14 Five Star Reviews and I get this message...

[Laura2592]

"Hi Laura-- thanks for asking about snacks for our stay. There will be 3 of us, maybe 4 if our daughter at McDaniel is free to join us for part of the time. Two of us are gluten free/celiac and 2 of us are vegetarian. Though wine seems fun, we don’t normally drink alcohol. Looking forward to a fun weekend and clear cool days!"

Reservation is for 2 for 2 nights. This person has 14 five star reviews. She did not disclose until the day before the stay that she is possibly doubling the numbers. She didn't ask either. Its obviously assumed she can bring whoever. We state this clearly and re-iterate it as well.

I asked her to update the reservation. She did and is now complaining about the extra charge which "seems substantial." It does seem to have a pretty substantial fee attached. For her reservation (and she only updated for 3 people, AND has booked at an old rate, so its $20 per person per night for 2 nights) she got charged $48 extra. We got $38. I just said "really?! Wow, that isn't what we see on our end. ABB does add fees unfortunately."

Seriously after THIS many stays she should know better. But I am sure she will be difficult now.  You can't win. 

[Christine615]

I changed my listing price. I used to rent at one price for up to four. But I raised my price and now list it for a maximum of five guests. However the base rate applies to two people with an additional $25/night/person over two people. I've gotten a better quality of guests and the rate for 2 still makes it reasonable for a couple.

I learned the hard way I needed to value the space I'm providing and it's still a bargain compared to hotel rooms even after Airbnb adds fees and taxes.

[Laura2592]

Just an update for those of you following the saga.

Our guests who booked over Labor Day have now departed. They were lovely. No issues. Left a nice review right away and the place was clean. Filled up the dog poo can so I suspect they had 2-3 dogs but I was too tired to police anything. At least it wasn't in the yard!

Guest whose stay was canceled has had her number blocked after multiple attempts to contact me. She then had her husband call me (didn't pick up the unfamiliar number.) She was incensed to put it mildly. I am glad I didn't send out any door codes or check in info. She would have showed up during the other guests' stay I am sure. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Nice to hear you had some normal, non-weird, nice guests. 

Not nearly as entertaining reading as your wacko guests, though 🙂

It's amazing that someone has nothing better to do with their time or attention than continue to harrass a host just because their booking was declined. 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592 People have become crazy. What is the purpose of calling you after the cancelation ?  Just a need to rant? But why? It isn't as if you cancelled out of the blue w no warning.

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 I ruined her family vacation! That was the upshot. They both needed to try and tell me how it was ruining their lives. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  It's an attitude of "How dare you! How dare you exercise your right to reject me."

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 very much so. Outrage that I should not want these difficult people overflowing my space, even for 2 days. How very dare I.

[Mark116]

@Laura2592 Indeed. It is clearly your fault for having rules the guest intended to treat as suggestions. I guess its easier to externalize the anger rather than admit to being sloppy, haphazard and uninformed and entitled.

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 @Sarah977 @Mark116 @Christine615 

I would be tempted to explain that they ruined their own vacation through greed, dishonesty and obnoxious behavior in general.

The only effect, if any, would be too teach them how to disguise their true nature until after checkin, however, and that wouldn’t be at all helpful.

 I wish there were a way to get people like this flagged so that other hosts won’t waste time and emotional capital on them.

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 the appropriate way to flag a guest like this is to leave an honest review. Which 14 other hosts did not. Even if one or two had issues with communication (at one point this guest said to my very nice email "I don't like your tone." HUH? Who says that??) they should have been up front. I refuse to believe based on the interaction with this person that she was all sweetness and smiles to everyone but me. Or maybe she was if no one ever questioned her. But in any case, all we can do to help both hosts AND guests is to be honest and unemotional in our reviews. And over a dozen of my fellow hosts chose to just pass this problem along instead of giving any hint that it might exist. 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  What's amazing here is she apparently thought she can police the tone of her host, along with the rest of her bs, with no repercussions. The idea that you might be like 'yeah no' as a result of that attitude was totally out of the realm of her comprehension. Nuts. 

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 right. That was the turning point for me. At one point I was thinking "not worth the $40. Just refund the extra guest fee and shut her up." But I wanted to offer her the option of a full refund first if she decided to withdraw. And I said-- (cut and pasted from my message to her complaint)

"Yes I'm so sorry. We do charge an extra fee per person per night over 2. We do ask in house rules that any changes to occupancy count be updated. Sorry if you missed that.  If you feel that this won't be a good fit, I can certainly refund your stay so that you can find a bigger spot for your family.  We want all of our guests to be thrilled and I would hate for this to mar your experience at our cottage. Let me know what you think and hope all is well."

That was the "tone" she didn't like. LOL. She is a bully. And it almost worked. I was willing to just give her her fee back as a courtesy. Until she was rude. Then I was done. 

[Mark116]

The sad thing is, she probably learned nothing, no self reflection or responsibility, she will tell this story of how the terrible Airbnb hosts ruined her weekend. 

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 Oh I am sure.  I am a terrible person. 

[Colleen253]

@Laura2592 OMG. You ruined her vacation lol. What an infantile attitude. Her inability or refusal to read and follow clearly laid out rules and instructions ruined her vacation, not you! Unbelievable.