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Hi there,
I would say 85% of our guests have WhatsApp which is a very convenient way to message or call them, may be more convenient than via Airbnb during their voyage. That said, very few guests from mainland China have WhatsApp, but almost all of them have WeChat, because it seems to be difficult to get a smooth connexion on WhatsApp in mainland China whereas most guests from Hong Kong have WhatsApp.
Yes WhatsApp would be more convenient for most international travellers. The trade-off is that AirBnB Support cannot see those conversations if an issue arises requiring AirBnB intervention.
True. But I have the habit of screenshotting any texts, WhatsApp messages and so on, just in case…
Guests are worse on booking.com, show up when they want and would say 50% dont ever respond to messages. If booking take your money, you have to wait 5 weeks to get paid. If you take the money about 50% have declined cards, bloody nightmare. You cannot review bad guests, anyone can show up at your property and they dont give a shit if a guest destroys or damages your property. Read their terms and conditions as they change them.
And cancelling is damn near impossible - could not reach a guest, they could not reach the guest…can I cancel…NOPE! Was a no show and false credit card
My first booking on Booking.com was from 2 Nigerians with absolutely no indication of being real people (could only find an obscure reference to one of them online) who wanted to stay for 5 weeks in the height of summer season. There was NO way to set max. stays, only minimum. It seemed like an organized scam to show up, drive me crazy and demand to be sent to the Four Seasons at my expense. Which Booking requires you to do.
I called Booking.com and asked to have them canceled and to remove my account altogether. It seemed extremely high-risk for in-home hosts. The ToS calls you to put up a guest who doesn’t work out at a hotel at your expense.
Illegal in most European countries to ask for or take photos of ID cards and passports.
You can consult the document and write down the info but you cannot take a photo. Privacy laws.
Of course nobody respects this. But that’s the law.
Can anybody advise if I can cancel if the reserved guest does not provide a proper photo? I already asked her to add a photo and she never replied but added a photo of her back view walking a horse ( yes a horse’s ass as well as her own…)
It could be funny but there are all the signsthat she is going to be a difficult guest so I’d like to cancel and avoid the hassle.
Th aka in advance for your thoughts .
I’ve had lots of guests with no photo or a photo of a pet or a baby or a flower… the guests were never any problem.
What are the signs that she’d be a difficult guest?
You can cancel penalty free due to being uncomfortable with the guest of on IB. Otherwise you will be penalized. Might be worth it though given the guest’s response to your request.
Sounds like my kind of guest, send her to me. LOL.
Yes, why would you cancel based on no clear picture? What can you tell from the picture that would make any difference?
RR
Nothing. I have said here several times (so long-standing members please forgive the repetition) that one of my favourite ever guests was the Taj Mahal.
My first booking on booking.com was a group of Russians from St Petersburg.
When they left it seemed like the modem had been tampered with and the property was a huge mess worst guests ever in one year of intensive hosting.
Then 4 weeks after their departure my airbnb account was hacked… by someone in St Petersburg. They turned all the settings to same day instant booking and put two fake houses on my site. They copied my email etc. see the other thread about the hack!
And I looked up the guest, saw that she’s a software genius works for Wargaming.net (has been mentioned in the news in relation with IRA troll factory).
Coincidence?
I have closed down my booking.com account.
Oh dear, you really do seem to have had a real run of bad luck with problem guests in the year you have been hosting @lililou1
What sort of vetting process do you have in place to ensure there is a good fit?
@Helsi - if I remember from other threads (and forgive me @lililou1 if I’ve got this wrong) she is a remote host who uses a property manager who lives an hour away from the rental. Maybe it’s the facelessness of the experience that is attracting these bad guests? Perhaps the lack of a personal touch?
Because she seems to have one bad guest after another, I’d be wondering if the co-host situation needs to change. The manager isn’t on the spot to keep an eye on the place or the guests. I know that some experienced hosts do a great job hosting remotely but it needs a lot of great organisation and a reliable and conscientious co-host.
No not really I’m just sharing every incident with you!
These are outliers I have to admit 90% guests are fantastic. Just welcomed a lovely family this morning such nice people. Most people are like that!
absolutely right, my dream is to move nearby to my airbnbs and manage them myself it will make it a thousand percent easier to do everything properly.
I agree demanding the picture is maybe invasive. But I also agree that it’s the fact that the guest is already not complying with a simple request, that would make me put up a red flag.
Coming from someone who just got photo-blacked-out redacted passport info that they legally were required to give me.