Potential guest wants to visit property before booking

OMG!!! I would probably call the cops on them for breaking and entering (or trespassing and home invasion as I guess you didn’t lock the windows of they came in that way)! I would NEVER let them book after that!

Ironically I just had a guy ask to see the place beforehand for a month long booking with a few concessions (willingly made because they are military and apparently are being kicked out of their barracks for a month while it is renovated) and I insisted that it would only be once they booked because they wouldn’t be able to get the address without a booking due to Airbnb censoring anything that looks like an address, phone number or weblink until after booking.

Kept messaging with different questions but then didn’t book. Maybe he’ll book today as this was yesterday for a stay starting tomorrow.

LOL I didn’t mean LITERALLY out the door and thru the window!!! Haha! Sorry! I mean I blocked them on one website they contacted me thru another, they found my phone and email on my webpage and when I didn’t answer the phone used Whatsapp…

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18 extra sheets??!!! Just how many people are coming? If just a few, this is a huge red flag that they intend on sneaking in a lot of extra people. I suggest you watch these people very, very carefully.

@lililou1 - Don’t beat yourself up over this, because I think we’ve all made this mistake of getting greedy and accepting questionable bookings at some time in our hosting lives. But here’s one way to think about open nights as a positive - you get a chance to get in, check for damages, clean it up, and make touch ups.

One way to maximize high season revenue and occupancy without getting extended-length bookings is to require the same day for check in and check out. This is what we do: I require a Saturday check-in, a minimum 7-night stay, and set the maximum to a 7-night stay. Result: 100% occupancy and turnover days are Saturdays, but no one stays for more than a week. I chose Saturday because all airlines fly to our area on Saturdays, and no locals book our home.

Good luck!

I would have sent them a special offer, very special…

RR

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Hi @RIGSBY

You won’t be penalised for declining a single request (I do it all the time).

Decline and then go in and block the person making the inquiry, so they can’t contact you again.

I’m beyond shocked that you have agreed to let to these problem guests and to provide special treatment outside of what you normally provide @lililou1

Particularly in high season, when you know most likely you would have got alternative guests.

From your posts on here you have already had a number of problem guests and know what the red flags are- why risk another set of guests who you know from the offset are likely to be a problem?

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You are a brave individual!
I sincerely hope for the best but I would never have accepted those kinds of people.
They sound like a nightmare and haven’t moved in yet. Yikes!
But best of luck tho!

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Update: never heard back and they didn’t book. Seems like when you give them half way of what they want they go away anyways.

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How can one “block the person” - I don’t see anything like this in the system - would you mind posting a screen shot?

Multiple hosts have said the option for hosts to block a guest has been removed. I’m not sure when, but since this was 9 months ago, it could’ve been since then.

I just had to say that being from the US I had never heard that expression before! Usually I know most slang or can gather enough context clues but I had to google that one! I love it! I really want to start using that now :rofl:

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I know it gives you details on how to do this in the Help Centre - have you had a look there? @Jefferson

However some hosts report it doesn’t work for them recently in which just ask Airbnb to do it.

I’ve recently learned that just because there are written instructions doesn’t mean that it actually can be done. A week ago, I tried to block a former guest. I found the directions but when I went to implement, the app didn’t give me the options the instructions advised. After engaging CS, they too tried to give me the same instructions, however sending them some screen prints proved that it wasn’t possible. After this initial chat discussion I got a follow-up saying while the guest wasn’t blocked, she had been reported so it should be “as good” as being blocked.


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Thanks very much. Not surprising in retrospect. Air is clearly very guest centric. Why should they make features easy to find if they benefit the host? :slight_smile:

The only time I allow this is for local people who have heard about our airbnb and want to refer their friends and relatives for stays. Then they book through the airbnb platform. I have to do this on a case by case basis since sometimes rooms are occupied and not available for this courtesy.

Not my experience to be honest, I have always found them very helpful when I have had to cancel or called them in response to a glitch on my listing. And certainly their commission structure favours hosts. @Jefferson

I know you have only been hosting a short while, but what direct experiences have you had where they have favoured the guest in a situation where they shouldn’t have?

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I do plenty of long term. Generally they are distance guests. Some want to send relatives,etc. They set up tours of viewings. If they are seeing 5 homes, that’s very roughly a 20 percent probability vs. a keystroke on Air.

But mostly it’s about money.