Becoming an Airbnb host can give you the financial freedom that you’re looking for, allowing you to generate additional income via rentals. But while the Airbnb platform makes it easy to create listings and find Airbnb guests wanting to book your vacation rental, the reality is that there’s still a great deal of work that needs to be done on your end. The most important thing to look into when you become a host on Airbnb is all the common Airbnb problems and solutions.
If you’re looking to get ahead of Airbnb issues before they strike, this comprehensive guide on troubleshooting common Airbnb host problems will equip you with all of the knowledge you need to have on hand to profit off of your short-term rental with ease.
Booking Issues
Booking can be one of the most confusing elements of becoming a host on Airbnb, and for good reason. One of the common issues that hosts often face when getting started on the platform is learning how to manage bookings. They may activate a listing, only to realize that they don’t agree with the terms or they haven’t customized their experience to make sure that the booking system works for their needs.
The key to navigating booking and making sure that potential guests are renting out your property in a way that best suits you is to get familiar with your calendar and booking settings. These settings will help you manage:
- Blackout Dates: There will naturally be some dates that guests want to book that are unavailable. Making sure that you select your blackout dates will prevent bookings from occurring during times of the year when you won’t be able to host.
- Pricing: Pricing naturally fluctuates throughout the year, especially when your property on Airbnb becomes more in demand during the summer or around certain events. The last thing you want is to undercharge future guests. Make sure you’re setting your pricing appropriately when you’re customizing the Airbnb experience to avoid any potential problems down the road.
- Check-in and Check-out Times: Check-in and check-out times can significantly affect bookings. Customize these to meet the needs of your guests and yourself.
- Buffer Period: It’s never enjoyable to be a host who receives an instant booking and a message from a guest about an imminent stay. Many Airbnb hosts face the issue of needing to rush to prepare their property for a guest because they aren’t giving themselves enough time to get the rental ready. Customize this as needed so that you don’t run into this common problem.
- Length of Stay: As a host, you get to choose how long guests are welcome to stay on your property. If you’re looking to offer only a short-term rental experience, cut down the length of stay. If you don’t mind renting it out for several weeks or even longer than a month, you can make this happen too.
- Multiple Calendars: One of the common Airbnb issues that don’t get talked about is overlapping schedules. Some hosts list properties on multiple platforms but fail to keep track of their bookings. This can lead to confusion, guest complaints, negative reviews, and even refunds. Airbnb integrates with multiple calendars so that you can stay on top of your schedule and prevent potential issues with overlapping bookings.
- Instant Booking and Booking Requests: Hosts have a choice as to how they manage bookings. Instant Bookings allow guests who meet the stay requirements to quickly book rental properties when available, speeding up the process. On the other hand, Booking Requests give you greater control over who rents your property but require more hands-on management. Consider what works best for you to minimize booking issues.
The more intimate you are with the system, the easier it is to avoid booking issues entirely. If you need any help, you can always reach out to the Airbnb community as other hosts may have encountered a similar issue, or you can contact Airbnb directly for support.
Payment Problems
The first issue to address with payment problems is that guests may encounter various difficulties when booking a property. This can frustrate them and lead to a negative Airbnb experience, which they might blame on you. As a host, it’s always courteous to inform guests about any potential issues that may arise. Airbnb offers a host of troubleshooting pages for guest payment problems, with a couple of key resources being their payment troubleshooting page and their page discussing declined payment problems.
Here are some of the common Airbnb problems and solutions concerning payments.
- Some guests may hop on Airbnb and ask you to accept payment off-platform. Never do this. If a guest tries to get you to pay off the platform, deny their booking request and report them to Airbnb.
- Bad guests will sometimes cause damage to your property and then remove payment information to avoid dealing with extra fees and fines. It’s important to take this up with Airbnb and document everything.
- While it’s not rampant, there are many cases of hosts managing an Airbnb where guests will book a property, only for their payment method to be declined. The problem? Despite the payment method being declined, the reservation is still made and allows guests to stay at their Airbnb payment-free. Keep tabs on all issues related to declined payments and cancel reservations immediately if you see a declined payment method and bookings in your system that shouldn’t be there.
Payment problems are serious given that you need to make money to run a successful Airbnb business. If you encounter any of the above, address it promptly to ensure you’re properly paid.
Communication Challenges
Hosts and guests need to maintain open communication for the Airbnb experience to go smoothly for everyone. However, communication is one of the most common challenges for both parties, which can just lead to misunderstandings.
The first defense against this is to make sure your listing is comprehensive and informative. You should cover what your property offers, the house rules, and any other important notes that guests need to be aware of before they request to book your property.
The second solution is to reach out to guests immediately. Establish a line of communication by welcoming them and letting them know that you’re there to answer any questions that they may have. You may also wish to follow up by copy-pasting the house rules, talking more about check-in, and reminding them to have a good time. The more cordial you are, the smoother communication with guests becomes.
Check-in and Check-out Tips
Late guests are a reality for anyone operating in the hospitality industry. This includes guests who arrive late (generally not an issue as there’s no required check-in time, as long as they don’t arrive earlier than stated) and those who check out later than they should.
In some cases, this may be an issue that the host has paved the way for. If you’re not clear about your check-out times or you haven’t properly customized them to fall in line with when you want your guests to check in and check out, you’ll need to return to the first section of this guide and fix that.
If, however, you have a guest who stays later than they should, you’re not powerless to act. Hosts are allowed to tack on late checkout fees to incentivize guests to check out on time. If a guest is open and honest with you about needing a later checkout, it’s up to you to determine what the best course of action is.
Cleanliness Concerns
Most hosts work diligently to guarantee that all spaces within a property are clean so guests can relax and enjoy their stay. Unfortunately, there are many guests out there who do not reciprocate that level of respect and will leave a space looking disheveled and dirty after they’ve checked out. The best way to resolve the most common issue on the platform is to add cleaning fees to your listing.
While cleaning fees can mean that you may face a minor drop in bookings or guests who will voice their displeasure, it safeguards you from having to invest in products and services to deal with a guest who is far messier than they should be. You could also raise your booking rates and drop cleaning fees entirely if you think that would improve how guests perceive you.
Security and Safety Measures
While hosts can make house rules known and detail all of the expectations they have when guests book their properties, that doesn’t guarantee that guests will always follow those rules. Moreover, just because a guest has provided identification to Airbnb doesn’t mean that they’ve been vetted. Airbnb doesn’t conduct background checks on guests.
As a result, there may very well be guests who break both house rules as well as local laws and regulations. You must maintain a line of communication with your neighbors and use surveillance (within reason) to ensure that guests are following the rules and not engaging in any illegal activity. If you do discover that they’re doing something illegal that threatens the safety and security of your home or the people around your property, the first call that needs to be made is to the proper authorities.
You can then report the issue to Airbnb and cancel, likely without penalty in many situations. Safety and security are important, which is why it’s vital to know what to do in situations where guests are not behaving appropriately.
Amenities and Facilities
Your amenities and facilities are what attract guests to your rental. They’re also likely the areas of your property most susceptible to damage by guests who aren’t treating these amenities with care. It’s common to hear horror stories from hosts who have encountered guests who have caused unintentional or even wanton destruction. But can hosts do anything about this if they encounter the problem themselves?
They can.
Airbnb offers host damage protection to help hosts manage the costs of damages caused by guests. If a guest has caused damage to amenities and facilities (or anything else within your Airbnb), you can document the issue, take the necessary action, and then file a reimbursement claim. If guests don’t take action to remedy the situation, you can then elevate the issue to Airbnb.
Resolving Disputes
Disputes come with the territory when you’re listing a property on Airbnb, and they’re a common issue hosts may face that can cause a great deal of anxiety. Fortunately, disputes don’t have to be as stressful as they seem, and you may be able to solve the problem quite easily with or without the support of Airbnb.
A responsible Airbnb host will first address issues directly with the guest. This may include dealing with guests who have made a mess of the place, guests who aren’t satisfied with the property once they’ve arrived, or guests who find that the amenities on the property aren’t for them. Working things out with the guest in an amicable manner can save you from a great deal of trouble.
If you aren’t able to reach an agreement with the guest directly, Airbnb will step in to mediate the situation so it can come to a conclusive resolution.
Learning More About Airbnb Problems and Solutions Is Crucial to Being a Successful Host
There is no shortage of issues that you can run into as an Airbnb host. Taking the time to learn more about these and how to remedy them quickly and efficiently is key to thriving on the Airbnb platform. The more you expand your knowledge base to deal with common hosting issues, the better you will navigate the hosting experience. Start with the comprehensive list of topics above to build your knowledge base and prepare for the future.
