Threatening guest and safety

[Ana1004]

@Airbnb @Catherine-Powell 

I’m beyond belief of what happened to me

I’m a former Miami Beach hotel manager and current experienced super host, I know what I’m talking about. 
I only rent to 1 person only and clearly indicated on listing 

I’ve received one male guest in my house last Friday 

he showed with no luggage, picked up the keys and left right the way 

came back approx 1 hr later with a lady of dubious look and both seemed intoxicated and when I stated that the room and bed only fits one person , guest indicated that they wet not going to use the bed for sleeping 

to make the story short I had to call the police to remove the guest and lady from my house

now Airbnb has given the money back to the guest

live tried to call and explain the situation not to avail 

where is Airbnb safety and fairness ???

I don’t feel safe any longer in my house to host and I cannot get a response from Airbnb 

[Jenny]

Hi @Ana1004 

I'm so sorry to hear about this.

We've passed this information over to Airbnb Support so that we can get someone to review things and give you some help.

Jenny

[Anonymous]

@Ana1004 In most cases (other than illegal parties) , when the host chooses to terminate a stay against the guest's will, they have to forfeit the payout for the unused nights. I'm sure you made the right decision in kicking out both people, but denial of access to the property is grounds for even a truly horrible guest to get a refund. 

It would be great if Airbnb compensated you out of pocket with a credit equal to at least that first night's rental and cleaning fee (if you had one). It's not fair to put all that time and labor into the booking for nothing. And I hope this guest's account is removed for bad behavior, though anyone could turn around and make another one. 

[Ana1004]

Let’s hope that this guest is not able to book again. 

[Laura2592]

@Ana1004 Airbnb needs to get serious in when it comes to guest counts. There is a reason that hosts only allow a certain number of people into their spaces. This is not a free for all, particularly for people who share space with guests. 

[Fred13]

@Ana1004Imagine if all a host needs to do is start a confrontation with a guest and then have them removed, but get to keep their money. That is an incentive to fraud which the sub-normals will surely abuse with glee. Sure, sometimes is poetic justice, but too tricky of an option to keep it honest.

[Ana1004]

I’m an experienced  super host and guest can see the difference 

I know the business of hosting and I know what I went through this guest

I didn’t start a confrontation, I defended myself

if a guest decides to break the rules and bring a hooker to have sex into my house, then  become aggressive to the point to have to call the police 
then respectfully, let me differ with you Fred , that I deserve full payment for the room rental , used or not. 
I’m sure you would too

[Fred13]

You keep saying that you are experienced and know the business of hosting, so do we.  You want Airbnb to punish the guests by having them be thrown out and the host gets to keep their money. I would not expect that,  but you would so yes we do differ.

Maybe, yes maybe this case merits that, but such a scenario I could see is ripe for abuse by unscrupulous hosts.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Fred13  But, in another hand, the guests abuse it too, instead of cancelling and loosing all the money, he can check in, break a few rules, getting kicked out and being fully refunded.

[Fred13]

The fully refunded part is Airbnb's fault. Yes no doubt, the greedy abuser wants the moon, doesn't mean Airbnb should accommodate him. In fact @Branka-and-Silvia0 this is the flaw in how Airbnb is applying their refund policy and deciding cases. I just made this argument with them and they were able to 'see it'.

This concerns a 'lunatic' review which defies logic and is so out of the norm the burden of proof must be on the guest, not the host.  The guest wanted at least 50% back, plus got to review and gave straight 1's; the 'death-knell' scenario for Airbnb hosts.

"Allowing a 'lunatic' review to be published is not good for the Airbnb brand. It serves to confuse the potential guest since is so out of the norm it surely makes them wonder how is it possible that 100 persons were so happy and then one experiences the exact opposite. It doesn’t fit. Subconsciously however, it may throw all review strings into question because  the lunatic review may be viewed as the truth and the rest are bogus; why allow it to even plant that seed. Either way it also may frighten even a potential host since no one feels comfortable with an environment in which allows and even rewards loose cannons."

[Huma0]

@Ana1004 

I don't blame you for acting like you did and you felt like you needed to get this guest and his unauthorised 'visitor' out asap. However, the mistake here was not contacting Airbnb until after the refund was made. In tricky circumstances like this, it's best to get straight on it and be the first to contact CS about the problem and explain the violation of house rules/booking requirements and why you had to evict the guest. It sounds like by the time you responded with your side of the story, it was too late as the guest had got in there first.

Of course, CS should have contacted you before issuing the refund to hear your side of the story, but CS is hit and miss in that respect. Also, once they have made a decision, they don't like to reverse it and, once they have already refunded a guest, they are even more reluctant to reverse the decision as they'll never get that money back. They'll tell you there is nothing to be done about it.

You can still fight it though. I have done this and succeeded when guests were wrongfully refunded due to some stupid mistake by CS, but it was a long and stressful and time consuming battle...

[Ana1004]

I did contacted customer service several times, not once or two but 5 different agents. 

Before and after the refund

its all solved now and I’ve got full payment , which is great news 

we hope that this guest is not able to book any longer, otherwise I can foresee more issues with him. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ana1004  You got the payment? Bravo! Glad to hear that.

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi Ana,

I understand that this hasn't been a pleasant experience. I want Hosts like you to feel more supported and protected. Please be assured that we really appreciate you sharing your story and the time you have taken to provide it. I reached out to our Safety team to re-review and they'll talk to you soon.

Best,
Catherine

@Ana1004 @Huma0 @Fred13 @Laura2592 @Anonymous 

[Ana1004]

Hello Catherine,

It’s all solved now and Airbnb has charged the guest with the total of the stay.  Which I’m very happy.   However that doesn’t change the fact that Airbnb needs to change and protect more us, the host,   and make sure that this doesn’t repeat with someone else. 
I’m an experienced host and former Miami Beach hotel manager.  
I’ve seen everything and I know what I’m talking about, believe me. 

This guest made me feel very unsafe in my own home and I was very happy that I was with a friend of mine when the guest became belligerent , otherwise I think that it could have escalated to worse outcome as he was intoxicated and violent. 
Moreover some of the Airbnb representatives were very insensitive and dismissive.  Safety and security should be a priority for Airbnb ——for the guest and host.   I’ve raised this concerns previously as I’m a single female host. 
As I’m still a bit shocked about this situation, it got me thinking if I wish to continue using this platform .