Seeking Advice: Managing an Aggressive Guest Mid-Stay

[Na43]

Hello Airbnb Community! 😊

I’ve recently begun my journey hosting my home in Taipei, Taiwan, and would greatly appreciate your advice on a situation I’m currently facing.

I have Instant Book enabled for guests with positive reviews, and I received my third booking under these criteria. Prior to the guest’s arrival, I communicated professionally, sharing check-in instructions and confirming the meeting time. 

About 10 hours before check-in, the guest informed me he would arrive one hour later than originally planned. I accommodated this without issue. However, after that updated time passed, he notified me again that he would be another hour late. I remained flexible and waited for his arrival.

When finally met in person, his demeanor was confrontational and hostile. He used repeated profanity (abusive and inappropriate languages) and expressed frustration about my check-in reminder messages. As we entered the apartment, he rushed host out, stating rudely that he was tired and did not want any information about the property. Shortly after host left, I received a notification from my smart lock system indicating that he had unplugged the power source to the door access keypad.

This is a two-week reservation, and I am only halfway through the stay. Given his behavior so far, I feel increasingly concerned about potential damage to my property. After the check-in, I reviewed his past feedback more carefully and noticed that other hosts had reported similar experiences involving aggressive and unprofessional behavior.

I have already documented everything and contacted Airbnb customer support right away after his check in. 

I would really value input from experienced hosts/landlords/owners:

• How would you handle a situation like this mid-stay?
• What booking settings or screening practices have worked best for you, even when guests have positive reviews?
• How do you protect yourself and your property when faced with poor communication or aggressive behavior from a guest?

Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your support. 

[Helen3]

When you say he unplugged the power system what impact does this have @Na43  what did the guest say when you asked him to turn it back on ?

If you have settings that say you only accept positive reviews and you can see on checking the guests reviews there are negative reviews and ratings you could have asked Airbnb to cancel when the guest booked . 

ask Airbnb how the guest was able to book with negative reviews.

[Na43]

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights.

After I asked him to reconnect the device and plug it back in, he did not respond. I ultimately had to contact Airbnb and ask them to call him directly. He later stated that he had reconnected it, but that was not the case, as I was still unable to pair the keypad system.

I will be reaching out to Airbnb today to better understand why the reservation was accepted despite his previous negative host review regarding aggressive behavior during check-in. Thank you again for your feedback and support.

[Helen3]

Please contact Airbnb and ask them to cancel the booking as you can demonstrate the guest has not turn back on the keypad system.  @Na43 

you then will need to go down and evict the guest. 

do this as a matter of urgency . Guests normally only do this when they are

1. bringing in visitors not on the booking

2. partying 

3 . prostitution 

4. Selling drugs. 

[Shelley159]

How many stars did the previous host give this guest @Na43 ?

The bar is quite low (only one completed stay required), and "bad reviews" is not defined:

Good track record: completed a reservation without incident or bad reviews

So it's possible the guest was able to book in line with this policy.