When a woman in her early twenties asked to book Vicky Borman’s heritage-listed one-bedroom cottage in the English village of St Neots last summer, something didn’t feel right.
The user had no comments on her Airbnb profile, so Borman, who has ‘Superhost’ status on the platform, took to social media to investigate.
There it was – an advert on the woman’s Facebook profile for a party in St Neots. The intention was clear: the party would take place in Borman’s villa. She refused the request.
Half an hour later, Borman received another Airbnb booking request, this time from an elderly woman searching on behalf of her son. Suspicion raised, Borman also checked her social media profiles and said the second applicant’s son was friends with the potential party host Borman had previously rejected. She also rejected this reservation.
The experience has made him more selective about who he lets stay in the cottage, Borman said. She said she thinks checking the social media profiles of potential guests is warranted if she thinks their stay could cause problems.
“I know there are some Airbnb hosts who literally follow every guest. I wondered if I was turning into some kind of super detective, but I’m definitely not that person,” Borman said.
“If someone has good reviews, I don’t think I have to do anything other than make sure they have a nice attitude. But unfortunately, over the last few years, there have been at least three situations where I’ve felt the need to control the media people’s society in advance.”
Digging through social media
A survey of 247 rental property managers from the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany and Canada by home security company Minut shows that Borman’s instinct was right.
About 43% of property managers had dealt with complaints about noise in their rentals, while 25% had called the police to a property because of noise.
Borman, however, is part of the 8% who said they look at guests’ social media profiles before accepting a reservation. It’s a key part of the vetting process for Sebastien Long, CEO of Texas-based Lodgeur, which offers short-term, fully furnished apartments for rent throughout Houston.
“We look into social media as a more advanced check when we have suspicions about someone,” he said. “We’ll see if their story matches the information they’re giving us about why they’re booking with us.”
Long said he also conducts an online news search of potential friends to check for negative headlines and even arrests.
Credit card problems
Long said his company takes these steps to solve one of its biggest problems — people using stolen credit cards.
“There are a lot of people who will stay a few days, then leave before the current cardholder has a chance to dispute the credit card transaction,” he said. “One of the big things we’re looking for is if the person booking is using their credit card.”
Long said Lodgeur’s verification process meant around 2% of nearly 1,200 bookings were blocked – a small but crucial step in its commitment to detect credit card fraud. The company’s efforts have resulted in about 10 arrests of about 9,000 guests in the past five years.
“There’s a trend of ‘digital shoplifting’ where someone will just have a weekend on someone else’s credit card, basically petty criminals live off that lot,” he said. “The first time it happened in 2019, we were outside one of the properties waiting for the police to turn up and we saw them come in and arrest the guy, dragging him away in his underwear.”
A 4.5 star rating is not enough
Airbnb superhost Crystal Shell, which manages short-term rentals in Alabama under the management company Bailey-Trace, does not check renters’ social media profiles, she said. But she is strict about only accepting bookings from guests with five-star reviews on Airbnb or similar platforms.
Shell learned its lesson, she said, after initially accepting reservations from guests with 4- or 4.5-star reviews, only to find they did not adhere to check-out procedures, such as removing all linens from beds and placing theirs in the laundry. room, or leaving the property by 10:00. It’s one of the reasons she created her other business, Hello Guest Screen, which provides check-out and other important information on property TV screens.
Sebastian Long, CEO of Texas-based short-term rental company Lodgeur.
Source: Sebastian Long
“The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If a guest breaks something or tears up your place, Airbnb takes forever to pay any insurance claims. Then if you have back-to-back bookings, which are mine generally then you have to cancel another booking because something needs to be repaired, so I put on my listings, ‘please don’t try to book if you have less than five stars, or zero reviews,’ Shell said .
An Airbnb spokesperson told CNBC Travel: “Staying rarely leads to problems, but we offer free AirCover to hosts and guests, and have 24/7 support and strict policies.”
AirCover provides damage protection for hosts, and refunds are paid, on average, in 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 requires her guests to send a message before booking to confirm the nature of the stay — something she advises all hosts to do.
“Having people text before booking has saved us more often than not,” she said. “I turn down at least three questions a day based on the answer usually involving wanting to have a party. We also don’t let locals stay for that reason.”
“Looked good on paper”
For Borman, however, no amount of social media vetting could have prevented the worst guest experience she’s had, she said. She accepted a last-minute booking request from a man who said he was eating in the area with his wife and wanted to stay at St Neots Cottage rather than drive home.
The pair left the same night they arrived after the man complained the mattress was broken and demanded a refund, she said. Borman said she immediately went to the cottage and found sheets soiled with visible residue of sexual activity – and a set of coasters missing. She sent photos to Airbnb, which denied the man’s request for a refund and demanded that he reimburse Borman for the coasters, plus the sheets.
Borman looked him up on the Internet afterwards, only to find that he was a well-known and respected London businessman. The search also suggested that the woman was not his wife.
“If I had asked for this man before, I probably would have gone and gotten him a bottle of champagne,” Borman said.
“He was a fellow Airbnb Superhost with a great track record, so he looked great on paper. I didn’t think I’d end up cleaning up after him with rubber gloves.”