I would love to hear from everyone on how to handle this situation. I will try to make a long story short. A guest booked last minute which I was able to accommodate. The next day there was a knock on the door and a girl was at the door who I believed to be the guest. I addressed her by the first name, Christina. And she told me that she is not Christina but rather the makeup artist. I told her Christina had not arrived. She asked if she could wait in the apartment and I told her she could not until the actually booked guest arrived. Ten minutes later another knock on the door with another 2 people. Both were not Christina. They requested to wait in the apartment and again I explained I could not until the registered guest arrived.
At this point, I called Airbnb Europe and was guided by the Call Centre attendant on what to do.
There were 2 more knocks on the door with a total of another 7 people. All models, photographers and makeup artists.
They all asked for entry to the apartment and I explained that the property rules and insurance are like that of a hotel. The registered guest must register and arrive for check-in otherwise I can not let them enter.
Christina never called or contacted me in any way and never checked in.
The Call Centre Jose recommended that to Airbnb that the payment was due as it was a no show. All the while I was following his instructions and that of Airbnb.
Christina left a review giving me 1 star for everything, including location, cleanliness, communication etc. And this review has been allowed to stay by Airbnb Call Centre when I called to dispute. How can someone give me 1 star when in her own words she never gained access to the apartment. How can the foot of the Acropolis get 1 star when it is what is described in the listing. In her review, she says that I screamed at her but I have never met her and in her words, she admits to never telling me that her stay was for commercial usage and not a traditional guest experience.
And yet Airbnb will not remove part or any of this review. This is extremely unfair given that I have all 5-star reviews. And it is extremely disappointing that they allow a lack of some fairness. If in the review the guest says she never saw the property then how can she be allowed to rate it?
I would love to hear from more seasoned Hosts.
"We never managed to get into the house because the hostess didn’t let us. We wanted the house so our models (2) could change so we can have a streetstyle photoshooting in Plaka. Our mistake was that we didn’t exactly told her the use of the property but we never ever experienced something like that before. The previous day we booked another apartment in the center of Athens for the same use and the host was very kind and helpful. On the other hand this hostess was shouting at us and told us to leave even though we told her that if the cost was more we were happy to pay. She kept shouting and we left and never received a refund."
