When a woman in her early twenties wanted to book Vicky Bowman’s one-bedroom heritage-listed cottage in the English village of St. Neots last summer, she sensed something was amiss.
There were no reviews on the user’s Airbnb profile, so Bowman, who has “superhost” status on the platform, took to social media to investigate.
There 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 Bowman’s country house. She turned the request down.
Thirty minutes later, Bowman received another booking request through Airbnb, this time from an older woman contacting her on behalf of her son. Suspicious, Bowman also checked her social media profiles and discovered that the second client’s son was friends with the potential party host Bowman had previously rejected. She also declined this reservation.
Bowman said the experience has made her more careful when choosing guests at her cottage, and that she feels it’s only natural to check a guest’s social media profiles if she thinks they might be causing trouble.
“I know there are Airbnb hosts who literally stalk all of their guests, and I was worried that I was becoming some kind of super detective, but I’m definitely not that person,” Bowman said.
“I don’t think we should have to do anything for people who write good reviews other than to make sure they have a pleasant stay. Unfortunately, there have been at least three situations over the last few years where I felt the need to check a guest’s social media beforehand.”
Digging into social media
A survey of 247 rental property managers in the UK, US, France, Germany and Canada by home safety company Minat found that Bowman’s instincts were spot on.
About 43% of property management companies have dealt with noise complaints at rental properties, and 25% have called the police because of noise.
But Bowman is among the 8% who say they check guests’ social media profiles before accepting a reservation, a key part of the vetting process for Sebastian Long, CEO of Roger, a Texas company that offers short-term, furnished apartment rentals throughout Houston.
“If we have suspicions about someone, we take a closer look at social media as a more advanced check,” he said, “to see if their story matches up with the information they’re providing about why they’re booking with us.”
Long said he does online news searches on potential guests to see if there are any negative headlines or arrests.
Credit card issues
Long said the company is taking these steps to address one of its biggest problems: the use of stolen credit cards.
“We have a lot of people who stay a few days and then leave before the cardholder has a chance to dispute the credit card transaction,” he said. “One of the things we look out for the most is if the person making the reservation is using their own credit card.”
Long said Roger’s screening process resulted in about 2% of the roughly 1,200 bookings being blocked. It’s a small but significant step in the company’s efforts to crack down on credit card fraud, which has led to roughly 10 arrests out of roughly 9,000 guests over the past five years.
“There’s an epidemic of ‘digital shoplifting,’ where petty criminals are essentially living the high life by using other people’s credit cards to go on weekend getaways,” he said. “The first time a shoplifting incident occurred in 2019, we were waiting outside a building waiting for the police to arrive, and we saw them come inside, drag a man out in his underwear, and arrest him.”
A 4.5 star rating isn’t enough
Crystal Shell, an Airbnb Superhost who manages short-term rentals in Alabama with the management company Bailey Trace, says she doesn’t check her renters’ social media profiles, but she has a strict policy of only accepting bookings from guests who have five-star ratings on Airbnb and similar platforms.
Shell said he initially accepted bookings from guests with four- or 4.5-star ratings, but learned his lesson when he found that guests were not adhering to check-out procedures such as removing all sheets from the bed and placing them in the laundry room or leaving the property by 10 a.m. This is one of the reasons he started a separate business called Hello Guest Screen, which provides check-out and other related information on TV screens in properties.
Sebastian Long, CEO of Texas-based short-term rental company Roger.
Source: Sebastian Long
“The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If a guest breaks something or damages the room, it takes Airbnb forever to pay out the insurance. And if you have back-to-back bookings, like in my case, you’ll have to cancel another booking because repairs are needed. That’s why I put a note on my listing that says, ‘Do not book if below five stars or with zero reviews,'” Shell said.
An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC Travel, “While issues with stays are rare, we offer free AirCover to hosts and guests, 24/7 support and strict policies.”
Airbnb also said it encourages hosts and guests to get to know each other by reading Airbnb profiles and past reviews, and to communicate about their trip before confirming a booking.
Shell asks guests to message him before booking so he can confirm the details of their stay, something he says he encourages all hosts to do.
“Having people message us before booking often helps us out,” she says. “I turn down at least three enquiries a day, usually based on the response that they want to party. I also don’t allow locals to stay for that reason.”
“It looked good on paper.”
But for Ms Bowman, no amount of social media screening would have prevented a bad accommodation experience, she said. She accepted a last-minute booking request from a man who wanted to dine out with his wife nearby and wanted to stay in a cottage in St Neots rather than drive home.
The man complained that the mattress was broken and demanded a refund, so the couple left the same night they arrived, Bowman said. Bowman said she immediately went to the cottage and discovered that the bed sheets were clearly stained with evidence of sexual activity and that the coaster set was missing. She sent photos to Airbnb, but Airbnb rejected the man’s request for a refund and demanded that Bowman be reimbursed for the coasters and sheets.
Ms Bowman then researched him online and discovered he was a well-known and respected businessman in London, and her search revealed that the woman was not his wife.
“If I had researched this guy beforehand, I probably would have bought him a bottle of champagne,” Bowman said.
“He was an Airbnb Superhost with a great track record, so on paper it looked great. I never expected to end up putting on rubber gloves and cleaning up after him.”
