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]

@Katrina79  thanks. I get the reverse psychology of that, although I would hope that most guests are genuinely looking for a nice place to stay, rather than a host they can take advantage of.  And yes! -finally freed of the burden of the perfect 5*, lol. Maybe that's the silver lining. 

I think what I've come to realize in the aftermath of this event, is that I'm so beat down by all the ugliness in the world right now (especially right here in the U.S.), I just didn't need any ugliness in my own back yard. 

[Huma0]

@Katrina79 

I'm not sure that's necessarily true. I've pasted below some of the section of the ToS that @Anonymous linked above. Yes, it does initially say that the guest can be charged twice the nightly fee for overstaying, but note the part at the end:

"Overstay Fees for late checkouts on the checkout date that do not impact upcoming bookings may be limited to the additional costs incurred by the Host as a result of such Overstay."

So, if there isn't another reservation the same day, which sounds like the case in this scenario, no, the guest is not necessarily going to be charged 2 x the nightly rate. They might only be charged "additional costs", which I guess you could interpret as such things like the host had cleaners booked who had to be paid even though they couldn't complete the job, and I guess the host would have to prove those costs.

I do mention in my house rules that late check outs without prior permission can result in the guest being charged an additional night and I also mention a late check in fee for guests who arrive after the check in window. These are mostly there as a possible deterrent to guests who think they can ignore check in/out times without consequence.

However, I wouldn't assume that Airbnb CS would have my back. I had some guests check in hours past the check in window (not due to flight cancellations etc. but due to their own disorganisation). This is all there in the message thread, as is my reminder to them RE the late check in fee and their acknowledgement of this.

When the guest then ignored the resolution request for the fees and I escalated it to Airbnb, I was told that they could not charge the guest without their permission and, since the guest was not responding, they would simply close the case.

[Anna9170]

@Huma0  Absolutely agree, all these reminders that the late departure is an extra charge and blah-blah   - it's just to put a frame for the guests, nothing more.

[Sarah977]

To me, allowing oneself to be abused, caving on one's cancellation policy if the guest has no good reason to cancel and one wouldn't have enough time to rebook the dates, to have guests ignore the house rules they've been advised of, both in the listing itself and reminded of when on site, is never "worth it". Not to mention, that just leads guests to think they can do this at the next Airbnbs.

If it's a matter of deciding whether or not to try to charge a guest after departure for a damaged towel or sheet, then of course a host has to weigh the "is it worth it" question, as that alone can lead to a bad review, and the endless trying to deal with CS you mentioned.

@Kelly149

[Dimitar27]

Hi @Kia272 . Don't be so critical. Put the things somewhere in the middle, a little bit softer. There is too much emotions in your post.

Think how to prevent the same situation in future.

It's a business! Use your brain more then your heart. It's just the first guest of that kind, not the last one.

[Sarah977]

I  don't read any emotion whatsoever in Kia's proposed review. All she did was state the facts of this guest's behavior, and quite unemotionally. 

@Dimitar27

[Kia272]

@Dimitar27  Thanks, but your answer is confusing to me. If one treats it as a business, then one would want to be factual and clear, not soften the review. I am being critical because this guest was a total s#&tbag. I also want to make things clear to other hosts so she doesn't come and ruin your day. 

[Robin4]

@Kia272 

Kia, there is always a middle ground in life and our secret to success is staying on that middle ground.

Firstly, as she wished to alter the day of arrival after the the stay had technically started it would have been best to say to her that the Airbnb system won't allow an alteration to a start of stay that is already in progress....hope she can see that.  Make it someone elses fault not yours. At least you could have got the stay off to a reasonable start. 

The smoking, unless you have some pro-active measures like a cigarette smoke detector/alarm there will always be the odd smoker who will push the boundaries and it is up to you to decide if making a stand will be worth the poor review which will inevitably follow. 

Guests don't like being caught out! It's not their fault they broke the rules, it's your fault for having such rules that impacted on the stay they have paid you for!!

Minor breakages also need to be carefully considered.....in almost all instances they are accidents, the guest didn't set out to smash something, they were just careless. I understand this is the risk with renting out my property, I make allowances for it, and as long as it is not deliberate I don't publicly mention it. 

My last guest broke a butter dish......

I am faced with the situation now,.......

A/......I can get onto the guest and get the obvious off my chest...."Why didn't you tell me you broke the butter dish"? ....the guest gets all defensive and says it wasn't them, or, all snippy that you had the temerity to criticize them for what was just a little accident. These little things happen and that is what the guest is paying for, is the way they see it.

They would resent me raking them over the coals and would give me a revenge review...3, possibly 2 star. Is it worth it?

That butter dish was one of six I bought online for $5.00 each, and in 18 months is the first one to be broken.

B/..... I will say nothing to the guest about it at this point, they will consider themselves lucky to have got away with the breakage unscathed and will in return give me a good review. I will give them a reasonable (but not wonderful) review......."We do our best to provide our guests will a nice comfortable stay and I hope that XXXXXXX enjoyed their stay here with us. A little bit more care would have been appreciated but as their guest career moves forward  I am sure they will learn. I wish them well for the future and would host them again!"

 Once the reviews are published I will through the message stream, say how disappointed I was that the breakage  was not worth making mention of and how a little bit more care was not taken with our property. At that point that good review they gave of me cannot be removed and it will hopefully shame them into being a bit more responsible next time! 

Kia try to work with guests without giving in to them. If they overstay the check-out time, remind them you need to prepare for the next guests and ask for their cooperation, don't threaten them with police action.....that will guarantee you will get the raised finger every time......and a rotten review!

Wait some time before you write that review, don't say how bad or how  wonderful guests they were and, don't be too specific. just limit your comments to something like ...."It was unfortunate that my house rules did not appear to be particularly important to them, I was just fortunate their stay did not have a greater negative impact on me. I wish them well but, would decline the opportunity to host again and do not recommend to other hosts"   

Don't mention threatening to call police, that is starting to make you look a difficult authoritarian host.

Cheers........Rob 

[Kia272]

@Robin4 - thanks. I actually have a very nice note on the first page of my house binder. It basically says that I understand that accidents happen. I tell the guests that I'm not out to take their money, and to please just let me know if something gets broken or is not functioning correctly, so that I can make it right and/or replace it for the next guest. This has worked perfectly so far.

I actually buy most of my kitchen wares at a thrift store, so replacing broken glasses, dishes, etc. is fairly easy and not expensive. 

I actually once just let a set of ruined sheets go- (blood- and obviously not a monthly accident) because it just wasn't worth it. However, I won't host those folks again in spite of their rave review. 

I would also like to make clear because you folks wouldn't know, that my are is somewhat rural and I live alone on the property. I think that heightens my fear of retribution by an angry guest. My spidey sense kicked in and I felt I had to be tough and direct to make it clear that I was not messing around. Did I overreact? I can't really say. I will leave the calling the police comment out of my review. Thanks for your input. 

[Rachel1655]

@Kia272  I am still sort of a newbie and have had three awful stays out of 9 already. Everything you are saying is exactly how it felt each time. I’ve raised my prices and changed a lot in my house manual and rules because of these guests. Each one of them were young adults so perhaps my place isn’t well suited for that age group. The retaliation fear is brutal when they are in our home. Obviously they have our home address if we make them pay for damages and they decide to get revenge. I pictured this totally different when I started. I thought we’d get fun loving, friendly folks wanting to explore the foothills. Lol 😆 I guess I was having dumb and dumber movie day dreams of Aspen gatherings. 

[Anonymous]

@Rachel1655  You're hosting a private room in a shared house, so your average guest is going to skew pretty young. It's not really the norm that 1/3 of stays are awful, but you have to ask yourself what kind of people are choosing to stay in a shared house with strangers in the middle of a pandemic. 

[Kia272]

@Rachel1655  I'm so sorry that your experience hasn't been great, but I'm really in the opposite situation. I had over a year of mostly absolutely lovely guests. I think that's why this is so harsh for me, because I was living in a bubble- thinking all was well and good. (Actually, I knew this would happen at some point, just couldn't process how bad it would be.) I don't know anything about your area, your desired guest demographic, etc., but I'd say keep the faith and put some effort in to vetting your guests. 

Almost all seasoned hosts advise against instant book. I had it off for the beginning of the pandemic, then turned it back on with somewhat restricted settings. I also typically have not asked much about my guests, and I've still been okay. It's hard to find a balance between getting all up in their business and simply letting them book a nice place to stay, assuming that they are responsible guests/adults, based on their reviews. I do have a booking message required, and I can usually get a sense of the guest from that. I've also tried to keep my price a bit higher to weed out the bottom feeders. I used to sell on eBay and doing that was key. Sounds harsh but it's true. 

Ultimately, I don't know what the answer is, but I'd say that with some careful thought and marketing-to the extent that you can control who your listing appeals to- you can have many positive experiences and lovely guests. The fact that you're on the property should deter a lot of potential troublemakers. 

Good luck! 

[Rachel1655]

@Anonymous  Well, I hope raising my price changes that a bit. I wasn’t a disrespectful young women so I cannot relate to their behavior. My room is attached to the house like an apartment with its own entrance. The only reason I listed it as a room is because there’s no kitchen. We have no contact and they do not enter into our home. 

[Anonymous]

@Rachel1655  If it's a self-contained unit with no shared spaces, you can change the listing type to Entire Home with the subcategory "Entire Guest Suite." A full kitchen is not a requirement for listing this way.

[Rachel1655]

@Anonymous  Thanks so much for the tip. I’ll give it a shot. This listing platform has taken me awhile to learn.