Post by High Priestess on May 21, 2020 17:53:03 GMT
This video by Sean Rakidzich has lots of useful information on how Airbnb handles guests who stay at properties when they aren't supposed to: it gives info on how Airbnb wants you to handle these situations.
(1) First of all there is a discernment between 2 types of guest removal:
(a) A guest who cancels their reservation before arrival time, and then shows up at your property anyway and tries to go in. They are considered to be trespassing, in the legal sense, and the police can be called to remove them.
(b) A guest who has an active reservation, and who may be at your property even only for a few minutes. IN this type of case, the host should not be moving on their own to remove the guest, but rather should involve Airbnb.
(2) For the latter case, Airbnb has a "36 hour plan" for these types of situations. Sean says that Airbnb has the ability to call police on your behalf to remove a guest, and they call this process of removing a guest with an active reservation, an "extraction." For these tickets, there are 2 types, urgent and non-urgent.
(a) non-urgent is if the guest stays less than 36 hrs after check-out time.
(b) urgent is if the guest stays more tahn 36 hrs after check-out time.
I'm not really clear on this concept, because in my mind, since hosts have windows as small as 2 to 4 hrs between one guests' departure and another's arrival, I can't see that a guest staying 4 to 8 hrs after checkout would not be urgent. That overstaying guest could be preventing another guest from arriving for their reservation, which could lead to needing to cancel the next guest's reservation, which could be a long one, eg a month or more. And certainly, the guest trying to stay another night without paying, should definitely be an "urgent" matter.
(3) If a guest doesn't check out on time, you as the host want to call Airbnb immediately and say that you are concerned for the guests' safety. Also, tell Airbnb about any subsequent guest arrival that is now being effected by the first guest overstaying. Also tell the next guest about the issue and ask them when they plan to arrive, but tell them that they can't check in yet as the property isn't ready.
(4) Airbnb says they are capable of relocating guests even for just a portion of their reservation, so they should be trying to relocate the next guest for a few days. Airbnb doesn't want you to "get physical" with an overstaying guest, and also you don't want to risk having Airbnb shutting your account down, if the overstaying guest makes some odd and untrue accusation. Also, Sean explains that the goal should be to save the 2nd guest's reservation, so if the case manager is not trying to do that, you should ask for a new case manager.
(5) Sean explains how long it can take for Airbnb to go through the process to have the guest removed, but keep in mind, this whole process ONLY applies to legal short term rentals, those less than 30 days long. If the guest is on a long term stay.
(6) Sean points out that you dont' want to communicate with the guest during this time, but let Airbnb do that.
(7) Airbnb admitted that because they want the most guests possible, they don't do any "screening" of guests at all, such as criminal background checks, so all the responsibility for screening is on the host. But doing more screening makes it harder to move up in search ranking, and taking nearly everyone who requests to stay, moves you UP In search ranking. So taking more risks, literally accepting anyone who comes, gets you rewards on the Airbnb platform, while exposing you to serious problems as a host. One can readily see here how this formula would give the advantage to those like Sean, "hosts" who run dozens or hundreds of properties that they don't own themselves, but manage through rental arbitrage. Of course it's easier to take risks with someone else's property than with your own! HEnce one of my arguments about the ethical problems with rental arbitrage.
(8) He gives advice for changing case managers. Eg if a guest is trying to get a refund BEYOND 24 hrs after check-in, case manager is not supposed to do that. But if the case manager refuses to transfer you to a supervisor, what you as the host should do then is ask for the ticket # for this phone call, and state that you've requested a new case manager b/c you believe protocol is not being followed, AND that you've requested you can speak to their supervisor. Then call back and say you'd like to speak to a senior level case manager, b/c my current case manager for this ticket, isn't following protocol. You can force a case manager change if the case manager isn't following protocol.
(9) he says that the host guarantee should cover host damages for things like this. Even though as hosts we have innkeeper's rights and the right to remove people, legally, from overstaying on short term stays, Airbnb is advising hosts NOT to do this. Airbnb is taking more responsibility for the guest than a regular 3rd party platform and is asking us not to exercise our rights as innkeepers.
Again, the main problem that remains, is for hosts who have guests with long term stays, over 30 days long. In such cases, the protocol described here would not work, and so there is no clarity as to what procedure hosts should use in that situation and whether Airbnb would similarly support such hosts.
(1) First of all there is a discernment between 2 types of guest removal:
(a) A guest who cancels their reservation before arrival time, and then shows up at your property anyway and tries to go in. They are considered to be trespassing, in the legal sense, and the police can be called to remove them.
(b) A guest who has an active reservation, and who may be at your property even only for a few minutes. IN this type of case, the host should not be moving on their own to remove the guest, but rather should involve Airbnb.
(2) For the latter case, Airbnb has a "36 hour plan" for these types of situations. Sean says that Airbnb has the ability to call police on your behalf to remove a guest, and they call this process of removing a guest with an active reservation, an "extraction." For these tickets, there are 2 types, urgent and non-urgent.
(a) non-urgent is if the guest stays less than 36 hrs after check-out time.
(b) urgent is if the guest stays more tahn 36 hrs after check-out time.
I'm not really clear on this concept, because in my mind, since hosts have windows as small as 2 to 4 hrs between one guests' departure and another's arrival, I can't see that a guest staying 4 to 8 hrs after checkout would not be urgent. That overstaying guest could be preventing another guest from arriving for their reservation, which could lead to needing to cancel the next guest's reservation, which could be a long one, eg a month or more. And certainly, the guest trying to stay another night without paying, should definitely be an "urgent" matter.
(3) If a guest doesn't check out on time, you as the host want to call Airbnb immediately and say that you are concerned for the guests' safety. Also, tell Airbnb about any subsequent guest arrival that is now being effected by the first guest overstaying. Also tell the next guest about the issue and ask them when they plan to arrive, but tell them that they can't check in yet as the property isn't ready.
(4) Airbnb says they are capable of relocating guests even for just a portion of their reservation, so they should be trying to relocate the next guest for a few days. Airbnb doesn't want you to "get physical" with an overstaying guest, and also you don't want to risk having Airbnb shutting your account down, if the overstaying guest makes some odd and untrue accusation. Also, Sean explains that the goal should be to save the 2nd guest's reservation, so if the case manager is not trying to do that, you should ask for a new case manager.
(5) Sean explains how long it can take for Airbnb to go through the process to have the guest removed, but keep in mind, this whole process ONLY applies to legal short term rentals, those less than 30 days long. If the guest is on a long term stay.
(6) Sean points out that you dont' want to communicate with the guest during this time, but let Airbnb do that.
(7) Airbnb admitted that because they want the most guests possible, they don't do any "screening" of guests at all, such as criminal background checks, so all the responsibility for screening is on the host. But doing more screening makes it harder to move up in search ranking, and taking nearly everyone who requests to stay, moves you UP In search ranking. So taking more risks, literally accepting anyone who comes, gets you rewards on the Airbnb platform, while exposing you to serious problems as a host. One can readily see here how this formula would give the advantage to those like Sean, "hosts" who run dozens or hundreds of properties that they don't own themselves, but manage through rental arbitrage. Of course it's easier to take risks with someone else's property than with your own! HEnce one of my arguments about the ethical problems with rental arbitrage.
(8) He gives advice for changing case managers. Eg if a guest is trying to get a refund BEYOND 24 hrs after check-in, case manager is not supposed to do that. But if the case manager refuses to transfer you to a supervisor, what you as the host should do then is ask for the ticket # for this phone call, and state that you've requested a new case manager b/c you believe protocol is not being followed, AND that you've requested you can speak to their supervisor. Then call back and say you'd like to speak to a senior level case manager, b/c my current case manager for this ticket, isn't following protocol. You can force a case manager change if the case manager isn't following protocol.
(9) he says that the host guarantee should cover host damages for things like this. Even though as hosts we have innkeeper's rights and the right to remove people, legally, from overstaying on short term stays, Airbnb is advising hosts NOT to do this. Airbnb is taking more responsibility for the guest than a regular 3rd party platform and is asking us not to exercise our rights as innkeepers.
Again, the main problem that remains, is for hosts who have guests with long term stays, over 30 days long. In such cases, the protocol described here would not work, and so there is no clarity as to what procedure hosts should use in that situation and whether Airbnb would similarly support such hosts.