Need a Pep Talk!

Zack-and-Jennifer0
Level 3
San Antonio, TX

Need a Pep Talk!

We've been hosting our 3x2 house since October 2016 and lately, the guests have just been terrible, one after another. I'm ready to throw in the towel, literally and figuratively. What would you do if your last half dozen guests were like this (absolutely no exaggerating here):

-Dyed their hair hot pink and gave themselves a haircut in the spare bathroom with the shears from the kitchen. Left pink stained towels and hair everywhere.
-Used gold body glitter in the second bedroom - still finding it a month later.
-Dyed hair blonde in the master shower, staining towels.
-Trashed the house, smoked pot, stole 2 blankets, a toss pillow, and the living room TV.
-ran a credit card imprinting "business" out of the house for a week (this group ended up getting arrested on felony charges and evicted)
-Took a set of Queen sheets and refused to return them. Airbnb reimbursed us for these "as a courtesy" although they said it doesn't align with the host guarantee.
-broke the in-granite soap dispenser on the kitchen sink
-balled up the King sheets and left them sitting on the master bed because they were stained with menstrual blood, along with the mattress cover

We work hard to provide a fully stocked, clean house for each group of guests. We live in a gated community on a golf course and use this house only for STR. We have a 2-night minimum, a cleaning fee, a $500 security deposit, and have updated our rules as these unfortunate circumstances arise. We have disabled instant booking. We require government ID and good reviews. Do we just need to come to terms with the fact that 50% of our guests are going to be atrocious; that we need to replace a dozen towels and at least 3 sets of sheets every 6 months? That's the rate we're going. What would you do? Are we just a "worst case scenario" or have y'all had really, really bad guests too?

20 Replies 20
Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Zack-and-Jennifer0

 

I don't really know what to say - you seem to have had the most appalling bad luck with guests recently. I can imagine it must be heartbreaking to see such a lovely property treated in such a way.

 

I can't really offer much in the way of suggestions other than the following (most of which it seems you are already doing).

 

- As a condition of booking state that all guests must provide a copy of ID in advance by email (either ID card, passport, drivers licence etc). 

 

Do you have any opportunity to say that after guests check in, on the following day you will drop by to ensure everything is in order, etc..(even using the pretext of dropping off extra towels, or something...) so that you can see who is there, etc..? Not sure if you live locally and could arrange that.

 

I would also look at your pricing - are you attracting the wrong type of guest. If you increased your pricing that might mean you get a better type of guest?

 

Finally and this is just my personal view, I think your list of rules just doesn't work any more. I can understand why you have expanded them, but there are things in here that AirBnB just won't support you with (and that are legally suspect!). The rules are full of your emotion (and I can understand that) but I would try shorten and simplify them - otherwise it will become meaningless to people and they wont read them anyway. 

 

Good luck and it's clear your guests love your place and you have great reviews - hope it's just a bad (unexplained) patch you are going through.

 

 

Our rules were pretty simple at first and then people started doing really stupid things like taking the sheets, using our bathroom as a hair salon, and breaking pretty much every house rule we have, such as no pets and no smoking. I spent 30 minutes scooping dog crap out of the backyard after one guest left. One couple that was relocating to the area actually brought a bed over and set it up in the living room and must have used nail polish remover at one point that took the varnish off an end table. It was just appalling. Once we started racking up the damages, I started adding those stupid rules, which I know no one reads anyway. However, during the last "adventure," local law enforcement wanted proof in writing of some of the house rules because we were effectively evicting the person because of their behavior - that was the guy imprinting credit cards, IDs, and running a whore house out of our home. Interestingly, he supposedly had government ID on file (it was actually fake) and two recent good reviews, which was part of our criteria at the time. After him, we turned off instant booking.

Our rates range from $160-$285/night for the entire house. The worst of the damages actually occurred during the priciest nights, believe it or not. So, we feel like higher rates aren't really a deterrent to bad behavior. It's so hard to tell who's going to be a good guest - we had 6 NYU international students for Spring Break and they were great. Prior to that, we had 1 guy during the week, presumably a business traveler, that totally trashed the place and definitely had a party.

We do live just around the corner, which we tell everyone. We even mention that we pass by several times a day, happy to bring anything that might be needed. Our neighbors a busy-bodies as well, but no one noticed a thing.

Just wondering if there was something we were missing that other more seasoned hosts are doing. We do plan to install exterior surveillance so we can see who is coming and going. We should make Superhost this assessment period, so we know we have a great place...just wishing we could get some great guests again.

Helga0
Level 10
Quimper, France

Hi @Zack-and-Jennifer0,

sorry for you, that list of guests is truly appalling!

on the phone, I don't see your listing, only your profile. 

I wondered, why you use such a distant profile name, when you name your first names later on in the description. This name suggests business investment, maybe managed by a real estate company, which does not care, not a professional one or someone shady, otherwise they would come up with a better selling name. 

People, who plan on shady commercial activities themselves or people, who don't care about others at all, may be attracted by these aspects: shady and anonymous. 

I'd suggest you change your name to your first names (or to your nicknames) and you put a picture of yourself. If you need the anonymity, take a romantic picture, your silhouette before a sunset in your hills. 

You can also try to add a no-nonsense, meaning-business, damgerous activity in your profile. 

As for the rules: make them short orders (shorter than a line per order). And add a price on important infractions. 

Good luck!

I appreciate your 2 cents and you make some good points.

 

Prior to the end of February, we did have a front-facing profile photo of ourselves.  We were prompted to change it out of concerns for our safety when the group that was running the illegal credit card imprinting operation was arrested, charged with a number of felonies, and their reservation promptly canceled without a refund. Someone in their group that was released from jail came by late the next day. We called the police to supervise them collecting their belongings. 

 

I get what you're saying about the name, but we felt that because we list our names in other places (profile, our welcome information and house access instructions) and our names are in some of the reviews, that it was still putting people to the place. We also make the effort to speak to every guest on the phone prior to booking and prior to their arrival. Somehow, I don't get the feeling that people really give a hoot about other people's property, based on some of the other horror stories I've read on here.

 

Maybe people think that because we have an STR that we're made of money and don't care if they damage, steal, and ignore every house rule? Having an STR has just made us lose a little more faith in humanity. LOL!

 

We might consider reverting back to less anonymity in the future, but we still have a pretty bad taste in our mouths for now.

Ok, @Helga0

I took your comments seriously and I made some tweaks. Check our profile out again and see what you think. I put our names back in, since they're listed in several places anyway. I added a "romatic sihouette" like you said. I shortened the rules too to try to make them less than one-liners, if I could.

 

I'm not sure why it's not showing in search results for you - I did block today for check-in since I haven't cleaned it from the last guests' departure on Sunday. I'll look into that...

@Zack-and-Jennifer0:

@Helga0had some really good points and I'm glad you took her suggestions. We have two houses we use for STR. One is directly next to us, the other is across town. We meet every person when they arrive or as soon as possible to insure that it is the right people and to make sure they seem legit.

 

We also have cameras outside the house and we disclose that in our listing for legal purposes. We've actually had a couple guests express appreciation for the cameras even though the houses are located in safe areas anyway. Cameras are a huge deterrent to unwanted activity. Just make sure the control box. internet connection and electrical plug-in are in a location the guests cannot access. We use a device that turns our electrical system into an internet wiring system to get the internet to our control box without having to run a direct line from the router.

 

If you are not using instant book anyway, then you might ask a few more questions during the inquiry phase, but understand that the more questions you ask the less likely the guest is to book. You don't want to run off good people either.

 

I certainly hope you can get this turned around. STR's are a really good business when things go correctly!

@Tim-and-Holly0

 

We are actually looking into a surveillance system right now.  Our garage is not accessible to guests, so we were planning to have the control area for the system set up in there. What system are you using and would you recommend it?  Do you mind if I "borrow" some of your surveillance camera language to put in our listing?

 

Our home is in a very nice part of town (some Spurs NBA players even live around here), in a very small, gated neighborhood, and on a golf course. It's mostly families. We consider it to be very safe, but it would seem like we've been attracting the wrong type of guests lately, so I'm definitely trying to turn that around, which is why I posted in this forum.

 

We usually don't personally meet each guest, but we will start doing that to put a real person to the property and I'm sure that will help. We do speak on the phone and message through the app with each person, but it's obviously not enough. We only live a few minutes away from this property, so meeting each guest will be simple enough. Thanks for your tips and advice!

@Zack-and-Jennifer0:

Feel free to use my wording.

 

https://www.costco.com/Q-See-8-Channel-HD-Analog-DVR-with-2TB-HDD%2c-8-4MP-Cameras-with-100'-Night-V...

 

Q-see is normally fairly trouble free. The picture is OK and you can monitor it from your own computer or cell-phone. It is a good entry level system. Set-up/programming is fairly simple too. I've used Q-see for 5 installations over the past four years. We had one long-term rental property that was burglarized twice in a month. Put up cameras and signage three years ago and have not had trouble since. Our church was broken into three times in two months. Put cameras there too and have not had any trouble in almost five years.

 

Mount cameras on the house corners to get a 360 view and ones pointed at the front and rear doors at a good enough angle to get a face. In most instances an eight camera system is plenty for the exterior.

One more thing. Just to make our lives easier, a couple days prior we email the guest requesting an estimated arrival time so we can plan out our day. We also have the guest text us 1/2 hour prior to arrival. We don't give out the door lock codes in advance. We meet them and provide it. If a guest is coming at a time we just can't make it then we provide the door code after the 1/2 hour text.

I do a bit the same: no codes and final description which unit, before I'm satisfied with the communication, especially arrival time. Works well with IB guests.

@Tim-and-Holly0

Great advice and we already do most of it.  We email the same request for anticipated arrival time and 24 hours prior to their check-in, we send them the welcome instructions via the Airbnb app. We also have a Smartlock on our door, which we pre-program with a unique code for each guest. We always ask about anticipated arrival time and most guests provide it; I have a fear of the batteries dying on the lock or something and i just want to make sure that people make it inside. We also ask that guests let us know when they've arrived at the home, but that's hit or miss. Interestingly, the ones tha that have forgotten that detail have all been fine.  The guests that maintain great communication about everything we ask are the ones that have been problems.  I'm not sure if holding off on providing the code would really make much of a difference, but we could certainly try it.

 

Even when we provide all of the information 24 hours in advance, and they acknowledge receiving it, I still get a text or call from someone sitting at the front gate asking for the code and then wanting their door code too.  I'm like, "but yesterday you said you got all the information and understood how to access the neighborhood and the house???" People are puzzling.

 

The night before they check-out, I remind people about the check-out instructions that are posted on the kitchen counter. These are just simple instructions asking people to start their dirty towels in the washer, dirty dishes in the dishwasher, collect trash and put it outside, and just clean up after themselves.  One lady asks, "so I start dishwasher, and the towels in washer...what about the sheets?" I told her don't worry about making or stripping the beds.  I get there and she's stripped the beds, but hasn't done a thing with the towels or dirty dishes.  Lol!

@Zack-and-Jennifer0, I like your new profile photo, it's very graphic, easy to make out even in the small thumbnail. I hope it helps. 

I had a look on your listing on the computer. The rules are clear, but too long for me to read, even interested in them. I doubt that guests read them all. You could group them into important = avoiding danger and degradation and a bit less important - avoiding annoyance. 

I'd leave only the important ones in the listing and send the others before you accept the booking. The hours for the trash etc are not really decicive before you book. You could write a rule in the sense: You accept to follow instructions concerning normal use of appliances and city rules on noise, trash removal etc. You will get them with the booking or immediately, on request.

 

In your text, you have some descriptions twice: the rules and the part about the area.

 

Your pictures seem very dark. If you take them against the light, bright day outside, darker room inside, tap your finger on the phone screen at a darker area. That indicated the sensor, where from to take the brightness measurement. Cameras and most phones allow you also to fix the measures first and take a photo after that. Most times by having only the darker room in sight, half clicking on a camera (on the phone you have to look it up, might be a double tap), then turning the camera to see all of it and finish clicking. 

 

Your entrance looks a bit forbidding and it might be visible from the road and break your wish for anonymity. I like your second photo better, if it was much brighter. 

Many of your pictures are cold, not personal. It's clear that it is a place for rent only, not a lived in home, and many people look for that. But you could try to add a few touches, that interrupt the coldness. A funny teddy bear sitting somewhere, as you host kids, a bright colored pillow besides the pretty earth colored ones, more of the carpets visible on the photos, maybe a set of glasses and a jug of lemonade on a table or kitchen counter. Something that tells a story: "You will arrive after your trip and your host prepared something thoughtfully for you." - Your hosts, real persons, care about you and the place. It's a place to feel well. 

That's no guarantee to scare away the kind of guests you had lately, but it makes the place more attractive for nice guests and considerate people plan a holiday involving a house some time in advance. The idea is to get the nice ones first. 

 

The airbnb profi hosts often recommend to use parts of the guests reviews in the photos and photo captions. I had a look on your reviews and they are all good, but that advice would not work. Many say "accomodating" and "helpful". I get that too and when I get it too often, I change something. It means "host can be talked into unreasonable concessions". 

Your first guests mentioned personal touches, snacks, welcome letters etc. That's in the sense of my advice above, you could add a photo of the welcome setting. Comfort was mentioned and fast internet - you could stage a photo to represent that, maybe an ipad and a laptop on the couches, a plaid (if it's not a summer location). 

 

@Helga0

I just updated the Other Things to Note section, as I noticed it was basically a reiteration of the House Rules that are already listed. I'll likely take your advice about the trash collection and things of that nature to shorten it more.  Actually, I'm not sure why I even have it listed there, as I don't expect people to remember it. I usually leave a hand written note for them if something like that will apply during their stay or send them a text asking them to put the can on the curb if it's getting full.

 

I like your advice about the pictures. Funny thing is that all the lights are on, windows are open, and I took the pictures on a bright, sunny day at like 1 PM.  I just could not get them any brighter.  I'll probably add some of the personal touches you mentioned just to see if it "ups" the caliber of guest that we get. I'll have to mess with the brightness editing tools on my iphone - using the flash just washes the pictures out and makes them worse.  Bookings aren't really an issue, as we've mostly remained booked 25 out of 30 nights since we started last October. We're not trying to generate more traffic, just trying to change the type of traffic we're generating.

 

I purposely didn't post any pictures of the "snack" set-up because I didn't really want that to be an expectation.  I think it's a welcome surprise and if I'm not mistaken, really only one reviewer even commented on it.  We provide things like bags of chex mix, popcorn, pringles, fruit snacks if I know there's kids, bottled water, fresh fruit like bananas and oranges, etc. Most people don't even it eat it. They drink all the water though!

 

As far as coming off as someone that can be "talked into unreasonable concessions," that hasn't happened.  Although I ask every guest to let me know if they need anything special before their arrival (special occaison or something like that) or during their stay, no one has taken me up on the offer and no one has said that they didn't get something they expected I would have provided. One group even came in to celebrate their 13 year-old's birthday. I provided some little party hats, noise maker favors, and hung a banner. They never said a word about it. Haha.  

 

The weather here is not great at the moment, but I plan to take your advice and post some brighter, more lived-in looking pictures. Thank you! ~Jennifer

@Helga0

Oh, and yes, the house is visible from the road, but all the houses look exactly the same: either one- or two-story villas. There are several neighborhoods in this area with the mediterranean looking houses, so I'm not worried about that. I used to have a picture of the gated entrance to the neighborhood, but I removed that one several months ago.

 

As far the duplicate text about location, that's also on purpose. Although we had our proximity to downtown, airport, etc., listed from the beginning, we got 3 people in a row asking us how far away we were from those destinations. So, in December, I added it in two more places and no one has asked that already-answered-question since.

 

I'm a sensitizer, so I like to have a lot of information about things. I like to see detailed descriptions, captioned photos, and I read the reviews about everything before making a decision.  I doubt I'll trim much more out of my listing because I think there are a lot of people like me out there too, but you've given me some great advice and some things to think about. Thank you for all your time and thoughtful recommendations!