Horrible Guests - Something Needs to be Done

[Lorna170]

My friend has just experienced the guests from XXX.

This is a new listing that was obviously targeted by this group of young men from South Carolina.  The registered guest had 6 great reviews from other hosts, but this was his first time renting a whole house via AirBnB.  He and his friends trashed the house.  Beer cans everywhere, beer and other liquids poured onto the mattresses, towels stacked in the bathroom and the shower left on, soaking the floor.  Food stuffed down the kitchen sink drains.  Unspeakable stains and body emissions on the bed linens, rugs, chairs and couch cushions.

My friend was terribly upset -- this was her 4th guest, and she is already having to replace furnishings.  She took pictures and has submitted them to AirBnB, but has no hopes of receiving any compensation from either the guest (who laughed at her) or AirBnB.  She is afraid to submit a review because the guest will retaliate.  

When will AirBnB begin to support hosts and obtain compensation from irresponsible guests?  Why are they not held accountable?

[Daniela1586]

@Lorna170    I'm so very sorry to hear about this.  What a nightmare.  AirBnB really needs to start doing something about these horrible guests.  They do not support the hosts!!!  I would highly suggest an honest review so future hosts do not fall victim.   

I am going through my own AirBnB hell right now.  A guest ruined my bathroom vanity, needs to be sanded down and re-painted.   Ruined a section of my hardwood floors, which will need to be replaced.  They killed my poor toaster and took a bunch of hangars.  AirBnB was NOT supportive at all during the process of trying to evict them.  They took the guest side and not mine!!!  Note, that your friends have only 14 days to ask for reimbursement.  They first need to submit the damages to the guests through the resolution center and wait 72 hours for an accept or decline.  Then they can file with AirBnB and well, good luck with that.  I'm gathering my quotes - hardwood floor guy comes tonight and then I will submit.  Good luck!!! 

[M199]

@Lorna170, @Daniela1586 

I feel for you @Lorna170,   check your notifications on your account. Hopefully this helps, Airbnb, just today, posted that they are changing their policy about parties and retaliatory reviews.

[Helen3]

I'm sorry your friend had this experience. @Lorna170 

As an experienced SH yourself it would be worth you having a chat with her about how to vet guests and red flags to look out for to help minimise her risk of accepting these sort of guests. For most hosts six young men on a short break = party.

as you know reviews are left blind and your friend should leave an honest ones so future hosts aren't similarly taken in.

why do you state as a fact she has no hope of being compensated by Airbnb ? Have they already turned down her claim? 

[David122]

They will  say that they are sorry several time over.  and over.  There was a time years ago that they would actually send some money over stolen items. I have been stolen from by guests 3 or 4 times.  I am currently battling them over a guest trying to extort the cleaning fee on a one night stay.  The guest came 2 hours late brought an unregistered guest and a dog.  Left and texted me that they did not want to talk about it just get the entire cleaning fee back. AIR B N B ACTUALLY TOOK THE REVIEW DOWN AND THEN CHANGED THIER MIND OVER A MONTH LATER.  still battling them every other day.

[Mary1710]

@Lorna170 

AirBnB should not offer anything beyond a secure transaction between a bona fide host and a vetted guest.  This business of host guarantee or guest protection should be removed, eradicated and done away with.  All hosts should be encouraged to obtain the proper insurance to protect their assets, and guests should purchase traveler insurance or have a credit card that covers travelling.  "Insurance" offered by AirBnB is smoke and mirrors, meant to enlist new hosts and attract new guests.

I don't care what Air's bottom line is.  I worry about my own.

[Lorna170]

@Mary1710   I am not sure why you cut and pasted a posting of mine that I added on another thread.

My opinion of Air's "insurance" stands.  HOWEVER, until Air does away with the "insurance" and their so-called compensation method, they need to allow owners to have some recourse through the platform.  Bring back the security/damage deposit for example.  Pay that deposit to owners and allow us to return it.  I will gladly pay the fee involved to have this safety feature.

By the way, my friend did apply to her own insurance company for damages.  The insurance company is trying to find the guest in order to charge him.  She also filed a police report for vandalism by the persons who were not registered as guests.  

[Wende2]

@Lorna170   I just finished reading your last post.  I'm really glad she filed the police report, hell I'd go on the local news and spread the word too.  Who knows how many places they've trashed, if each of them book a place for all to go, she may find others who have dealt with the same crowd.

[Wende2]

@Lorna170   Honestly that situation sounds like a call to the police for vandalism.  To me that's a case of going over AirBnB heads and getting the police involved.  My head would explode if I walked into my listing and  it looked like that.  Hopefully with the police being called then ABnB would have to cooperate with any info to help find them through their profile/booking info.  After being laughed at, I'd be looking for the last laugh.  I can not tell you how much I feel for her.!

[Sumana5]

@Lorna170 @Wende2 @Mary1710 @David122 @Helen3 

Hi, 
My registration is recent on airbnb (summer 2020), I share the F3 apartment, it is clearly mentioned from the start in my announcement. I had accepted very few guests: automatic reservation disabled, and 100% of the travelers from France that I had accepted at my place were respectful and friendly. 100% notation 5 * or almost, reciprocally.
This summer, automatic reservation activated, and it's a disaster!
I will mention the country of origin of the guests,  because in the messages of other hosts on the forum they often mentioned it:
Portugal, Italy, Germany, Caucasian type ... I am French of Indian origin. These guests: single men, once a man was accompanied by his girlfriend.
My experience :
Dirty filthy toilets, messed up and dirty room, dirty dishes piled up! I had to remind them several times to flush the toilet, to keep them clean, that it was not for me to "scrub the toilets" after them.
To my reminders they became vindictive.
Became extremely noisy, disrespectful, messed up the room, accumulated dirty dishes in the room .... and no longer spoke to me.
One of the single men committed sexist harassment, I am not saying sexual because there was no touching but he was sticking behind me, ogling me, standing right behind me in silence, surprised when I turned back he did not move and continued to stare at me; asked me to accompany him to visit the city ... Then, refused by me, become vindictive, left the toilet. dirty.
These two guests, Italian and German, left my home before the end of their stay. The German, at my demand, and the Italian himself, both following my telephone complaints to airbnb.
And there you have it, the last blow of revenge: the defamatory comments by reversing the roles. For the German, I was so upset by his lies that I could not write an adequate response or comment, the time has passed ... I had reported the profile to airbnb, in support pictures and I thought that would be enough.
No action from airbnb or rather support for guests; after their so-called investigation, after all the evidence i sent through photos, airbnb trusted the guests and closed my cases.
The lesson: you shouldn't expect much from Airbnb if you're a host. I have decided to contact local authorities in case of vandalism. And the justice department in case of harassment, aggression, racist and / or sexist discrimination. One should not be discouraged by the messages on the forum which clearly take position often systematically against certain ethnic groups.
Not to be discouraged by the messages on the forum which accuse the hosts: "unclear regulations"! Well let's see, you have to write in the ad that you have to flush the toilet. Humm... 

For my part, I record and accumulate evidence of all kinds on the dysfunction of airbnb for the future. I also learn from experienced hosts, their messages and their ads, and we can hope to better protect our home.

[Sumana5]

@Lorna170 

Hi again, 

And i am so shocked to read your experience. (the reason i shared mine)

Feel better and hope it'll be better for you next time and you'll get some justice. 

[Wende2]

@Sumana5   Hello....I can't even imagine having guests like that.  It sounds like you're guests are in your home, mine are not, I have a small apt.  I have had guest leave the toilet needing a good scrub, which I find incredibly disgusting, not to mention disrespectful.!  Crumbs everywhere bringing in ants and furniture rearranged.  I find ABnB could care less about their hosts, it's insulting to me that they go on about how they're making it better when it's obvious nothing is being done to make it better.  I too hope you  get justice with the actions you have taken.  I also find that most guest don't read the entire listing of information, I constantly get questions that the answers are in writing in the listing.

[Sumana5]

@Wende2 

Hi ! Thank you so very much for your kind words ! It's comforting ! 

My total and humble moral support to you, as you too had some horrible disrespectful guests. Judging from your level 10 and badge here, i presume that you know how to handle these kind of situation and we always learn from hosts with experience. 

Totally agree with you about your opinion on airbnb customer support. It's quite scary but yes, i intend to handle it with the help of local authorities. As clearly lots of guests don't bother to read, i've started sending them a reminder my mail on airbnb before their arrival, and wrote notices like "hosts' responsibility to keep the toilets clean after use" on the photos. But it looks so lame ! 

Anyways...  More power to hosts ! 

[Sarah977]

@Sumana5  While some cultures tend to be more respectful of women than others, I don't think the guests' nationality is relevant. I've read plenty of posts from single women who host in their homes who've experienced unwanted advances from male guests who were from cultures where this sort of behavior isn't tolerated. It's the individual, not the nationality.

I'm not sure what you mean by "this summer, automatic reservation activated". You changed it yourself, or it just changed on its own?

As a single female home-share host myself, I have never, and would never use IB. And although I host both male and female guests, and have never had any issues like this, as a home-share host, you may specify female guests only, which is maybe something for you to consider.

[Sumana5]

@Sarah977 

I totally agree with you ! Thank you so much for your advice. 

I shouldn’t have opted for the IB, as you said, as a single woman host. I opted for IB  as i wasn’t getting much booking this summer and IB made a great difference. But yes, after the incidents i switched to the former version : booking after contacting me. 

As for choosing only female guests, i didn't know whether we could do it as i thought it would be considered as a discrimination. 

As for the « nationality » issue, i agree of course, i never ever judge people/guests by their nationality, ethnicity, sexual preference … But i read several posts by hosts here in french and some in english pointing out their guests’ nationality, some rash conclusion,  and specially in French posts : example : "Americans come to Paris to discover the real Paris not The African Paris/An African version of Paris"  "if you live in an area where lots of colored people live, u should mention it in your ad to spare your guests from bad surprises" etc. I took screenshots of those posts, as i thought it was really demeaning, and politically incorrect. So i mentioned the nationality of my guests to make my point that people can be horribly nasty and obnoxious from any country. But if my message here wasn’t clear then next time i must write my messages better. (*not boasting at all* : as a published and award winning French writer i must write my messages more carefully here)