Advice on how to review this guest

[Marissa160]

Starting a new thread for this issue so I can decide how to review this guest. Any advice is welcome! 

1. against my gut feeling, let a guy book who just seemed “weird”. Asked the same questions over and over, asked a lot of questions about the hot tub we have, location, etc. no reviews, new to airbnb but that hasn’t been an issue for me until now. 

2. his stay begins and he just bombards me with questions: what kind of coffee do I provide, how much firewood do I provide for the fire pit (it’s 100 degrees here), can he check in early, etc. 

3. day 2- asks me to deliver hot tub shock to him because HE got it dirty. I decline.  The next morning (early) he is telling me the temp is low (they must have turned it down to swim) and now it won’t heat up. Doesn’t complain about it per se, but these are all issues he caused. 

4. check out- broken toilet paper holder, light cover on a large light fixture is hanging off, coffee machine is broken. We have a locked cabinet in our kitchen that we keep snacks for the guest. We only set out a small basket for each guest. Our cleaner accidentally left the key in it and they ATE/TOOK all but one snack. Same with the firewood, took it all except one piece. 

bottom line, this is not a guest that other hosts would want. He over communicated with me UNTIL it was time to notify me of the broken items. I had a bad feeling about him from the start and I should have listened to it. But lesson learned! Please help with the review as I know I need to stay factual and concise. Thank you!! 

[Colleen253]

@Marissa160 Ugh. there is just so much there to unpack, it's hard to know where to begin. So, I would be inclined to just keep it simple, i.e. "My experience hosting X was extremely costly in more ways than I can relate, and unfortunately I cannot recommend X to other hosts. 

[Kellie104]

@Colleen253 those are good words.  I never would have thought to say it like that.  I would want to call him out.

[Colleen253]

@Kellie104 The more we say, the more we run the risk of opening the door for Airbnb to remove a review. My general rule is to be brief and just get the point across that this isn't a guest to recommend. Going into all the messy details also just feels unprofessional and unnecessary, to me.

[Marissa160]

@Colleen253  Thank you for the help! I feel like this one is hard too because other than the minor damaged items, he didn’t really do anything THAT wrong. One might argue the snack cabinet raid was my fault for leaving the key. 

[Colleen253]

@Marissa160 Only you have the perspective of dealing with this guest from beginning to end. When I say ‘cost’ I mean not only the material cost, but the emotional labor and time. Time is money too, and it sounds like this guest took far in excess of what a normal stay/guest would. Time spent with the endless repetitive questions, time and money spent fixing/replacing broken/missing/damaged items.

Yes, it’s true that with open access to the normally locked cabinet, the guest can’t really be faulted for raiding it, though most normal people would ask first. Same with the firewood. If you leave it all out, expect that it may get used.

At the end of the day, you wouldn’t host this guest again, and wouldn’t wish him on other hosts, so just get that point across. With difficult guests, sometimes it helps to take a few days and let the frustration calm before proceeding. But whatever you end up writing, it can be done with few words, avoiding the messy details.

[Kelly251]

Ooh like this too @Marissa160, thanks for sharing😊

[Kellie104]

@Marissa160 Bad reviews aren't always easy.  You might put in the review to contact you first before accepting any reservations so you can tell the host in private.  Or you can just be honest and tell the truth.  If he can't handle that and doesn't want a bad review then he shouldn't have done all that.  We all know as hosts and guests that we are reviewed, it's public, and to me fair game so be the best host u can be and as a guest be on your best behavior. Or get called out

How in the world does one break a toilet handle unless it had a crack in it to begin with.  Does he have some super extra strength he couldn't control or something 🤔 😳 

[Laura2592]

@Marissa160 here is what I would say:

"So and so had a lot of questions, concerns and unique requests over a short time period. Clean up took extra time and repair effort. Made full use of all amenities, even supplies intended for other guests. Not a guest we consider a good fit for our space."

Then below 3 in all categories/would not host again.

[Christine615]

Bad feeling equals decline the reservation and block the user. You aren't obligated to host someone that raises alarm bells. The hassle of fixing broken items (or therapy after dealing with these people) isn't worth the dollars you would receive as rent.

We're trained to be nice as people. Now think of your hosting as part ambassador and part business. The business side sometimes needs to override all else so you say no.  Protect yourself and your investment.

How to review? "Unfortunately the guest did not follow house rules, and returned my space damaged.  I am unable to host them again."

Make sure you bill them for the damage in the resolution center before another guest checks in. Upload photos so host guarantee can see it.

[Kevin1322]

"Better suited to a hotel" should do the trick. we all know what that means.

[Brian2036]

The firewood issue is interesting because we have had similar experiences. Our house has wood heat and in some cases no matter how much wood we put in the house it is all gone when they leave. One guest managed to go through a whole rick of firewood in a weekend and I’m quite sure they took most of it home with them.

In my opinion this is equivalent to a guest pumping out the propane tank and stealing the gas.

Now I only supply what I think they will need and if they want more they can come and get it.

[Marissa160]

@Brian2036  I really didn’t mind that he used the firewood, but I did think it was weird because it’s a 100 degrees here! And then he was asking if he could have my neighbor’s firewood! He very well could have taken it with him (except he left one log behind). Same thing with the snack supplies, totally our fault that we left the key, but to eat/take all the snacks but one? Just baffling. 

[Brian2036]

@Marissa160 :

Leaving one behind suggests that he is preparing to defend himself by saying “I didn’t take EVERYTHING!”

 I had someone take a whole case of toilet paper last year when supplies were scarce.

 I was not at all sympathetic. Unfortunately I have been unable to find a Sears catalog for a substitute in case of another shortage.

possibly a note somewhere to the effect that “Just because it’s available doesn’t mean you paid for it” would be appropriate but probably would be ignored.

 I do have a sort of mini-bar set up with price tags on everything (approximately twice retail price) and people have been very good about leaving cash payment when they check out.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

When we did a resort with wood heat we supplied firewood only in winter.