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
