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I’m looking for some feedback on a decision about an instant book guest. We had one very bad experience with locals staying here and since I’ve been pretty gun shy about allowing it at all. Generally I decline, but I’ve never had a local instant book leaving me with a decision about whether or not to cancel.
I just got an instant book for a 2 night stay. The guest says he and his girlfriend are coming to town for a concert and need a place to stay. He only has 1 previous review, which happens to be from another host in my area. His ratings are 5 star, except a 4 star for communication. The host said he left the place clean. The thing is, the guy’s profile says he’s from a town 15 minutes from here. I can’t figure out why all of his activity seems to be local, but he says in his message he’s coming to town for a concert. Which is it? My gut tells me that this is something a little less transparent than travelling for a concert.
I know I can cancel him stating that I’m uncomfortable, but how many times will Air allow me to do that before it impacts my Superhost status? Does anyone know?
@Ashb24 - I would go with your gut. I don’t know if decline affects your status exactly when you say “I am uncomfortable with this guest” but I would do it anyway. SH ain’t all that, as you can see from the many discussions here.
I know a lot of people feel that way regarding SH, and honestly it hasn’t really seemed to impact me positively or negatively in bookings or in quality of guests. But dang, I worked hard to get there and I don’t want to throw away.
You’re probably right, though. I probably should just cancel and move on. I don’t like feeling like I’m being lied to about the purpose of the stay - that kind of brings everything into question.
One of my listings is a separate apartment in my house (no indoor access to the rest of the house). I’ve had 2 guests in the last 2 months that said they were “coming into town for a concert.” I awoke to hear one of them ouside my bedroom window with 12 friends drinking, smoking, and rolling down the hill in my back yard at 1AM.
I had to call the police on the other concert guest because I heard shouting and banging with a man’s voice followed by bloodcurdling screams from a woman’s voice. It was 1AM (again) and I was home alone with my 2 year old son. The cops came and told me the guests were drunk and “playing rough.” They were gone for good by 4AM and I changed the keycode as soon as they shut the door.
These have been the only 2 negatives in almost 2 years of this listing. Now when I see “concert” and few or no reviews I will just decline, which sucks because I myself like to travel to concerts and stay in Airbnbs.
Would it make a difference to you if the guests had lots of positive reviews or provided more information about what kind of concert they were in town for?
The only concert guests I’ve had were a mother, teenaged daughter, and her daughter’s friend. The mother brought them to town, dropped them at the concert, and then stayed in the apartment until time to pick them up. They were fantastic guests. Too bad you had that experience twice!
Yes, absolutely. I forgot to mention that both guests were “verified” but one had only 1 review and 1 had none. I would definitely consider someone with a strong review history.
I’ve had 3 Instant bookings for guests coming to town for a concert or show (that I know of). All three couples were excellent guests. I’ve also had some other local guests. Also excellent. I honestly can’t recall if they had prior reviews. I don’t require ID or recommended so they may have been new users.
I am definitely not opposed to all local guests, but I do want to see a reasonable explanation of why a local person wants to stay in my home. I got burned by a couple who wanted to party and smoke at my non-smoking unit. Then they stole almost all my linens AND my laundry basket. So yeah, I need a good reason to let locals stay.
Plus, this guy at least appears to be lying about either the reason for his stay or where he lives. There’s no way I can be sure about what’s really going on, but it’s not worth the risk for me.
I called Air and they cancelled penalty free for me. They totally agreed with me on this one.
Before rushing to cancel the booking, why not ask your guest a couple of questions.
It’s completely legitimate for you to clarify with him why he’s looking for a place when his profile says he lives 15 minutes away. Most likely he has moved but forgotten to update his profile.
Once he clarifies that sounds like your concerns will be assuaged?
My rental is a guest room attached to my house with a separate entrance. I also have a Ring doorbell and am getting upgraded security cameras ASAP. That deters bad behavior.
Hi Helsi! That is an excellent question. I think I’m a little skittish about asking too many questions for 2 reasons:
I don’t want a guest to feel like they’re being second guessed - it seems like that would give them a bad taste for my place before they ever arrive.
If he really was trying to do something illegitimate and I start asking questions that indicate I’m on to him, it would be very easy for him to pick up on it and just expand his lie.
So then I feel like I’m forever going to feel uncomfortable with the guest because I’m either having to dig out of a hole because it’s clear I don’t trust them, or because he could be lying to me.
I feel like it’s on the guest to provide a good reason that I should want them staying in my home, and also to keep their profile updated. It’s possible he’s a really nice person just re-visiting his home town for a concert. But I feel like it puts me between a rock and a hard place.
I thought you could deny a few times without affecting your status - after reading about the broken things link - I would deny sounds like he wants to get drunk after the concert - do you want to go with all the hassle with aribnb not reimbursing u?
I find those to be inaccurate sometimes. Airbnb links to FB and that’s not always up to date. It could be he used to live in that town and has since moved. We have a dry erase board where we list the guests who are currently staying with us and where they are from. It is often wrong. You could always message the guest and ask them why?
Have you googled what concert might be on in your town? And I think Helsi’s suggestion of simply asking why he wants to stay in town if only 15 mins away is totally reasonable. If he/she gets the hump, then they’re not worth having to stay anyway!
I have noticed this as well. I’ve had a few guests who’s profile states they live here, but actually live in CA or NY. WI is just their Alma mater.
I did have one booking very similar a few months ago. A man instant booked, saying he as “looking forward to seeing what Madison has to offer”. His profile said he lived about 15 minutes away. So, I sent him a message, something like “glad my place was available for your visit! Looks like you live pretty close, so won’t need directions. I look forward to meeting you!!” He canceled about 10 minutes later. hmmm…
Yes, I did. I live near a huge event center here in town, but there are no concerts on the dates he booked for. Not to say he couldn’t be going to a smaller venue, but I can’t seem to find anything that would make sense. Which is another red flag.
@Brandt I haven’t ever had what I would consider a “party” happen at my place. Never an issue with loud music, etc. It seems more often people are looking for a place to take their lover/prostitute for the evening away from their spouse, or are looking for a place to do their drugs away from home. We have a strict “no drugs, no smoking” policy, but that doesn’t mean everyone will comply. This is my family’s home and I prefer to keep the goings on as PG as I can, while still providing privacy and respect to our guests. I don’t need angry spouse or legal issues coming to our door.
I’ve been hosting for nearly two years and ask all my guests why they chose my place and plans for their stay.
They are pretty standard questions, and no reason why they should leave ’ a bad taste’ for your place. If you asked and he said he was going to a venue where you know there is no event then you would have your answer.
In fact Airbnb recommend you ask these type of questions.
You can tell a lot about a guest by how they communicate with you and what they say.
You concerns seem to be more about how you feel about asking, rather than a guest feeling uncomfortable answering.
Yeah, I’ve already made my decision here, but I enjoy seeing the responses and different POVs regarding the issue. I have found that generally following my gut is not regrettable. And at least some of the other people here agree with me on that one. To each his own, I guess. If you’re able to engage in these kind of dialogues with your guests I think that’s great. But that is another issue entirely - I have my booking set up where it asks the basic questions, which they are supposed to answer when they do the Instant Book, but the responses I get vary widely from “Look forward to staying,” to long explanations regarding why they are coming and who they are visiting, etc. etc.
I much prefer guests who are willing to provide more information and engage in a dialogue, but I’ve found that lots of guests send their booking messages and then don’t check their app again until check-in day. That is supremely annoying.
Ultimately, my feeling on this issue is this: It is my job to sell myself and my listing. I’m supposed to give them a reason to want to stay. I’m supposed to treat them well and EARN their positive ratings. But on the flip side, I believe it’s also the guest’s job to give me a reason to want them to stay. Again, this is my family’s home. I need to be discriminating (not discriminatory) about the people I allow to stay here. I am willing to lose money to make sure that my guests are well-vetted. If they don’t update their profile to reflect accurate information, then that’s kind of on them. If it prompts me to decline an otherwise good listing, I guess that’s my loss.
I really don’t think you have enough evidence to say that.
Also Just because you had some nasty local guest steal from you (who I hope got caught) doesn’t mean that anymore locals are going to be a problem. I’d be a lot more cautious about causing any dramas at a local Airbnb than out of town. My friends or I might see the host around town after all.
Not if you are on instant book, which sounds like it may not be for you. Guest did follow your instructions and tell you why he was coming, then without communication you cancel on him. This does reflect poorly on Airbnb and other hosts and is most complained about issue by guests. That money will also be tied up on his card for days and he may not have credit to make another booking. I would be super annoyed. If you need more info from guests, it’s important you as a host have the confidence to ask these questions and don’t use instant book if you want this dialogue beforehand.
