Mother + teenage daughter combos are the absolute worst!! Glad it’s not just me who picked up on this
Immediate requests to break Airbnb policies.
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As a guest it would be hosts who have too many rules and fines. As a host if they ask for a discount.
RR
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Bludy H*LL as we would say here. Only one guest did this really - and a few have made private suggestions which I appreciate. The one (above) said my place was great when it was sunny and they were out and about, but if it rained it would be nice to have more paintings on the wall and nick knacks etc. So they have something to look at. I have books TV internet, full kitchen and recipe books, etc. Old UK flat too fragile to hold hooks. No accounting for taste ( and I do not mean that either way) but bits and bobs is not my thing
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Here’s my most recent red flag Request… “Hi I’m visiting my daughter. I would like to check in between 2 and 4pm. I will have a car. See you soon.”
Well, I work, so check-in is 6PM, so he didn’t read the first important thing in the listing. I also have IB, and he has several reviews, so why didn’t he just use that to book the room? (Another red flag)
Other red flags are hosts. I’ve always been disappointed with them as guests. The last one blamed me, because he didn’t read the rules and also showed up at my door with an extra unpaid guest! Really dude???
I’ve had only one group of truly bad guests and I wish I could pinpoint a red flag, but I can’t.
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The early check in demand sent the evening before arrival…
"Hi, I will be arriving at 10:00 as we’d like to get showered and changed before our visit to the horse school at 12:00. "
The response I’d like to make:
“Hi, I think that should be OK. The current guests, Mr & Mrs Smith, aren’t very big so there’s probably enough room in the bed for all four of you if you fancy a nap, but you may have to queue for the shower or toilet.”
JF
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Just this week someone inquired (not demanded) an ASAP check in as they “just arrived.” It was 8:30 in the morning. My guests the night before checked out as I was messaging this potential guest. Despite sending several messages and a special offer to have them pay for the early check in they didn’t respond at all to a single message.
After reflecting on this old thread I would say that people who obviously haven’t read the listing carefully or who just seem clueless about Airbnb are much more likely to be a problem; 2 or 3 times more likely. However, I still am not going to start categorizing, worrying and applying my prejudicial values before they even arrive based on that. Everyone is different and deserves to be treated as the individual they are.
That same day as the early check in request an IB came in and all the message said was “around 3 pm.” The guy has no picture and no reviews. He arrived around 3 and I popped out to greet him in person. There was a second guy with him but he only booked for 1. Red Flags! for many here. Other than the window A/C being on part of the time and his car in the driveway I couldn’t tell he was here. He checked out the next morning in the pre-dawn hours. He was alone and I wasn’t going to check all the ring clips to see when the friend left. The room was fine. He left an all 5 star review within minutes of my review of him.
A lot of red flag folks are leaving money on the table but that’s good for me.
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That’s just what I was thinking when I was reading the latest posts here. I must be the luckiest host in the world - I’ve had most of these ‘red flags’ without problems.
But carry on guys…
When someone asks, if it is possible, they get it. Sometimes not as early/late as they’d like, but when I explain to them that we only have two apartments and aren’t the Marriott (in nicer terms of course!) they tend to understand.
Our worst offenders are domestic guests, usually from BDC. Last nights arrival was at 23:15, a guy and his girlfriend from Sevilla, despite our listing stating clearly that last check in is 22:00. I could have had BDC cancel it, as his booking message was that he’d arrive between 22:00 and 23:00, but for the sake of an hour or so, nah.
Leaving money on the table is a capital offence here! We bitch about these things, but ultimately all guests are the folks who fill my glass with beer and allow me a fairly leisurely life.
JF
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I don’t want to stereotype here but I never had any good experiences with people from Southern United States (Texas, Alabama, Georgia). I don’t know how houses are over there but they go gaga about my house. One person said in the review that the house was “not what she expected” - hello, the listing has pictures!!!. Another said that I don’t have curtains on the window downstairs. Again, hello, did you look at the listing’s pictures? They felt exposed, she said, especially not knowing the neighborhood.
Now mind you, the house is on a top of a small hill. The living room windows look down on the street and I do have evergreen bushes next to the windows, but sure, perhaps they were naked, what do I know? Everywhere else but the living I do have curtains. In the bedrooms I have blinds and curtains!
The house is very airy, has a lot of light even in the cloudiest Pittsburgh weather, jan-april, so it feels light and cheery. I wouldn’t put curtains on it if you threaten me with a gun!
A third one told me the house was too old - hello again, the listing name is century old house… what did you expect? Mind you I did extensive remodeling on this house and it’s not cluttered, it’s modern, not your granny’s style. I don’t live there, I don’t have personal belongings, so nothing to complain about. Yet I don’t understand what they want.
All these people gave me bad reviews/ratings.
Because of these issues I came to dread when southern people book me.
5pm enquiry from local who just set up account. “I am trying to book for my friend she really needs a holiday can she book your place for 6 weeks with 2 kids?”
Me: “when would she be planning on turning up?”
Enquirer: “In about an hour”
Fortunately she must have booked somewhere else so never got back to me when I asked why the short notice. I’m on IB so I hope if I keep asking questions they will be put off booking. Assume it was a domestic situation. I felt sorry for her but don’t want other people’s sh*t in my house.
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My latest “Red Flag”
“We are a group of 30 year olds celebrating a birthday. Your home with private pool seems ideal”
“Do you empty your pool between guests” (77,000 litres!!)
Decline !!!
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WT actual F? I’d reply (if I lived in an area with no water supply issues) “Most guests don’t require this but for a modest charge of $500 for water, chemical restocking and labor we will provide your party with a new fill. In addition our party deposit of $1000 per every 10 people is payable in advance. I’ll send a special offer with the proper price once you let me know if you’d like to proceed.” Maybe add some exclamation marks and smiley emoticons.
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[quote=“MaryMac, post:134, topic:19812”]
“Do you empty your pool between guests”
[/quote
I would ask why, are you planning on peeing in the pool?
RR
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Wonder if they would ask that of a hotel…?
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“We are a group of 30 year olds celebrating a birthday” → peeing in the pool would be the least of my concerns.
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You have to wonder: Are they concerned about what might be in the water before they arrive or what they are planning to put in the water before they depart?
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hahaha
Totally. Would be foolish to accept that reservation.
The only red flag that stands out as significant is failure to communicate on a same day booking.
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