Some hosts say they review guests’ social media accounts.
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When a woman in her twenties asked to book Vicky Borman’s heritage-listed one-bedroom cottage in the English village of St Neots last summer, something didn’t seem right.
The user had no reviews on her Airbnb profile, so Borman, who has “Superhost” status on the platform, took to social media to investigate.
And there it was, an advert on the woman’s Facebook profile for a party in St Neots. The intention was clear: the party was to be held at Borman’s cottage. She declined the request.
Half an hour later, Borman received another booking request through Airbnb, this time from an older woman inquiring on behalf of her son. Suspicions having been raised, Borman also checked her social media profiles and realized that the second requester’s son was friends with the potential party host Borman had previously turned down. She also turned down that booking.
The experience has made her more selective about who she allows to stay at the cabin, Borman said. She believes it’s justified to check potential guests’ social media profiles if she thinks their stay could cause problems.
“I know there are Airbnb hosts who literally stalk every guest. I wondered if I was becoming some kind of super sleuth, but I’m definitely not that person,” Borman said.
“If someone has good reviews, I don’t feel the need to do anything other than make sure they have a pleasant stay. But unfortunately, in the last few years, there have been at least three situations where I’ve felt the need to check people’s social media beforehand.”
A survey of 247 rental property managers from the UK, US, France, Germany and Canada by residential security company Minut shows Borman’s instincts were correct.
Around 43% of property managers have dealt with noise complaints at their rentals, while 25% have had to call the police to a property due to noise.
Borman, however, is among the 8% who say they check out guests’ social media profiles before accepting a booking. That’s a key part of the selection process for Sebastien Long, CEO of Texas-based Lodgeur, which offers short-term furnished apartment rentals throughout Houston.
“We turn to social media to do further checks when we have suspicions about someone,” he said. “We check to see if their story matches the information they give us about why they are booking with us.”
Long said he also conducts online news research on potential guests to check for negative headlines and even arrests.
Long said his company is taking the steps to address one of its biggest problems: people using stolen credit cards.
“A lot of people stay for a few days and then leave before the cardholder has a chance to dispute the credit card transaction,” he said. “One of the key things we look for is whether the person making the reservation is using their own credit card.”
Long said Lodgeur’s verification process resulted in about 2% of the nearly 1,200 reservations being blocked. — a small but crucial step in its commitment to uncovering credit card fraud. The company’s efforts have netted about a dozen people out of some 9,000 customers over the past five years.
“There’s a trend of ‘digital shoplifting’ where someone goes out of town for a weekend with someone else’s credit card, and they’re basically petty criminals living in luxury,” he said. “The first time it happened in 2019, we were outside one of the properties waiting for the police to arrive, and we saw them come in and arrest the guy, dragging him out in his underwear.”
Crystal Shell, an Airbnb superhost who manages short-term rentals in Alabama under the management company Bailey-Trace, doesn’t vet renters’ social media profiles, she said. But she’s strict and only accepts bookings from guests with five-star reviews on Airbnb or similar platforms.
Shell learned her lesson, she says, after accepting bookings from guests with 4- or 4.5-star reviews, only to find they weren’t following checkout procedures, such as removing all linen from the beds and putting it in the laundry room, or leaving the property by 10 a.m. That’s one reason she started her other business, Hello Guest Screen, which provides checkout and other relevant information on property TV screens.
Sebastian Long, CEO of Lodgeur, a Texas-based short-term rental company.
Source: Sebastian Long
“The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. If a guest breaks something or destroys your place, Airbnb takes forever to pay out the insurance claim. Then, if you have back-to-back bookings, which I usually do, you have to cancel another booking because something needs to be fixed. So I put in my listings, ‘Please do not try to book if you have less than five stars or no reviews,’” Shell said.
An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC Travel: “Stays rarely result in issues, but we offer free AirCover to hosts and guests, and have 24/7 support and strict policies in place.”
AirCover provides damage protection to hosts and refunds are issued, on average, within two weeks or less, the Airbnb spokesperson said.
Airbnb also said that 0.03% of global bookings resulted in a property damage claim exceeding $1,000, and that it encourages hosts and guests to communicate about their trip before confirming bookings.
Shell said she asks guests to message before booking, so she can confirm the nature of the stay – something she advises all hosts to do.
“Having people message before booking has saved us most of the time,” she said. “I turn down at least three requests a day based on the response, which usually involves wanting to throw a party. We also don’t allow locals to stay for that reason.”
Yet for Borman, no amount of social media control could have prevented the worst experience she has ever had. She accepted a last-minute booking request from a man who said he was having dinner nearby with his wife and wanted to stay in the cottage in St Neots rather than drive home.
The couple left the same night they arrived, after the man complained that the mattress was broken and demanded a refund, she said. Borman said she immediately went to the cabin and found the sheets soiled with obvious traces of sexual activity — and a set of coasters missing. She sent photos to Airbnb, which denied the man’s refund request and demanded that he reimburse Borman for the coasters, as well as the sheets.
Borman then did some internet research and discovered that the man was a well-known and respected London businessman. The research also suggested that the woman in question was not his wife.
“If I had looked up this man in advance, I probably would have gone and gotten him a bottle of champagne,” Borman said.
“He was an Airbnb Superhost with a brilliant track record, so he looked great on paper. I didn’t think I’d end up cleaning up after him with rubber gloves.”
News Source : www.cnbc.com
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