SUPERHOG and Turno Partnership

How to Screen Airbnb Guests Without Compromising Guest Experience

SUPERHOG — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 23:27:14 +0000

Balancing Security and Guest Experience

The guest experience plays a big factor in either making your hosting experience successful and enjoyable or simply disappointing.

There’s the possibility that you might damage the guest experience by implementing too many security measures that are strict, invasive, slow, or not implemented properly. But without the right security, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable as a host. So, what is the right balance?

There’s a fine line between balancing security and guest experience. As an Airbnb host, you need to strike the right balance so that you’re protected with comprehensive security measures and there’s no negative impact on guests’ experiences.

3 Simple Ways to Balance Guest Screening and Experience

With the right strategy and tools, you can adapt or develop a booking journey that ensures a great experience but also keeps your asset(s) safe. Here are three simple steps on how you can do it:

1. Put the Guest First and Prioritize Their Risk Profile

It’s not rocket science. The guest is your customer, and if they have a bad experience, they may cancel their booking and even consider not booking with you ever again. Word travels fast, and Airbnb reviews travel even faster, so one bad experience can put a mark on you as a host to other potential guests.

Every guest comes with a different risk profile, so don’t treat them all the same. Decide what level of risk you are comfortable with and implement the right tools to help you deal with that level.

To do so, ask yourself the following questions:

What kind of behaviors and acts will you not tolerate?
What do you expect of guests?
What do you consider mandatory for all guests?

Once you have sorted your risk tolerance levels, tailor your security measures to that level. The best way to do this is to introduce a dynamic screening process to your guest booking journey. A dynamic screening process means that different guests do different types of verifications depending on their risk profile.

As an example, if a single Airbnb user was looking to book a four-bedroom house for a one-night stay, and you know that there is a festival happening nearby, this is an instant red flag. If you were unsure and wanted to go ahead with the booking to not miss out on the revenue, you could ask that guest to verify their ID, validate their credit card, and pay a security deposit.

But if a family sent a booking request for the same house for a week or longer, you might enforce fewer steps in your guest screening process, because the overall risk is lower.

The key takeaway from this is to think: Does the reward outweigh the risk?

2. Inform Guests About Security Measures Right From the Start

The key to providing a good guest experience when it comes to processes like screening and other security measures is to set expectations early.

If possible, on the Airbnb profile for your listing, outline your guest screening processes, any Airbnb security cameras, and the house rules that you require all guests to follow.

To protect yourself further, reiterate this in any rental agreement that you have the guest sign, showing that they legally acknowledge the information you have provided.

By clearly communicating your security measures, you’re weeding out bad guests, as they will be deterred from booking. Your good guests won’t bat an eyelid when it comes to completing these measures if they have been made aware of your expectations. In other words, keeping guests in the know helps create a good guest experience.

3. Transparency About Personal Data Is Key

Even though we live in an increasingly digital world, people are still very wary about providing their sensitive information online. Unfortunately, the vacation rental industry is also plagued by crimes such as fraud and identity theft, so how you handle a guest’s private information is crucial.

To show that your processes are legitimate and secure, build trust with guests through transparency. Let guests know what personal information you collect during the screening process and what happens to that information, making it abundantly clear that your process is compliant with all privacy and data protection laws.

Does Airbnb Do Background Checks?

Every time a booking happens, hosts place their faith in Airbnb, trusting that the platform will adequately screen their guests. However, the harsh reality — which a lot of hosts have found out the hard way — is that Airbnb’s processes are not as thorough as they would like.

Airbnb may perform an identity check, however, ID verification is not a mandatory part of the sign-up process for guests. In the same vein, Airbnb does offer background checks, but these are not available globally and are dependent on a lot of external factors.

According to Airbnb, they use a guest’s first and last name along with their date of birth to run a background check. The company also uses public state and county criminal records databases, as well as state and national sex offender registrations, for their investigations, but these are limited to the U.S. and India only. Airbnb checks all users of their platform on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list for terrorist designations as well.

This means that very little is done when it comes to screening guests who are booking from outside the U.S. Airbnb states: “We may, to the extent permitted by applicable laws and to the extent available, obtain the local version of background or registered sex offender checks.”

When Airbnb’s background check finds that a user has severe criminal convictions, they suspend that user’s account for further investigations or wholly remove them from the platform.

Why You Can’t and Shouldn’t Rely Solely on Airbnb’s Background Checks

Hosts are ultimately responsible for who they allow into their homes, and, therefore, need assurances that their guests behave appropriately and are exactly who they claim to be.

Airbnb clearly states that their background checks should not be completely relied upon when it comes to accepting guests. As they rightly mention, a background check does not ensure the guest in question won’t commit a crime during their stay. Because Airbnb doesn’t continually check its guests, the validity of the background check can be called into question.

Here are the limitations of Airbnb’s background checks as stated by Airbnb:

Scope of search: Confined to just the U.S. and India
Guests of guests: Only the lead guest is checked
User information accuracy: Checks only work when people give Airbnb their correct full legal name and date of birth; if the ID is stolen, Airbnb has no way of knowing if the guest provides the details on the stolen ID as their own
Infrequent checks: Airbnb may only conduct the check once and this may be months before their booking with you
Inconsistent reporting: Due to variations in local U.S. laws and reporting systems, criminal record information that’s searched and reported in each type of check can vary by state and county
Incomplete search results: The databases they check may be incomplete

For these reasons, hosts need to look to specialized independent screening providers to make sure that every guest they host is vetted and screened fairly and comprehensively.

Make Your Hosting Experience Safe

Owning a vacation rental business can come with its own safety precautions. Hosts are consistently around strangers that are coming and going from their property. It is important that hosts feel comfortable and safe around all new and returning guests. This is why guest screening is so important to a host’s experience owning a short-term rental.

Airbnb’s guest screening is a reliable tool to count on for an initial test of who your customers are, but it’s recommended to do guest screenings on each person staying at the listed property. This will ensure that the host is aware of every guest entering and leaving.

The post How to Screen Airbnb Guests Without Compromising Guest Experience appeared first on Turno.

Airbnb Horror Stories: Can You Afford Not to Know Your Guest?

SUPERHOG — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 05:32:00 +0000

Is Guest Screening Worth the Investment?

Renting out your home to strangers can raise more doubts than it does provide assurances, and the cons list can outweigh the pros list. It doesn’t have to be like this though, and investing in security measures now can prevent serious headaches and repeat stress factors down the line.

Guest screening is nothing new — the hotel industry has done it forever, and they’re not invasive or in breach of data protection laws. That said, it’s important to remember we’re not comparing apples to apples with the hotel industry and the short-term rental industry.

In the vacation rental industry, there tends to be a more hands-off approach when it comes to check-in and check-out processes. Since the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in self-service processes, but with this, more risks have emerged. These risks may leave you with a heavy price to pay — and we’re not just talking about money.

The Real Cost of Guest Screening

When you look at your business costs and consider where the money is going out, also consider where the money is coming in and where the money could be coming in. Ask yourself: Are all the doors open for additional revenue, or are some closed because you’re afraid of the risks?

If you have some doors closed, get the right tools in place to enable you to open them. For example, if you block off your calendar during notorious holidays for parties, such as Halloween, you could be costing your business revenue. And this revenue could mean the difference between a good financial year and a great one.

Remember that not every Airbnb guest has the same risk factor, and these seemingly negative times of the year could actually be a scalable revenue source for you.

What You Could Be Missing Out On

If you choose to close your calendars during certain times of the year or from specific OTAs, you may be missing out on thousands of potential repeat bookings, word-of-mouth recommendations, good reviews — and increased booking revenue.

If you get cold feet and cancel a booking last-minute, you lose both revenue and trust between future guests and your business.

If you choose not to accept 1- and 2-night stays because they ring “PARTY!” alarm bells, you miss out on the revenue from these stays.

If you choose not to accept direct bookings because you feel there is less security and protection for you as a host compared to OTA bookings, you lose out on repeat and direct bookers. This can, in turn, bring in higher revenue since you’ll be avoiding OTA commissions.

If you choose to host and this results in hefty damages and repairs, your revenue will be affected. Not to mention, you may have to take your property off the market until repair work is done.

You get the picture.

By closing these doors because you don’t have the right toolkit in place, you’re essentially cutting yourself off from a goldmine of revenue. In reality, there are services out there to help protect and provide a solution to you.

The Right Pricing, the Right Solution

There’s no sugar-coating the fact that there are some bad eggs out there and, unfortunately, the rapidly growing vacation rental industry is susceptible to fraudulent activity and guest damages. This is where technology comes in.

An automated guest screening tech solution will save you time, money, and hassle, and you’ll be a step ahead of your competition by accepting bookings that others won’t.

Now, you can open those doors and welcome those “risky” bookings with confidence when using a guest screening solution.

Monetizing Trust and Safety

Of course, these tech solutions are another expense to add to your ever-growing list. Luckily, there are additional preventative steps you can put in place to protect your property.

Alongside using an automated guest screening technology, an effective way of building a strong sense of responsibility and accountability during a guest’s stay is to collect some form of damage deposit.

Calculating your deposit amount, how to implement the policy, and how you will reimburse the guest after the stay can be a tedious process. Instead, consider collecting a non-refundable damage waiver in place of a traditional refundable deposit. This way, you can ensure you’re protected and simultaneously monetize the security — and with minimal effort required.

Having this process in place removes the administrative headaches that can come with collecting and refunding a traditional deposit. Besides, if you’re going to be collecting a security deposit anyway, why not use it as an additional revenue stream for your business?

Additionally, say you need to repair your property’s drywall after a guest accidentally knocked a chair leg into it, creating an unsightly hole. Or maybe you need to replace your property’s espresso maker after it was stolen by a guest.

If your damage waiver doesn’t cover the full cost of the repair or replacement, there are guest screening solutions that also offer comprehensive damage protection. This way, even in the worst-case scenario, you’re covered.

Automatic Guest Screening Is Money Well Spent

Any good guest screening tech solution should help you answer the following questions with confidence on 100% of your bookings:

Do you know your guest?
Can you trust your guest?
What happens if something goes wrong?

Next time, instead of asking yourself if you can afford to invest in trust and safety for your business… ask yourself if you can afford not to.

The post Airbnb Horror Stories: Can You Afford Not to Know Your Guest? appeared first on Turno.

Guest Screening Process for Airbnb Hosts

SUPERHOG — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 20:21:00 +0000

What Is Guest Screening?

Guest screening is the process of assessing the risk posed by each potential guest through legal, non-discriminatory, and detailed checks.

This may involve asking guests to submit personal information, such as their name, date of birth, home address, and a copy of their official ID, as well as their mobile phone number and email address.

How Does Guest Screening Work?

With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology, the information provided by the guest will be processed and scanned in the background, extracting key information.

The purpose of this process is to determine whether the ID is stolen, fake, or genuine; it’s also meant to verify that the personal details provided match those on and associated with the ID.

The phone number and email address of the guest are then reviewed to see if the name provided for the booking matches the registered owner. Screening tools will also look at when the email account was created. This is to check that the account wasn’t created just for the booking.

After providing an ID, guests will be asked to perform a biometric or liveness check, usually in the form of taking a selfie or short video. To help reduce fraudulent chargebacks and protect against lost revenue and bookings, hosts may choose a screening provider that also verifies credit and debit card information.

Others may prefer to use a service that also does background checks, which can include checking criminal databases and terrorism watchlists.

Why Do Hosts Need Guest Screening?

By investing in an effective screening process,hosts will save money in the long run by minimizing incidents of damage and reducing insurance claims. Picture this scene:

You’re a new host and have decided to rent out your own home while you’re away on vacation. You’re having an incredible time with your friends and family. But, while you’re enjoying yourself, your phone starts ringing. You ignore it — you’re on vacation after all.

However, your phone doesn’t stop ringing. You check the caller and see that it’s your next-door neighbor. She sounds angry and you can hear the sound of loud, thudding music and police sirens whirring in the background.

Turns out, the guest who booked your place decided to throw a party, and dozens of people showed up. The worst part? They used a fake ID and a stolen credit card to book your property.

This scenario could have been completely avoided through intelligent guest screening. Guest screening is one of the best ways to spot red flags and protect you and your vacation home from the risks that come with online booking requests. It actively prevents problems from occurring, rather than just being on hand to sweep up after the damage has already been done.

1 in 20 guests admits they treat a vacation rental with less respect than their own home. On top of that, the average cost of property damage by guests is around $1,296. For these reasons, making sure you host only the most respectful guests should be at the top of your priority list.

Guide to Guest Screening: 10 Easy Tips

Learn 10 simple tips to help prevent troublesome guests from booking and stepping foot inside your property.

1. Know Your Guests

To guarantee your hosting experience is a positive one, make sure you know as much as possible about your guests.

Ask guests to clarify whether any additional guests will be joining them during their stay. If there are, collect all the details of these additional guests, such as names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Having these details will help in case of damage to your rental.

2. Do Your Research

Once you have their name and phone number, do a quick Google search. Check on social media platforms to see if they live locally or whether what they post online is a cause for concern for you.

3. Ask for ID

By asking for a guest’s ID, you can host in confidence knowing exactly who you’re renting to. Guests that are deterred and unwilling to provide their ID are often the ones that cause damage and problems for hosts.

Having a copy of the guest’s ID also helps if the guest performs any criminal acts on your property, such as theft, and you have to report them to the police.

4. Validate Payments

Vacation rentals are unfortunately a target for credit card fraud.

To make sure that cards are not stolen or fake, and guarantee that payments are made to you, make sure that guests pay 100% of the booking fee and any other payments you request upfront. That way they are processed immediately and you will know in advance if there are any problems, such as chargebacks.

5. Collect a Deposit

We all know that accidents happen, so protecting yourself is crucial.

In addition to validating guests’ credit cards, collecting a security deposit will also help you if you need to make a claim. By holding the deposit for 7 days after a guest’s stay, you can inspect the property and charge the guest if they have broken or stolen anything. There are automated, streamlined deposit solutions on the market to make this process easier.

6. Have a Rental Agreement

Have every one of your guests sign a rental agreement committing to your house rules and the standards that you expect of them when staying at your property.

By having a legally binding agreement, guests can be held accountable for their actions and will make processes — such as insurance claims or keeping the deposit amount — much easier for you as a host.

7. Know Your Area

Keep yourself aware and up to date on big events that might be happening in the surrounding area.

If you live in an area that hosts a well-known festival or is known as a place to party, be wary of one-night bookings and guests who live locally. These are often party bookings and should be avoided at all costs.

8. Monitor the Stay

By installing noise monitoring sensors, you can rest easy knowing that guests are treating your property — and your neighbors — with respect.

Make sure you let potential guests know that you use these products and be understanding when it comes to noise spikes. You can set your levels, and if guests reach those levels for a sustained period of time, you can step in and contact them to resolve and reduce the noise issue.

9. Keep All Payments on the Platform

If you are using a major home-sharing OTA, then keep all communications and payments on the site. If a guest tries to get you to accept payment outside of the platform or move communications, report them to the platform and decline the booking, as these are often scams.

10. Note Their Reviews

If you do use a major OTA, make sure you have a look at the guest’s reviews — both the reviews that hosts have left them and the reviews they have left hosts.

It’s always good to hear both sides of the story. But if you see they are unfairly critical of places they have stayed, then these are the guests you likely want to avoid.

Why You Should Use a Guest Screening Provider

There are many benefits hosts can enjoy by using a dedicated guest screening provider, including:

Increased Guest Accountability

By collecting guests’ details, if something does go wrong, you’ll have the appropriate information to get issues resolved quickly.

Deter Party Bookings and Fraudsters

Requiring guests to verify and provide their details is a major deterrent for those looking to take advantage of your property.

Add an Extra Layer of Protection

Prevent damage and problems from occurring in the first place by deterring risky guests from booking your properties.

Automate Previously Manual Processes

Gone are the days of having to manually review a copy of a guest’s passport. AI-powered systems can automatically read and verify IDs.

Give Yourself Confidence

By knowing that the person who has booked your home is exactly who they say they are each time, you’ll have that extra peace of mind that your home is safe and in good hands.

FAQs: Guest Screening Process for Airbnb Hosts

Will using a guest screening tool put guests off from booking?

Hopefully the bad ones, yes!

For anyone coming to your property without an ulterior motive, there is no reason for them to be put off by the verification process.

A quick Google search of industries using verification as standard will show financial services, health care, education, sharing economy, retail, gaming, and more. You’ll also see that the travel and hospitality industries have been doing it for years already: hotel check-in, airport security, and boarding a plane to name a few.

While there is more work needed to standardize guest screening in the short-term rental space, it is not a process that guests are unfamiliar with or should fear — unless they’re up to no good of course, in which case, you don’t want those guests to book with you anyway.

Does guest screening stop chargebacks?

While chargebacks are never 100% preventable, guest screening processes will help minimize them.

Is the guest’s data safe?

Yes; you are not in violation of any data compliances by screening your guests. It is a long-established practice in some industries (i.e., hotels) and is becoming a common practice in many more, including our beloved vacation rental industry.

If Airbnb already screens guests, why should I use a third-party service to do it too?

Airbnb, along with some other OTAs, may perform an identity check. However, ID verification is not part of their standard sign-up process for guests, and some OTAs don’t ever do it. Airbnb does offer background checks, but they’re not always available worldwide and depend on a lot of outside factors.

Remember: Airbnb’s (as well as other OTA’s) principal business is bookings, and their principle client is the guest. Third-party services offering guest screening and/or damage protection focus on the host as the principal client.

Guest screening providers work with you to make the screening process, resolutions, and claims process faster, easier, and more lucrative.

Can I use a guest screening and protection service through my PMS?

Yes. For example, SUPERHOG integrates with many property management software and is always adding more partners based on demand.

I already pay for a lot of services for my business. Isn’t this just another expense?

There are numerous costs associated with running your business successfully, which is why it’s essential to create the right tech stack. Guest screening and protection should always form part of your business tech stack. And don’t forget: The question should be reframed from “can I afford to?” to “can I afford not to?”.

Screen Airbnb Guests, Protect Your Vacation Rental

For liability, it is important to know as much as you can about the customers entering and leaving your property. A lot of time and money has already been poured into your vacation rental business, and losing anything due to a poor guest screening is not optimal.

The post Guest Screening Process for Airbnb Hosts appeared first on Turno.