Had my first nightmare guest situation-requesting help with the review.

[Kia272]

Hey All- I knew it was going to happen at some point, it was just a matter of when. So "Jane" (not her real name) had a reservation this past weekend. She messaged me on the day of her arrival and asked me to call, as "something had come up." I called, and she explained that they would not be showing up that day because her boyfriend had to work. The reservation was for her, the BF, and her cousin. She has 1 positive AirBnB review. I suggested that she and her cousin could come anyway, and the BF could join them the following day, but she said she wouldn't do that. They live only 1.5 hours away.  So that's  a CHOICE people, not some sort of extenuating circumstance. She asked for a refund. I told her as kindly as I could that I always try to  be understanding and consider the circumstances, but I would likely not give her one as it was her choice to not come down. She indicated that they would be arriving the next day. I was uneasy but no particular red flags yet. 

They arrived, I chatted a bit with them. Maybe not my types but who cares? They do their thing, I do mine. I did see the BF smoking and reminded him that there was no smoking inside. The and the cousin agreed that they would only smoke outside. I went about my business and left them  to their stay. 

Sunday- the day of checkout- I have plans all day. Check-out is at 12 noon. I came home at 5:00 and was shocked and horrified to find them still on the property. I immediately asked them to leave. They got cheeky and said they'd leave in a minute. I reminded them that check-out was at noon, and told them that they had 5 minutes to leave or I would call the police. They left several minutes later giving me the finger as they pulled out. 

Luckily, they didn't trash anything. They obviously smoked in the house, and left cigarette butts and beer bottles scattered around outside. They used firewood they didn't pay for (payment is on an honor system and has never been a problem so far.)

I immediately called AirBnB and told them the situation. Useless, I know- but better to get it on the record. I then requested $75 in late check-out fees and $10 for firewood. They denied payment stating that I told them they could stay until 8-9 that night to make up for the missed day of their reservation. Why in the $#@@ would I do that? It flat out didn't happen. I've escalated it to AirBnB but have no expectations of prevailing. She obviously left a review within minutes of them leaving the property- likely to be all 1s. 

As a Superhost with only 5 star reviews so far, it's going to be tough to stomach this. I will do my best to have her review removed- hopefully she's violated policy somehow- but I obviously haven't seen it yet. I'm going to wait until the two week mark as I'll likely have several better reviews in the interim, and it will knock hers down the page. 

I need some advice on what I can write without violating policy on my end. I was thinking of this: 

I cannot recommend XXXX as a guest under any circumstance. XXXX informed me on the day of arrival that she was unable to make the first night of her reservation, but would arrive the next day. She asked for a refund for the unused night.  When told that would not be possible, she decided that she was entitled to late check-out, so she and her boyfriend and cousin did not leave my property until 5:00 p.m. on the day of check-out.  Check-out is at noon. They broke house rules by smoking in the house, left cigarette butts and empty beer bottles on the property, and used firewood that they did not pay for. They finally left when I threatened to call the police.

Open to any and all edits and suggestions from you helpful community folks. Thanks

[Kia272]

Hi @Ann72 , thanks for your suggestion. I think that may be a bit too brief overall. It went waaaaay beyond staying too long past checkout. I'm trying to find a balance between too much and too little, yet still getting the message across. A work in progress. Thanks so much for your input!

[Emilia42]

@Kia272 "giving me the finger as they pulled out" is what really irks me and why I would decline to host them one hundred times over. But can you write that? You do need a good balance. Good luck!

[Sarah977]

"Guests made a very rude hand gesture to me when driving out." ???

@Emilia42

[Anna9170]

@Kia272  I absolutely agree with all those who have already answered you before me. But the only thing I want to pay attention to is please, no calls, only correspondence within Airbnb. What was said during the phone call is impossible to "attach to the case" later. I use the call only during the meeting of the guest, when he can not understand where the parking in front of the house, in all other cases it is not worth doing it, especially in such important matters. 

[Kia272]

@Anna9170  In general, I agree with you completely. However, we have become a faceless society, and I do feel at times that phone calls matter, because it puts a human being with a voice on the other side of the conversation. At the point that I agreed to call her, I did not know if a real emergency had happened, or what was going on. Had any issues arisen at that time I would immediately have reverted to AirBnB messages, with a recap of the conversation. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was to come. So yes- in complete agreement about all convos going through AirBnB messages, but also willing to take a chance on putting some human being in to the interaction on occasion. Thanks so much! 

And perhaps I've been living in a bubble, because this is my first problem in over a year of hosting! Lucky or unlucky- it could be either. 

[Anonymous]

@Kia272 Anytime you discuss something by phone that might become important later on, be sure to summarize the discussion in a follow-up message via Airbnb messenger. Without documentation, the guest has the upper hand - as she was already asserting from the beginning when she demanded a phone call. 

[Pat271]

@Anna9170 I agree with you completely about trying to have all correspondence confined to Airbnb messages.  The minute the guest said “Something has come up” and wanted to talk off-platform, I would have bet money that it was a cancellation, or a refund, or something of that nature.  That kind of discourse needs to be captured via the platform messages.

@Kia272  I do understand there are times when it makes more sense to talk over the phone, like when you’ve gotten to know the guest, know the subject won’t be controversial, and anticipate that the conversation might be a lengthy one.  But in general, you can still create an ambiance of “a human being with a voice” with the tone and style of your texting. Personalities can shine through words In a text, and mutual, genuine affection between host and guest can occur.

[Lisa723]

@Kia272 see section 8.2.2 re overstay fees:  https://www.airbnb.com/terms

[Anna9170]

@Kia272  So you really have a problem, imo. When the guest wants to move the date, he should do it only through the site, and attach the reasons why it should be free, etc.. It is not necessary to romanticize live communication when the guest wants to **bleep** you up in the beginning,  pardon for my French (c)))

[Kelly149]

@Kia272 I looked at your listing and you're doing really well. You have lots of perfect reviews & a busy calendar. So for my own mental exercise, I have a question for you: was the money worth it? Either the money of not refunding the first night or the money for the whole reservation?

I'm not wanting to pick on you, but rather this is an ongoing debate with our hosting team here, so I'm curious what you and some of the other hosts will say.

While I'll agree a permanent 5* isn't exactly necessary, where does the line cross from worth it to not worth it on a sketchy guest? And I promise I don't at all believe in negotiating with terrorists, but...

I guess I'm looking at it from a few angles: worth the aggravation, worth the hit to the stats, worth the arguing with ABB support, worth being flipped off at your own home...

(full disclosure: at my listing I'm the one that wants to boot folks fast & husband wants to cash the check)

[Emilia42]

@Kelly149 Good points. I end most reservations with a "well, even if I get a 4-star review, at least I made X bucks." It's always the reservations where I don't feel like I charged enough do I get stressed.

[Kia272]

@Kelly149  - legitimate question. As I noted in my original post (I think), I would much rather generate good will than $$. I think I got sucker-punched here. First, it was the DAY OF the reservation, and given that this was just the guest indulging herself, I really couldn't wrap my mind around why I should give HER money back. The cabin was available, and she could easily have come for her entire reservation. As I noted before, with almost any kind of better advance notice, i.e. several days, I would have allowed her to cancel without a problem. This area is booming and I would have gotten booked, no doubt. I do go out of my way to accommodate. However, I struggled with why I should give a complete stranger money out of my pocket, when we had a contract and she CHOSE to break it. It's as simple as that. Do I regret it? Well yes- the unpleasantness had left me feeling crappy about it all. I did not sleep well last night as I had no idea if they would come back to the property and do something stupid. I hate feeling like that on my own property. 

On the other hand, I think she was trouble just waiting to happen, and if not me, then for some other host. Maybe I was being a bit naïve after a year without any trouble. Anyway, it is what it is. 

I have no idea how to calculate what kind of hit my numbers will take, but I knew it would come some day, and I guess this was my day. 

To answer your question about the importance (or not) of that perfect 5....all I know is that I won't tolerate being manipulated or having my rules abused,  and I will absolutely hold a line with guests regardless of review fear. It just hadn't happened to me yet, so this was my first lesson. 

If her review stays, then I think anybody reading my reviews will realize that she's the problem, and will likely still book a stay. 

I do have to say that she was not typical of my guest demographic. I'm at a certain price point for a reason. Thanks so much for your input. 

[Katrina79]

@Kia272What a disrespectful guest, really sorry you had to deal with them. I’ve had a few of those myself, one in particular broke almost all my rules. However breaking the check-out time qualifies you to request an additional two nights accommodation as @Lisa723 pointed you to in her link. I’ve had many guests check-out late but only held one accountable for the overstay policy charge. Use the money to pay for extra cleaning and to get rid of the smell. If you messaged the guest in an Airbnb message and she admitted to checking out late you’ll have a good chance of receiving twice your nightly rate. I see lots of hosts post about being approved or not being approved for smoking and other damages, it’s hard to prove. On the other hand, an admission of late checkout gives you a reason written into the terms of service to charge for additional compensation under the overstay policy. It’s not too late to adjust your resolution request before you contact Airbnb about it...unless you’ve already involved Airbnb past the 72 hours of no response from the guest. 
Best of luck! 

[Kia272]

@Katrina79 @Lisa723  I actually requested $75 in late checkout fees and $10 payment for the firewood. The guest claims that I told her she could stay until 8:00 that day, which is a complete lie, but she denied the payment request through the resolution center, so I just sent it to AirBnB to handle. I don't expect a dime, but I'll put up a small fight. It's going to be one of those classic AirBnB decisions, where they believe a once-reviewed guest over a  5* Superhost. I'm more focused on trying to get her review removed- knowing what a hit I will take. Money can't really fix this situation, but I thank you both for the information. Truly. 

[Katrina79]

@Kia272 I’m going to share with you one positive I can see coming out of getting a bad review. This is a bit of a radical view point but I’m going to share it with you to perk up your spirits. If a potential guest reads one bad review among 50 glowing ones they may assume the guest who left the bad review didn’t pull one over on you and they were called out and left a spiteful review. It could be a deterrent to future bad guests to look elsewhere. I have one very awful review and although it’s taken almost a year, I kinda see it as a badge of honour in my reviews. I know...a bit of a stretch, but I truly believe it looks like an outlier and warns potential guests that I will hold them accountable for damage. Besides, imagine the freedom from not having to keep a perfect 5*! If the potential bad review isn’t removed, I hope you can find a silver lining.