I always hate having to deny people, but I do just to maintain a safe listing. Last week I had two situations which upset me greatly. AirBNB was a huge help.
One was a young lady who reserved for 1 in my home. I have a no pets rule because I have two cats. I realize that service animals are allowable but they are to stay with their owners and do not bark at all.
This lady showed up with three dogs, a cage, and her boyfriend. She also asked to come early. I was busy in town 20 minutes away but I was concerned about this reservation so I looked at my Ring doorbell camera and saw them bring these into the home. I hurried home and when I arrived there was barking. I had already called AirBNB (took me 20 minutes to connect) and they assisted me in removing them from the property. This is a shared property as we rent 4 bedrooms. Some of my guests get up early and some arrive late. The last thing I needed was dogs barking as people came and went. They stole some of my food, caused me to have to clean the room again, and they got a full refund, despite they had already moved in. I will probably file a claim, but that was very distressing.
The next day, I had a young man reserve for himself for a small bedroom at another property. He then proceeded to ask if he could move in 3 hours early and I informed him it would be extra. He opted to not. He also asked if his co-workers could share the room with him. This is a very small room with a full size bed and very little floor space. I again said no. I offered the other room that slept 2, as an additional rental, and he never made the reservation.
The next day I was cleaning a room at this house at 9 am and he knocked on my door asking me if he had to wait until 4 pm. I said yes. He left. He then returned and knocked and said he needed a place closer to Cincinnati (he took a Lyft all the way to my address so he knew how far it was) where he worked. He asked if he could cancel and get a refund. I said yes, relieved he would not be staying. I then walked out to the driveway which is rather long and looked out to the street and saw 5 of them waiting for a Lyft to return to Cincinnati. I can't imagine what would have happened if I had let them in. Thankfully AirBNB canceled the reservation for me without penalty. This was very frightening.
These difficult situations live with me for days and take time to get over. I worry about what their review of me will be as they are hard to remove. I worry if they will come back and break in to my house.
I feel terrible that these upset me so, as the majority of my guests are wonderful. Every guest who requests is a potential nightmare and you just never know. The hardest part of hosting is having the wisdom to know who to decline. This is why host reviews are so important.
