Why I'm no Longer Using Airbnb

[Mary4772]

HI!

It's a long read, Hope you can finish it without dying of boredom, this is a tiny issue very particular to me and might seem incrediblly dumb in the bigger scheme of things, with all that is wrong with the world, but I'm pretty detailed oriented and I've figured that because things like this continue to occur, little misunderstanding, misinterpretations, people trying to get ahead of others and stupid stupid lies is why the world continues to be what is is.

Ominous I Know...

The Following is an Email I've sent Airbnb to help me out on my qualms regarding this very uncomftrable situation for me and the unfair treatment I recieved on behalf of the Property Managers at Birch hospitality: Lisseth and Jeremiah or Jeremiah and Lisseth.

I am Unlinking the Video Evidence and pictures to protect my children's Identity, but I submitted evidence that what is written in their review to me are outwrite lies,

Yet due to Airbnb policys on freedom of speach and how they trust Hosts to be forthcoming even though these particular hosts are simply embellishing to justify a damning Review, nothing can be done and the review remains on my profile 3 months after the fact.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/52630709?source_impression_id=p3_1646601230_OOi5kxcgObWgTeQP

This is the property we visited

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Hi Airbnb Support Agent:

A little bit of Context of my account of the facts, we drove in from New York and stayed in Salem Boston for a day and a half and then drove from Salem to the property they manage in Fyreburg Maine with two babies under three. 

We had no negative communication with the property manager and everything was smooth from the beginning, so other than being exhausted due to the long drive to Maine everything was perfect as you can tell from start to finish from my review to them.

My Review:

This place is magical at least to us; every little detail in this home has been forethought for guests, the decor is the perfect balance of understated and whimsical. Rules are strict, but the Cabin is incredibly well maintained and I suspect that those clear boundaries are a reflection of the care and love Lisseth & Jeremiah pour into their property. Can't wait to come back in summer!

December 2021

Their Review:

Mary and her family were by far the worst guests we have ever hosted. Not only did they not follow any of our house rules, they also asked for a 45 minute extension on their check out at 11 o’clock when our cleaner was already in the driveway. Once we declined this request, Mary proceeded to take a shower. We had new guests checking in at 4 PM and she took over an hour to get out of the house. She left her trash unsorted and in the garage, bacon grease all over the kitchen and killed our plants by leaving them in the open window in the middle of the winter. We would never host them again and never recommend to any host who respects their home.

I've read that review over 100 times to try to make sense of it, but there simply isn't any making sense of it, specially the bit of "Not only did they not follow any of our house rules" I Think that's the worse lie on there, we were at that moment an exhausted couple with two babies, and the rules are the following:

House Rules

Our rules are pretty simple but strict.- Guest making the reservation must be over 25.
- No smoking in the house
- The number of guests requested on the booking is the max amount allowed to spend the night. (We will check on this)
- No fireworks
- No animals
- A rental agreement may be provided with more specific rules and information.
- Quiet time is from 9pm-8am (inside and outside of the house)
- NO loud music or noise will be tolerated
- Respect the neighbors.

1. We are over 25

2.We do not smoke close to the babies, I do not allow it,  my husband would step out to smoke in the cold.

3. We had less Guests than the reservation because my teenage daughter went on another trip.

4.We left those for New Years, so no.

5.We did not bring any pets.

6. This is where they have a crazy amount of additional rules that I did not know of when reserving and would have not reserved if I had known about them, I would highly recommend they are upfront about this to future guests.

(Some of the additional Rules are, stripping the Beds, which I did, we only ended up using one of the bedrooms so I only stripped that bed, throwing the used towels in a specific place in the bathroom, which I did, hand washing all dishes which I did, and putting them away, I did not do that it would have taken me easily 25 to 30 minutes to put away all those dishes, and I was tight on time. Sorting the trash, without clear instructions on how to, there was a regular garbage can and nothing else in the kitchen like sorting instructions and the bathroom trash bins had yellow bags so we took those out to the garage since it was snowing and we were behind schedule to check out. Terrible of us, I know.

7.Babies bedtime is at 7:30pm so it is quite time if we want it or not.

8.We played Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You on volume 7 on Google Hub, which could be qualified as obnoxious, but is not a rule we broke.

9. We went out to the backyard once and never encountered a neighbour.

Here is the video of the state of the house the morning we left, I had done all the dishes and the kitchen was clean, we were definitely not recording for Evidence as you can tell, but one of the two tiny examples of Sansevieria trifasciata commonly known as Snake Plant; is seen in the beginning of the video, these busters are HIGHLY RESISTANT and it's placed exactly is where it was when we arrived, even though these are almost Kill Proof Plants, I would never do anything to harm plants, it's quite laughable even since ironically Im a Permaculture Design Consultant and an avid Gardener, not that you need to be any of that to not lack the common sense to not place them in an open window during a SnowStorm that was occuring during our stay in the Property they manage. We never opened the windows period.

It was beyond freezing:

December 23

-1°

-13°

December24

-2°

-16°

December 25

-3°

-13°

These are the videos of me showing my family the place, where you can clearly see that there are just two tiny potted plants in the entire house,  one in front of the downstairs bathroom mirror on top of the sink and another in the window sill in front of the kitchen sink, both Snake Plants that were alive and well when we left.

VIDEO

VIDEO

This is a picture of me stepping out of the property the hosts manage, it was taken with a Phone that is in GMT 5:00 that is Dominican Republic's Time Zone which is an hour ahead of Maine, the time stamp is in the Info Detail:

IMAGE

Yet everything and everyone was in the car garage by 11:45am Maine Time ready for our almost 6 hour drive to our Compadres'

 house in Chappaqua New York. Adding to that, the cleaner had already been in the house for 30 minutes since she was let in 10 minutes after she arrived at 10:55am, when she knocked at say 11:05am. We apologized  profusely to her and she was very kind and told us not to worry "It is Christmas Morning after all". The fact is that I was already changing when she came in, so what they say about me disregarding when I had asked as a courtesy because we were 45  minutes behind in schedule is more embellishment to justify the incredibly damning review that should have read something more like this:

"Not our best guests ever, these guests need to work on their time management and learn how to sort out trash accordingly to the requirements of the Fryeburg Recycling Center, I would not be able to host them again since my vetting process for the properties I manage is quite strict, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, best of luck to you and your family on your ongoing travels."

One can dream, I know this pretty much won't serve me to attain what I wish for, I cannot speak for others actions or words only for my own, even though it has caused me a great deal of stress and shame looking at the lies that remain on my profile, the only solace I have is that I've kept in coherence to my character and honored my upbringing.

I do not think I will be using Airbnb further through my own profile, one's supposed reputation is at risk in the platform and it can be severed by the whim of  strangers that do not necessarily adhere to the same principles decent and conscious gentlemen and ladies do. 

Thanks for hearing/reading me out,

Mary

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I've kindly asked them twice to edit and or remove the review directly , I kinda lost my cool for a moment last night and copy pasted some bad reviews they had to the chat and said I pictured them having to sort through my trash and chuckled with a hahaha. (In December when the review came out the thought of them having to deal with my garbage made me super embarrased but now I'm kinda happy about it, don't know if that even happened but one assumes, given the heated review) That seemed to have caught their attention because they are currently not recieving messages from me and doubt they will be any time soon. People hate to be caught in their lies, And as a guest i've noticed that personal messages in Airbnb are there for a reason, cordiality , constructive critisism, even a scolding, If I were a host I would use that tool and be straightfoward and assertive.

But to write anything as further from the truth like that and have no regards of how that will affect someone clearly shows who you are as a person.

My vacation was ruined in a sense after that moment. Still affects me as you can notice. *gulp*

My reply to their review is not my best work either, I was obviously angry, and one should never post angry yet, what is done is done.

Here is my reply:

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Wowza completly sideswiped by this Review, Jeez I never thought I would have to respond to a negative review of this sort given the nature of this plataform and how I've visited so many places around the world without any issues. Guys I did not leave your plant in an open window, never opened the windows, so I honestly dont even understand this outright lie as to adorn your exaggerations, we were late to check out by 45 minutes not an hour and the cleaner was let in to clean while I got ready, did not realize I needed to ask you for permission to take a shower. It was Christmas morning and we got a little off schedule opening presents with our girls 1 and 2 years old so when the cleaner drived in by 10:55am I had already finished cleaning the stove and hand washing, since there is no dishwasher all the dishes(To my surprise in an 800 dollar a night air bnb that requires you to do this and put all of them away instead of it being a suggestion, just tried my best given my timeframe) The Bacon Grease you mention was left in an Anchor Hoking Measuring cup not all over the Stove Dude or dudette, I just did not know how to dispose of it as well as the garbage, and with the rush did not have a chance to ask you guys since we have absolutely no clue about sorting trash and or recycling yet we're slowly learning about it in our month long vacation in New England renting various Air Bnb's with kind and accomodatting hosts, that have all given us great reviews. I thought you guys were accomodating since there was absolutley no negative communication between us hence my 5 star review to you because your house was truly so pretty immaculate and our experience was so magical. It will remain that way, because in spite of this uncomftrable moment I was priveleged enough to visit and be barred 😛 Could've been a terrible guest and not stressed out so much about taking care and following the rules as I did, if I had known. I would suggest that instead of ambushing us with this very misleading filled with lies, holes and very obvioulsly shrewd and callous review you change it looking at the entire context of what happened not just your super overzelous and a bit psycorigid Account of "facts". Sucks I had to waste my time stating my version for all my future hosts to see, Message to future hosts: Me and my family are not barbarians, I promise, and the good news is we've recently leveled up our guest abilities by learning to sort trash accordingly, we are working on not making any mistakes or running late on Christmas Morning. Best of Luck and Happy New Year Jeremiah & Lisseth. So sorry our paths crossed and it was a negative experience for you. 🙂

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The happy face at the end of my reply was a little number he pulled on me when he told me I could not shower, out of courtesy at around 10:40am I had told him we were a bit late to check out and that I needed a bit more time because opening presents had taken longer than I had scheduled for  and I told him I was going to take a quick shower and be out ASAP. I say "he" because we were texting directly from my husband's phone and it was Jeremiah I was texting to and he sent me this:

11:00am: The cleaner is already in the driveway 🙂

That was all, Little did I know he was fuming and scheming to harm my Airbnb reputation.

So words out, I'm definitely not perfect, and even though they put out a vibe that they are indeed perfect, with all the 5 star reviews and incredible accolades they've accomplished, good on them *slow clap* It gave me some peace to see they had a couple of terrible reviews in the beggining of their career in Airbnb where Jeremiah's Lisseth's fickleness jumps out of the text and bites you on the Nose. 

 I truly had no idea how to sort the trash I left in the garage,  and I yet have to learn to accept being ambushed by a barraging review like this that is completely uncalled for, I honestly do not think I will ever be able to learn that Skill Set or have such Thick Skin.

Thanks for reading until here, I hope it was atleast entertaining.

May the Thickness of Skin Be With you fellow Airbnbianites

Faithfully:

Former Airbnb User Mary4772

[Sarah977]

@Mary4772  Perhaps your shower was not an hour long, that wasn't the point. At check-out time you were not ready to leave . Instead, you decided you needed to have a shower and change your clothes when the cleaners had arrived on time to start their job, and because you let them in and said they could start, and apologized profusely, you think this was perfectly okay. It isn't. Cleaners  cannot do their job in the way they are accustomed to doing it if the guests have not yet left. Not to mention them feeling uncomfortable with the situation- most cleaners would. 

If you are unable to properly manage your time with children because you are used to having a nanny, a housekeeper, and a cook, and expect to be given special consideration because of that, that is exactly the definition of an entitled attitude. 

I raised three daughters as a single mom. I had no nannies, housekeepers or cooks. And I arrived and left everywhere on time.

You are a privileged person- your life is easier than most of the world's population. I hope you appreciate and acknowledge that. Your privilege, however, does not require others to cater to your inexperience and inability to look after your own family while respecting others at the same time.

[Mary4772]

I was already showered when the cleaner arrived, not that that matters at all because anything I say at this point will be harshly scrutinized, since I've made a mess of this by mentioning details of my life. I dare to say though, I'm priveleged and I am very very aware of that, but I'm not entitiled and I don't need to accept people lying about things I did not do to be humble and deserving.  It seems like once again as mentioned earlier in the thread this seems to have turned to a persecution of my character and why I deserved that bad review, instead of the how to deal with the details enclosed in the review that are far from the truth.

About you being a single mom of three and being punctual, I commend you, It must have been an uphill battle that you staggered into and turned into a well oiled machine, not dumped into on a christmas vacation. And c'mon you must have been late at least once, not one tardy? Not one missed appointment?, heck I missed an appointment today to tour a preschool 8 minutes from my house and will have to rechedule even with my nanny Austria here, my kid freaked out because she did not want to wear the trousers I picked for her to school. I guess time managment is not my thing.

I was respectful, When was I disrespectful? Oh Well....

I think I'm  done here.

[Huma0]

@Mary4772 

As @Sarah977 says, 

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@Sarah977 wrote:

 Cleaners  cannot do their job in the way they are accustomed to doing it if the guests have not yet left. Not to mention them feeling uncomfortable with the situation- most cleaners would. 

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When a guest checks out late and I have another checking in that day, I have to crack on with the cleaning immediately. Even if they leave at 11am, which is my check out time, it doesn't give me that long to get the job done if the next guest is arriving at 3pm. So, when they check out late without prior permission, it's more than annoying. I will wait a while as it is an uncomfortable situation to be cleaning around a guest, but there comes a point where I just have to crack on with it. 

The guest may feel that they are not in the way, but they are very much in the way, especially if they are still packing, using bathrooms or the kitchen. I think it's pretty rude for them not to get going when they can see I am busy preparing for the next guest. If I had cleaners booked in to do the turnover, then it would make me furious, quite frankly. My cleaners are far too polite to tell guests they are in the way, but that doesn't mean that they are okay with it either.

So, while 'worst guests ever' seems a bit over-the-top, the late check out combined with leaving the trash unsorted in the garage and the other points, maybe were enough for the host to view you as their worst guest. I've certainly had guests do much, much worse things, but perhaps that is not this host's experience.

[Mary4772]

I was not expecting absolutely anything, you're building up a scenario that you did not witness which is hard to do, I understand you find my response disrespectful, but you can Imagine how angry I was when I read the LIES this host posted to justify his review. Read my reply to Huma0.

I'm not trying to look good, I just want the truth to be told. I checked out late by 45 minutes, I could not put away the dishes and I did not know how to sort out the trash and dumped them in the garage instead of taking it out.

I did NOT kill their plants, I did not break any of their Rules and I did NOT leave the Kitchen COVERED in bacon grease hahahahahahah. WOWWWWW.

This is ludicrous, I hardly take myself too seriously, nor I'm I this entitiled little ninnie.

I just used to take great pride in my reviews, and was very careful and considerate with every property I visited. 

Further confirms I will not be using this plataform in all of our interests, hosts that will not need to host and deal with THE WORST GUEST EVER (I've read horror stories here)but mostly for myself.

I'll just tryout Home Exchange seems to be more reciprocal and a better leveraged digital ecosystem.

[Sarah977]

@Mary4772 FYI reviews and responses cannot be "changed" once they are published. 

And if you were unfamiliar with how to separate garbage from recycling, that was something you should have asked the host for clarification on. Separating your garbage is not something a guest does on check-out morning. You do it all the time for the length of your stay.

[Mary4772]

I did not know how to, I've learned my lesson, Ok Sarah Thanks.

[Huma0]

@Mary4772 

As I mentioned, I personally think that all the rules should be stated up front. Under the house rules on the listing, the host mentions, "A rental agreement may be provided with more specific rules and information."  I am guessing that he did not want to include a lengthy list of rules here because he wanted to keep it brief. The rules stated on my listing are pretty detailed, but many hosts worry that guests will not read them if you do this and that it's better to keep it brief so that they at least read the most important rules before booking.

What I would do if I was him is send this rental agreement with the more specific rules and info to the guest via the message system so that they have the option to read them ahead of arrival, rather than just in the house manual. In fact, I would do this asap so that they can cancel within the 48 hour penalty free period should they not be happy with my rules.

BTW I ask all guests to confirm they have read and agree to the full house rules before booking and I will not accept a reservation until they have done so. If they instant book, I will cancel the reservation if they fail to do so after being prompted a few times. I feel this goes an awfully long way to avoiding misunderstandings.

Having said that, as a guest, you could see on the listing that there was some sort of 'rental contract' with more specific rules. In your place I would definitely have asked the host to see these BEFORE I booked. I don't want to agree to a set of rules without knowing what they are. What if, like you, I felt unable to follow them, either due to time constraints or because they were unclear?

So, if you do change your mind and decide to continue as a guest on the platform, make sure you read everything on the listing and especially in the house rules thoroughly before booking and ask questions about anything that is not spelt out.

[Mary4772]

Definitely the most helpful and insightful comment.

Will consider this seriously 🙂

[Ben4066]

As a host who has endured many bad guests, I can say its Airbnb's review system that leads to this sort of thing.  If there is anything that goes the least bit wrong, it becomes a "get them before they get me" situation where both parties have incentive to exaggerate.  Reviews and ratings are everything on Airbnb, so the platform has a responsibility to provide a fair and level playing field.  Anything less is malfeasence.  Demand that Airbnb reform the review process!

[Mary4772]

What would the new review system look like,? I feel there has to be some sort of

credibility or evidence based system for claims like "they killed our plants" or "they broke all our Rules". We've recently stayed at some Airbnb's using my husband's account and I've taken the habit of recording and taking pictures of everything when we arrive and when we leave due to the horrid experience of having my reputation slandered on this platform and not wanting the same thing to happen to him.

It could continue with point based for things that are more subjective.

But should preamble with an emotional intelligence check point so users are not clouded by anxiousness or out of proportion anger before they submit a review.

My interest in this platform has been hindered for sure, I no longer get a kick from using it, I'm more cautious and extremely nit picky reading descriptions and looking for suspicious details or over the top rules. I don't do reviews anymore. My husband tells me to write the reviews for him but It's a hard pass for me.

Maybe some changes are needed for the wellbeing of both Guests and Hosts.

Best to you,

[Helen744]

@Mary4772 I think being Christmas Day was part of the issue . No one would want to hurry little childrens Christmas mornings . Cleaners have families . Did you say Merry christmas . Why would it be a good thing for them to be sitting in the snow waiting to clean a house on Christmas day ?. What about those turning up on Christmas day ? I imagine that the host will never have someone leave and someone arrive on Christmas day again . Boxing day maybe  H

[Mary4772]

I did, I said Merry Christmas and left her a thank you note.

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

In my first couple of years of hosting, I had guests checking in on Christmas Day. It was a disaster for a number of reasons and I decided it was absolutely not worth it so I always block out Xmas Day for check ins now. I don't mind if they want to check out on Xmas Day, but I don't want to stress with new people coming. Also, Xmas Day is just about the only day of the year when my cleaners are not available.

My experience has been that the majority of guests who book over the Xmas/New Year period are just AWFUL. I don't know why. Maybe stress levels are just higher at that time? Maybe expectations are higher? 

Plus it is cold here, there is no public transport and taxis charge double (none of the guests seem to realise this until I tell them) and the supermarkets are closed, so the guests are usually miserable before they even step through the door. They will leave poor reviews no matter how much you go out of your way for them.