF
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This is good to hear. What we usually hear is that they never pay out.
And then post about it on a public forum using your real name and picture? LOL.
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If you’ve had a good read through this forum, you’ll probably know the answer to this. There have been many hosts who have posted here about guests giving them inaccurate reviews. So we shouldn’t be surprised when hosts do the same thing.
You’ll also read hundreds of posts here from hosts who say that they always give all guests a good review (“for fear of retaliation” which is bonkers) or that they simply don’t review bad guests. And hosts aren’t necessarily good, honest business people.
It works both ways. The last rental I stayed in had great reviews and it was a horrible place.
We live in an age when just about anything that can be bought or a service that can be used can be reviewed. There is no way to change this fact.
A property manager on the spot can prevent a lot of problems.
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I rarely get locals and have never had this issue. Obviously, that is why they want to rent your place so they don’t trash their own. Can’t understand how they are getting 5 stars. Are you charging a damage deposit? Do you prohibit smoking of ANYTHING? I state in my “House Rules” that if any evidence of smoking is found, the cost of a professional fumigation will be deducted from the security deposit. Damage and breakage goes without saying. Of course, you would have to get Airbnb to back you up on this, but if it’s in your House Rules they should. The guest must agree to these rules before they can book.
What security deposit?
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Don’t you charge a security deposit? If not, you should be.
Have you ever collected on a security deposit through Airbnb?
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I’ve been lucky and have never had to, but I have a $250 security deposit on my property. I don’t think Airbnb actually charges it to the guest unless there is a claim. I believe you have 48 hours to report any damage to Airbnb. Then they ask the guest their story and make a decision on the claim.
Let’s wait to hear what others say. I don’t think it’s possible to collect the “deposit” unless the guest agrees. It’s not a deposit at all.
I think it’s well established that it’s not a real deposit because the guest has to agree.
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As you wish, but I’ve been doing this for six years so I know what I’m talking about. If you go to your listing and look under “Pricing” then scroll down to “Standard fees and charges” you will see “Security Deposit.” You can set it to whatever amount you want. No one has ever protested.
I’m quite sure Rebecca knows that there is a place to list a security deposit . Her comment was sarcastic- to drive home the point that it is basically bogus, because it isn’t held and the guest has to agree to it being charged. And guests who tend to be house wreckers also tend to be guests who take no responsibility for their behavior and aren’t the type to agree to pay up, funny that.
When a responsible adult with a conscience accidently breaks something, they tend to fess up and offer to pay for repairs or a new one in the moment, they don’t need to have a security deposit held.
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This is what the Airbnb site says.
Host-required security deposits are different from other security deposits in that no authorization hold is placed. Guests will only be charged if the host requests reimbursement for property damage and the guest agrees to pay, or if the host makes a request to collect on their security deposit and the request gets approved by Airbnb
Multiple hosts have reported that if the guest doesn’t agree to pay then getting any money is very difficult.
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Well, the point is a Security Deposit IS an option. I have never put in a claim so I don’t know how easy it is to collect on one. Perhaps someone with experience could weigh in on this. VRBO actually collects it, then refunds it to the guest if there’s no damage. Maybe she should move her listing over there if her guests keep trashing her property and Air doesn’t want to do anything about it.
Just sayin’
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You say you’ve been a host for 6 years, who “knows what I’m talking about” yet you seem to know nothing about the security deposit, except that it is an option to set and you seem to have never read any forums or posts about how difficult it is to collect on it. I’ve been a host for less than four years and I’ve read hundreds of posts from hosts on the frustrations and impossibility of collecting on the deposit. Rather than suggesting that others weigh in on their experiences, maybe you could use the search function on this and other host forums and there will be days’ worth of reading up to do on how useless this deposit is as far as it pertains to the Airbnb platform.
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Lots of remote hosts are able to leave honest reviews for their guests @Ockerdew so it would be worth you picking the brains of experienced remote hosts here about how they do it.
What sort of systems do you have in place for your cleaners to check whether key items are damaged/stained? Are you leaving them enough time to do this in addition to their cleaning?
My husband & I stayed at an Airbnb & it was Disgusting! (Mice feces, Roaches, Flooded during a light rain & Mold!) Anyways… The “Superhosts” were able to contact Airbnb & have my honest, negative review deleted! … how many other times has this happened…? Looking back, it was almost as if the positive, 5 star reviews were a rebuttal to the negative reviews they had deleted, because they were praising how clean the place was (over & over!)
I think they had friends or fake accounts to write these reviews.
Not sure if it’s the same for tenants, but I’m sure Airbnb just wants money & Bad reviews compromise the amount they’re able to make…
- We no longer stay at Airbnbs, because we know that they ARE removing negative reviews just warning people of what to expect!
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