Nightmare Guests show up w 3 extra pp & 4 dogs including Pitbull

Nancy1588
Level 5
Powell River, Canada

Nightmare Guests show up w 3 extra pp & 4 dogs including Pitbull

Hi fellow Hosts. I am a fairly new Host. We started in June of this year and have had a dozen or so groups stay at our 2 bedroom Airbnb suite. I must first say that we have had excellent guests to date. Great experiences and reviews had by all. That was until last Thursday. We live 2 ferries aware from the mainland of Vancouver so it takes people most of the day to travel here. I always contact guests ahead of time and ask them more about their group, what they want from their holiday, what they take in their coffee etc. I recommend they contact me before coming to get better directions too because it is tricky to find. This particular guest was the first time there was NO response from my messages. It is clear on my site that we live above the suite in a house on a private property on the ocean and that we will be around.  It's ok to bring A dog if you tell me about it and it is going to get along with my 2 friendly dogs. 

 
In a nutshell this particular Guest booked the 2 bedroom suite for 2 people with no dog. When they showed up at 5pm they had 2 vehicles and brought 3 extra  people and 4 dogs including a pitbull! I should have sent them away right away but they were charming and my husband works late that night so I was alone. The said that they would pay me money on the side for the extra. I just said I would have to think about it. They had a 3 year old child with the 2 couples and it was late and impossible for them to get back to Burnaby. So the evening began...The male pitbull was very boisterous jumping and mounting my retriever constantly. Jumping on me..I don't think he was neutered.  I finally just retreated upstairs w my dogs and waited for my husband to come home around 11pm. 
 
They smoked pot in the unit and were rowdy all evening. Dogs barking, babies crying, men talking loudly...Needless to say I did not sleep well. The next day I got my husband to come with me and asked to speak to the young man who booked privately at the beach. He brought his buddy and the pitty & another of the 4 dogs with him. I worked out a high price for them to stay which I hoped they would not take and he freaked out. He was swearing at me calling me a F***ing Bitch over and over very aggressive his PB was jumping all over my dog & my husband... of course we asked them to leave immediately.  I stayed away at the beach while my husband calmly supervised their departure which was dramatized by a spin out of the driveway with rocks flying everywhere. But at least they were gone. The suite was a mess it smelled of dog feces and pot. My cleaner could not believe it was just one night. 
 
I contacted Airbnb and had a telephone chat and lodged a safety concern and complaint about them. They handled refunding the group for 2 nights and myself for the cleaning. The Guest cleverly lodged a complaint against us saying there was a gas leak so AirBnB wanted me to get a technician to confirm there was no issue. I was on that immediately and had it done is a couple of hours. We have a brand new gas furnace & hot water unit installed a few days before and it was just a bit of smell from the new unit but no leak.  AirBnB also reimbursed me for the Gas Technician's invoice. I was really hoping to put this stressful experience behind me. I have made changes to our listing and have taken insta-book off for a while until I am more confident again. I was happy with the way Airbnb handled the situation so I did not have to deal with his aggression again.
 
Then I see the Guest has left us a review which I can't see until I write one about him. GREAT! Now what? AirBnB says the review process it important. I don't want to provoke him with a bad review but if his (I'm assuming) bad review is allowed to be published I guess I will have to speak my truth. I'm not comfortable with this. I'm sure it's not the first time something like this has happened. Can you please advise? Thank you for listening to my long winded story. It still has me shaking.
39 Replies 39

Thank you Lorna. I agree 100 %. I really appreciate the support from everyone from all over the world. So cool. 

Thank you Lorna. I agree @Linda108 nailed it! So great to hear from you hosts all over the world. 

John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

@Nancy1588 Great advice by all. So far I haven't experienced anything like this. I've also let a guest stay who had extra family, as they were in a bind, and they were perfect and left the place in perfect condition. One thing to clarify, though, is that reviews are made public once both host and guest leave a review or if only one leaves a review it will be published 14 days after the booking. So since guest already left a review you would need to write them one within 14 days, or once its published you can't leave one. I would think you could also report them for abusive behavior that you described. This is why I'm more inclined to not cancel reservation and just use review in a situation like this, and just cover the cost of damages. Even had you turned them away on day of booking they can still leave a review, unfortunately.  

Hi John. I did report them right away to Airbnb.  It took a bit but I found a phone number and was able to talk to someone which was reassuring. The cancelled and and handled refunds and credits etc. I was disappointed that they were not able to remove his review and erase that experience from my online history but I guess that is the nature of the crowd supported platform and the importance of the honest reviews by all. I'll wait until closer to the 2 week deadline and will craft a professional response to rate him and respond to his review. I've got a couple bookings in the meantime so I'll ask them to give reviews to start to bury his. Joy! 🙂 Thanks for participating in the conversation.

@Nancy1588 That's a good strategy. You are right, if you wait closer to the 2 week deadline it will show up below any more recent reviews. This will most likely be a rare bad guest experience. CS will remove review if it violates the review guidelines, so would brush up on that before contacting CS again to try and have it removed. But yes as its part of a crowd supported platform so reviews are subjective, and its left up to host how to navigate the inherent risk. I also just do the best I can. I'm hoping to host several years for an apartment at end of my house but not looking to add more listings as its so much risk for host and one bad guest can shut you down.  

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Nancy1588  Airbnb almost never agrees to remove a review before it's published. When it is, it might very well contain things that violate their review policy, and if so, at that point they may remove it if you contact them about it, especially given the history of this booking and if he tanks your rating by leaving a 1* review.

 

And while hosts agonize over bad reviews, it's not as big a deal as you might imagine- when it comes to written reviews, guests will see a bad ranting review as just what it is in the light of all your good reviews- an outlier that isn't true.

 

If they won't remove it, you can leave a brief, unemotional response along the lines of, "This review was prompted by the guests being asked to leave due to their egregious, threatening, and totally unacceptable behavior. Please refer to our other reviews for accurate information about our listing."

Thank you Sarah. Lots of great points there. My best friends daughter just set out for Sayulita from Toronto. I hear it is a wonderful area. Maybe we will check out your BnB someday. Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it. Cheers.

@Nancy1588  And I'm from Courtenay! Live in Mexico now, but I was up there for 25 years.

Misty66
Level 4
Louisville, KY

We turned off instant book for our larger property for this reason. Only guests with previous reviews can instantly book it now. It's helped filter out some bad apples.

 

As for the review, ABB won't remove it, so please leave an honest review of this guest so other hosts know about them. Also leave a calm, factual response on their review of you so future guests can read what really happened.

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

 

@Nancy1588 

 

I would definitely mention an aggressive and poorly trained dog.

 

 I am considering banning Pit Bull Terriers from my listing although I’m sure it would provoke moaning from owners who feel that it’s discriminatory.

 

Tough. I already had to deal with that once. (“She’s just the sweetest dog, she’s never (yet) attacked a human but she does kill other dogs, so you will have to make sure your dog doesn’t come near the house.”)

 

A quick review of my insurance policy revealed that Pit Bulls are specifically excluded in case of a liability claim for injury or damages.

 

My response: Get that ugly, mutilated creature off my property before tomorrow morning at 0800 or I am going to shoot it.

 

 I wasn’t joking either.

 

 

@Brian2036  I see all these pit bull owners trying to get the breed bans in various jurisdictions overturned, claiming discrimination, and that their dog is so sweet and would never hurt a fly.

 

Well, the stats are that while, sure, some may be harmless, there's way too many cases of grandpa's "sweet" pitbull he's had for years suddenly ripping the face off their grandchild one day.

 

Not the dog's fault, it's simply part of their DNA. But anyone who thinks breeds don't matter is ignorant. Intelligent people who want to get a dog research the dominant characteristics of various breeds, in order to decide on one that suits their lives. Some breeds are calm and gentle with children, some are working breeds with lots of energy and need for exercise, and shouldn't be kept cooped up in an apartment- dogs have been bred for hundreds of years to have certain characteristics.

 

Unless someone just happens to have a pitbull because it was a rescue from an abusive situation, to especially choose to have a pitbull says a lot about the dog owner, IMO. As in "Oh, BTW, my dog kills other dogs".

 

 

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Sarah977 

 

I absolutely agree.

 

Furthermore, to accommodate demand by people who apparently are not packing a full seabag, puppy mills produce inbred, unsocialized animals that are likely to have health and behavioral problems.

 

Any dog bred that way has an increased propensity for viciousness.

 

 I still remember when everyone had to have a dog like “Lassie.” After a few children were mauled a normally gentle breed was banned in many places.

 

Same story with German Shepherds, Saint Bernards, and Dalmatians.

 

 I’ve never heard of a killer Chihuahua yet but I have met some who were definitely less than appealing.

 

Little to no effort is being made to shut down the truly disgraceful mass-production of dogs in this area.

 

 

 

 

@Brian2036  Any dog has the potential to do something they've never done before if they feel threatened. 

 

My dog is large, looks intimidating (in the husky family and wolfish-looking), and has a big bark. She's also an alpha female, and while she's old now and has calmed down, she used to attack some female dogs if they got too close to her territory, i.e. our house, or me. She'd jump them, get them on their backs, and stand over them, snarling with teeth bared, and not let them get up. You expected to see blood and fur flying, but it was just a big show of dominance- she never actually bit them, nor has she ever bitten anyone or any other animal.

 

But one day I was standing out on the road chatting with some neighbors and their 5 year old was sitting on the ground near the dog. I wasn't paying any attention, as my dog has always been gentle with people. But he had been touching her near her tail, rather than her head, which is an area she's always been nervous about even me fussing around with, and she had turned around and snapped at him as a warning, which really scared him, with good reason.

 

Had she been a pitbull, that warning snap might very well have been a "clamp jaws on arm and don't let go", instead.

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

@Nancy1588 You are offering for a mere $221-$261 an entire house in a nice area accommodating 4 people; the chance of they turning out to be social 'pit bulls' themselves is way too high at those prices.

 

   Start at $299 for 2 people and $399 for 4 people and the odds of this not happening again go way up.

I bet 'Igor and his fellow knuckle-dragging Neanderthals' wouldn't have come to your place at those price.

 

   As for review, make sure you do leave one before the 14th day (short and not so sweet) so you can respond publicly once theirs is published, IF it is and Airbnb doesn't take it down. Not to worry, in all likelihood that tribe will express themselves so ignorantly and stupidly you will have an ample opportunity to make them look like the creatures they really are. 

Thanks Fred. Good advice on pricing and review. I am going to do the review soon as the 14 days will be up this weekend. At least it gave me a couple of weeks to calm down and learn more about how to handle it.  Stay tune 🙂