Bad guest left a feedback full of lies

[Pavel132]

Dear Community,
I had a guest who left my apartment in a dirty condition: there were many dirty dishes in the sink and the overall look was very dirty. However, he left me a feedback that when he moved in he allegedly saw dust and dirt, which could not be possible as the unit was sparking clean. Also, he said that there was an after-smoking smell in the unit, but it can't be possibly true because he was the first guest in the unit and because no smoker ever lived in this unit. When I studied his guest review history, it turned out that some of the reviews about him pointed out that he was not a clean guest and left the premises dirty. So it is not that my apartment was dirty (it was not!), it is that the guest was not clean himself.
I am a new host and now I have a false review. The guest originally booked for 6 days, but I had approved his subsequent request for him to take advantage of a weekly discount. It appears that he checked in to the apartment one day later than what he had booked just to take advantage of the discount (which is probably in violation of AirBNB's rules). I gave him one day for free, and as a result he paid less. Also I gave him a very good rate, extremely cheap relative to the market, and he also took my parking permit with himself and left me a feedback full of lies. This guest ignored ALL of my messages after his booking was confirmed: my airbnb messages, my email, my text messages, and finally my call (after I couldn't get a hold of him in any way).
As a host, I'm extremely disappointed. I did many favours for this guest, and he basically paid me for those favours with stealing my parking permit, leaving me a false review and leaving the apartment messy .Please let me know what can be done in this case to help me. I followed all guidelines of AirBnB with best intentions, but I got this sort of abuse in return.

I would appreciate your help in this matter.

[Sarah977]

@Pavel132  I'm sorry this has happened to you as a new host. There are a few lessons to be learned here, and we all had to learn them,as when most of us start hosting we just envision providing a nice space and getting appreciative, decent guests.

Bad guests will try to deflect attention away from their poor behavior by accusing you of things that aren't true. How do you avoid these kinds of guests? Well, first thing is that you read their reviews, if they have any,  before approving their booking. If you are using Instant Book, I suggest you turn it off until you get more experienced with hosting. Some of us never use IB- I never have- I want to have some dialogue with a guest before deciding whether to accept them.

Then, you message thanking them for contacting you and ask them some questions-purpose of coming to your area, will they be travelling on their own, are they aware that....(something you've written in your listing description so you can determine that they've actually read it- in my case I ask if they noted that I have a dog and a cat, in case they are allergic, did they see it was a 20 minute walk to town and the beach- things that could be deal breakers and cause for complaint if they failed to read it). You can usually get a feel for someone by the way they communicate. Guests who start off just stating their needs are red flags -"So, I'll need parking".  "Can I get a discount?"

Which brings up another big red flag- guests who ask for discounts. They are disrespecting you and your place by doing so. The guest's financial situation isn't your affair. If they can't afford what you charge, which I'm sure you priced at what you thought was fair for your area, they should look for a place that meets their budget. Don't cave to requests for discounts. Those guests seem to always end up being bad guests.

Guests who don't answer your messages are a giant red flag, especially if they don't answer texts or phone calls either. Contact Airbnb and say you'd lke to cancel the reservation penalty free because the guest refuses to respond to your messages and it's making you very uncomfortable about this guest.

Also don't knock yourself out trying to please demanding guests- they won't appreciate it. Practice politely saying no. "Oh, I'm sorry, but we don't provide that, as was clear in our listing." 

There's nothing wrong with going out of your way for a nice guest, but don't get suckered into running around trying to make an entitled, complaining one happy. You can't.

As for the review- he hasn't said anything in the review that violates Airbnb review guidlines, so they will not remove it. If you point out to Airbnb that the guest is lying, their standard line is that "It's a reflection of the guest's experience". So maddening. I see you did leave a response to the review, which is necessary if it's false, but try to keep reponses brief and don't address the guest- the ones who'll read your response are future guests, so all you want to do is set the record straight. " This review is false. The unit was thoroughly cleaned before the guest arrived, and no one has ever smoked in the unit. Guest was told to ask if he needed anything during his stay, but failed to do so. Please refer to our other reviews for an accurate picture of our hosting standards."

Do not cheap out on things like toilet paper, though, Pavel. It's a basic, standard amenity. I would leave 2 full rolls, maybe 3 for a 6 day stay. If you do offer discounts, you can't just provide less than the normal, expected amenities to make up for it.

Also, if you don't have check-out instructions in the unit, make sure you do in the future. A list of things that you expect to done before the guest leaves. "We don't expect guests to do any heavy duty cleaning before leaving, but please be respectful and tidy up any personal messes, wipe down the counters and stovetop and wash your dishes. Don't forget to leave the parking pass on the table, or we will have to charge you for it. Hope you had a nice stay and thank you for choosing our place".  It might even be wise to post a note on the inside of the front door- "Leave parking pass on table, thank you". 

Hope you don't get any more stinker guests.

[Pavel132]

@Sarah977 Hi Sarah, thank you for your comprehensive post. I feel like I'm naive, despite my adult age, in trying to be nice with people but not accounting for what unexpected things can come, of which I couldn't even think, so much inside of my own world I am. This guest stopped communication immediately after his booking was confirmed. I should've probably requested AirBnB to cancel the reservation without penalty, but having read their booking cancellation policy, I wasn't at all assured they could possibly do it. I agree with you that instant booking is not a very good option, certainly not for me. This guest had a 5-star rating when he booked, but when I read his reviews more carefully, I saw hosts mentioning his uncleanness. But, how surprizing, they still gave him 5 stars. How reasonable or how misleading is that?

Concerning discounts, I have asked for discounts on AirBnB as a guest when I booked long-term stays (30 days), and in most cases I did get very nice discounts. But for short-term stays I didn't ask for discounts.

It is true that I didn't have a lot of toilet paper, of which I didn't know, but I had written him in the check-in message that he should get in touch with the property manager in case he needs something. He didn't! He messaged me during the time I was on the road for two days, often in cellular-free zones (in northern BC and the Yukon). When I finally replied to him, I asked if he had gotten in touch with my property manager with his request, and suggested he could buy some toilet paper. He still had that choice to message the property manager. But for the price and the favours that I gave him emphasizing the toilet paper is utterly disrespectful. Needless to say that he ignored all of the messages I had written him before his question about toilet paper.

[Elena87]

@Pavel132 

Have a rethink about  weekly/monthly discounts. After all the majority of hotels aren't in the business of giving such generosity away. Disregard any 'helpful' airbnb tips regarding suggested discounts.

If you are giving out valuable parking permits, only do this on receipt of a suitable cash deposit, and put it in your house rules. Jerk-proofing helps immensely when anticipating potential problems.

Read up examples on the pages here on the best approach to replying to a review. I think you fell in the trap of refuting your guests lousy review line by line and even got into a comedy bun fight over toilet paper. I mean, if it were so bad, why did he stay a week without a cheep.

Can't see your listing anymore, since it is your one and only review, if you wish to go back in the ring,if it were me I'd be inclined to delete the profile and restart anew, phoenix from the flames. 

[Pavel132]

@Elena87 Thank you for your thoughtful post. I have rethought the discounts now. Airbnb was suggesting to offer some "welcome" discounts as I was a new host, but my prices were fair even without those discounts. It is a very good suggestion of yours indeed to now take a security deposit on the parking permit. Amazing how this simple thing needs a security deposit as it turns out to be.

Can you please give a little more details on where to read about replying to reviews?

Restarting anew is also a very interesting idea. I'm also considering alternatives to Airbnb now.

[Anonymous]

@Pavel132  When responding to a review, it's important to remember that your response is a part of your advertisement, and it defines how your prospective guests view your home and hospitality. Even if your frustrations with a guest are totally justified, you don't want to be perceived as petty or vindictive - this leaves a bad taste that ultimately amplifies the negatives in the original review. Also, from a guest perspective it's a huge red flag when a host complains that the guest got a discounted rate. It looks much more impressive when a host demonstrates that they are listening to feedback about how they can improve their offering, rather than reflexively arguing with it. 

As for discounts - well, if you set a weekly discount of 15% or more, it's automatically going to be cheaper for a guest to book 7 days than 6, so of course it's only logical that they'll choose the discount. There's no rule against booking more days than you intend to stay. But you have the right to require that guests check in within the time window specified in your listing. So if your check-in time is "between 2 and 8 PM," a guest booked for Monday night doesn't automatically get to check in at 7 AM Tuesday morning.

[Pavel132]

@Anonymous Thank you for your suggestion about reviews, I think I should be more careful next time with them to factor in all the nuances you've listed. As to the discount, the guest at first booked 6 days and then sent me a request to 7 days to take advantage of the discount. So I could have declined that request, but I approved it, even at my loss.

[Chris12538]

AirBNB doesn’t care. There’s no recourse. I had to kick 7 people out of a cabin when there were only supposed to be 3 in a cabin that sleeps 4 MAX. AirBNB kicked them out and STILL allowed them to leave a very untruthful review. Shameful Airbnb, get your act together!