New Scum method by guests

Mohd4
Level 1
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

New Scum method by guests

I am writing to tell you about my experience lately. 

 

i was approached by a guest who booked my apartment for one night. the minutes she contact she mentioned that she is an influencer and have 500k follower on Instagram. she asked for an early check-in and I agreed.  the status of the reservation was ( waiting payment ) 

 

so I thought why not she will update the credit card and it will be solved so i gave her the access door code. 

she liked the apartment and advertised it on her social media account. and then she asked for an extension i replied no worries just change the booking and will let you in.

 

after 24 hours the reservation was canceled due to the un-updated payment issue. she promised to fix it so she stayed for three days for free. 

she fixed the issue and promised to pay me for three days outside Airbnb which she did. so we went into the same issues again and again .. she pays for 3 nights then she change the credit card. 

 

in summary she stayed with us for almost two months and paid half of the rent. 

 

The lesson learned here as follows:

 

1. Don't let the guest checkin without payment. 

2. Don't ever get tempted by agreeing to payment outside Airbnb even if the guest but you in a situation like mine ( payment unsuccessful ). raise the case to Airbnb 

3. Don't trust any influencer with your apartment always depend on reviews and government-issued authentication by airbnb  

 

 

wrote this article to raise awareness and express my frustration only. 

 

do you know a similar scum share it under this post 

5 Replies 5
Dale711
Level 10
Paris, France

Hi @Mohd4 

Welcome to the community 😊

 

Thank you for your sharing the experience and input.

It was kind and generous of you to allow the guest to stay.Yet, pay half of the rental fee.

We do have several similar negative experience and always learn the lesson. 

We do red flag the guests as misconducts behavior and reports the incident to the support team.

It is essential to following the Airbnb policy and hosting standards, never accept the offline payment.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Mohd4   It probably could have turned out a lot worse, and you are lucky you got 50%, but now you have learned your lesson on that.

Helen744
Level 10
Victoria, Australia

@Mohd4 Really ? Two months .?Seriously you scammed yourself . One night ,no pay equals goodbye , dont let the door hit you on the way out . H

Yvonne735
Level 4
Kinlochleven, United Kingdom

Sorry this happened. Im afraid I hear the word 'influencer' as 'wannabefreebie'. Ive been contacted, and it turns out my chickens have more (real) followers. As soon as I tell them they pay like everyone else, but will receive a percentage return commission for every 10guests that book as a result of their blog will be arranged......I never hear back!.

@Yvonne735 

 

 I love it.

i think that even if you would lower your # of guest to get the return, you would not hear back from them !!!

.
Annie