Advice Please!

[Mia1133]

Hello, in November 2021 we purchased a recently renovated home, did more renovations and completely furnished it with brand new furniture with the intention of using it as a full time Airbnb. 

While renovating and decorating the house between January and April, we were staying so we’re very familiar with the property.

We have our first guest now, and from the first night she was complaining. First, she found several hairs on the freshly washed and folded towels in the bathroom and said there was a very strong “paint smell”. The house had been painted roughly one year before we bought it by the previous owners, but we didn’t do any painting during our renovations.

The next complaint was that the trash collector didn’t come as scheduled but there was still room in the bins - I clarified this point and even offered to come empty them myself so the guest’s family wouldn’t be inconvenienced. She declined this offer.

Finally, early this morning the guest wrote five long messages between 12am and 1am stating that the “paint smell” was due to high VOC levels. Apparently she tested the air and stated she wanted a full refund because it was hazardous to her family’s health.

I’m certain she’s scamming us, or at the very least OCD. My husband and I have stayed there ourselves and never noticed even a faint paint smell, much less anything that would inspire us to purchase a VOC reader. 

Does this happen often? I feel like there’s an implied threat of a bad review if we don’t provide the full refund…especially because she could say that the house is dangerous in some way. It’s completely false, but we feel like we have no recourse other than to give in to her demands.

I spoke to her on the phone and she said if we gave her the refund she wouldn’t leave a bad review.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks so much. 

[Anonymous]

@Mia1133  Without a doubt, this guest is a scammer running a very common con. These people deliberately target new listings, knowing that first-time hosts are the easiest ones to manipulate into a free stay. They've prepared their complaints before they arrive, and they especially love complaining about odors and fumes, because they don't have to substantiate those claims with visual evidence.

If a guest has a legitimate complaint, it's always going to be an issue that's fixable, like a malfunctioning appliance or a jammed lock. If they're just firing off random grievances about hair and smells, you can be certain that they're winding you up for a free stay. At the first complaint, what you have to do is tell them you'll gladly refund the remaining nights of the stay if they cancel the booking and vacate the home immediately. If they threaten you with a bad review, that works in your favor because they're violating the Extortion policy, but keep all your communication in Airbnb messenger so that you have a paper trail. 

What to do now:  send this guest a booking change request advancing the checkout to today. Insist that she will only be refunded for the remaining nights if she accepts the request and vacates immediately. Include in your message a summary of your last call and a remind her that any review she chooses to leave will be removed due to extortion. Be physically present to inspect the home and escort her out if necessary. Make it 100% clear that you are not putting up with any more BS.

[Mia1133]

Hi Andrew, thank you so much for this very detailed and insightful response. We were going to give the guest a full refund just to appease them and hopefully receive the 5-star review they promised. After reading your response which confirmed our hunch that they were scamming us, we followed your instructions exactly. Long story short, the guest vacated that night and I alerted Airbnb support about what they were doing in the hopes that this guest's account would be flagged so other hosts don't find themselves in the same position. Thanks again. 

[Anonymous]

@Mia1133  Thank you for following up; I'm glad the advice was useful for you and that this guest is no longer in the home. Here's hoping you have good experiences with guests from here on out.