{"id":798,"date":"2019-10-31T16:04:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T16:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shortrentalpro.com\/blog?p=798"},"modified":"2022-09-15T06:14:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T06:14:03","slug":"how-to-avoid-bad-guests-on-airbnb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shortrentalpro.com\/blog\/how-to-avoid-bad-guests-on-airbnb\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Avoid Nightmare Guests On Airbnb!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Avoiding bad guests is a real issue for Airbnb owners. Bad guests cause problems for you in many different ways, they can upset your neighbors, damage your property, and more. So you really don’t want them. Here’s how to avoid them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real answer to this question is to trust your gut instinct: We\u2019ve been lucky and only had a few \u201cbad guest\u201d experiences, but every time, something hasn’t felt right either when they booked, in the days before they arrived or when they checked in. That said, you can\u2019t run a business<\/a> based on your intuition (all the time), so in this article, I have a checklist of things you can do to rely less on your intuition and more on what\u2019s happening, objectively.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it\u2019s important to say that this article is just about Airbnb, not other booking channels where perhaps you have more flexibility about how you check guests<\/a> and what restrictions to impose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. How does the guest communicate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How people communicate with each other says a huge amount about them (I think). I was out for a country walk the other day with my Dad and we make a habit of saying \u201cGood Morning\u201d or \u201cGood Afternoon\u201d to everyone we pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the many people we met on this walk, most were very pleasant, but I\u2019d like to take two examples as we passed each other in a matter of a minute or so, as it sticks in my mind: One person – a middle age man out for a walk with his dog looked me and my dad straight in the eye, smiled and said: \u201cGood afternoon, lovely day isn\u2019t it\u201d. We then met someone else a minute later on his bike, and I said my usual \u201cGood Afternoon\u201d – his response was \u201cAlright mate\u201d without making eye contact or looking at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would feel extremely confident about letting my apartment to the middle age man with his dog, but not at all confident about letting it to the young man on his bike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly the same is true of Airbnb guests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Do they right professional, friendly messages?<\/li>
  2. Do they respond to you?<\/li>
  3. Do they take your calls?<\/li>
  4. Etc.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You can learn a huge amount about someone through their communication style be it written or over the phone before meeting them. And if you have concerns don\u2019t hesitate to cancel them. Airbnb actively discourages cancellations, but it\u2019s your property and I\u2019d rather upset Airbnb than risk my property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Guests\u2019 Airbnb Profile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Airbnb system is not difficult to complete and it does not take long to sign up. If someone does not have a complete Airbnb profile, this begs the question: Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Airbnb change the rules quite regularly on what is required on a profile, but ask yourself this question: if you were looking to book on Airbnb, would you submit a complete profile or an incomplete one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Things I\u2019m looking to see before I approve someone are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Profile Photo<\/strong> (Why post an Avatar?!). This also means you can actually check that the person booking is the person who arrives.<\/li>
    2. Linked Social Media<\/a> Accounts<\/strong>. (If people are willing to link this, it\u2019s a major (positive) trust signal).<\/li>
    3. (For me) They must have verified government ID<\/strong>. Again, if not why not?<\/li>
    4. Other reviews<\/a><\/strong>. I rarely take guests without other good reviews. I do sometimes, but not often. Other reviews = trust. More about that in the next section…..<\/li>
    5. Their introduction message. Their introduction message should be specific. If someone says: \u201cHi Tony, I love the look for your property, I\u2019m visiting to attend a concert, and I\u2019ve read your reviews and would love to stay with you\u201d<\/strong>. Then this is a good<\/strong> sign for me. Whereas if someone says \u201cHi, I\u2019m looking for a nice place to stay\u201d<\/strong>, this is way too vague<\/strong> for me, and might be concealing a party, etc. Sure, these are generalizations, but there\u2019s a reason people generalize: There\u2019s often much truth in them. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      If you have a guest who doesn\u2019t have a complete profile, then either a) they have something to hide, or b) they can\u2019t be bothered to complete the profile because frankly, they\u2019re too lazy to! And, if they\u2019re too lazy to complete their profile, they probably won\u2019t be too bothered about looking after your property. So this is a big no for me and could mean a problem guest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here\u2019s an interesting article on Forbes<\/a> about why people are turned down for bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. Guests\u2019 Previous Reviews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      This is a great feature of Airbnb and one of the reasons the platform is so popular. You can read what your guest has written about other hosts and has written about them. Both types of reviews are useful and both can help you identify a potential problem guest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reviews about the guest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Of course, this is the most important thing and will flag up any serious issues. However, the caveat here is to remember that in reality, most hosts and most guests are pretty reluctant to write reviews about how they really feel for fear of bad reviews or bad review responses. So don\u2019t take a slate of positives as being a complete endorsement of the guest, especially if there are problems with section 2 above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The other thing to watch for is short reviews about the guest<\/a>. If the reviews are just a few words, that doesn\u2019t tell you very much. Whereas if the review is a couple of paragraphs, then it\u2019s likely to be a strong signal to you that this is a guest to accept. An example of this would be something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cWe really enjoyed hosting Tom and Jillian. They were a lovely couple. The communication was great, and Tom took the initiative to phone me directly to confirm the arrival information and that it was convenient for me. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Even though they weren\u2019t staying in our actual home, we bumped into them a few times, and they were super friendly and seemed to be really enjoying themselves\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To me, this is a very positive sign. Much more positive than: \u201cThey were nice people\u201d. <\/strong>Now, granted, the second review example speaks to the host and not necessarily to the guest, but it\u2019s still worth being aware of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reviews Written by the Guest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      This is also something to look carefully at. Probably not as close as the reviews about the guest, but nevertheless important. Things to watch out for include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Lots of complaining. Do you really want someone like that? One bad experience might not be anything to worry about, but constant criticism and nitpicking<\/strong> will probably be repeated.<\/li>
      2. Any Rudeness<\/strong>. This would be a complete no-no for me.<\/li>
      3. Style<\/strong> of writing: Do they write well or is it full of spelling and grammatical errors? It all speaks to someone\u2019s character (or at least it might).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        4. \u201cSpecial Requests\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        If your guest tries to communicate with you outside Airbnb, or asks for requests which are way beyond the scope of what is reasonable, beware. Examples I have experienced myself or seen on forums include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n