3 dissapointing guests all in 1 day

[Sean433]

Guest 1:

Booked for 2 but seemed to have at least 3 guests, maybe 4. We charge $10 extra for every guest after 2.  This is for a listing I co-host for. The main host told me they not only had at least 3 guests but there was urine on bed, they were banging doors when closing them while all other guests are mindful of how they treat the place. So I left a review only mentioning the extra guests, not mentioning the urine or the banging. Airbnb then calls me and says I need proof and if I don't have proof, there needs to be a trail of me messaging the guest to address the extra guests. I said i did not confront because often times it leads to retaliatory review and how do we provide proof if the listing doesn't have a camera. I also asked how come I don't get this level of support if I call in to review an unfair review of me? How come airbnb does not ask guests for proof? He kept talking to me like a robot and i just had to hang up or lose it. 15 minutes later, review of guest is gone.

Guest 2:

Partied until 4:30 am and received complaints from tenants downstairs. Apartment smelled like weed when cleaner came. I confronted the partying because it was yesterday but not the weed because we only found out after the cleaner came. So if i leave a review, good chance I will get retaliatory review. Also, by the logic of the customer service rep in the above example, can my review be removed because i did not confront guest of the weed and if so, how to confront if it is after the fact?

Guest 3:

Check-out time is 11:00am. Cleaner came at 3:00pm because she was busy cleaning the apartment the guest smoked weed in (guest 2). They tell the cleaner they need 30 more minutes (after they are already 4 hours late in checking out). I message the guest saying she needs to enter immediately because we have new guests coming soon. He did not reply yet (it is 3:32 pm now).

I am used to guests breaking rules but 3 in 1 day is unusual. If I leave guest 2 & 3 review, good chance I will get back to back retaliatory reviews and not the same level of support Guest 1 had.

@Branka-and-Silvia0- this one was for you !

[Emilia42]

oh my god . . . when is this review BS going to end!?!? 

[Jennifer1421]

@Sean433If guest #3 is still in there, apply the overstay rules.

So sorry that all this is happening - the removal of your review is completely OTT! I thought the policy was based on a host and guest's "experience", not requiring proof...I mean, how could anyone "prove" they had a good stay? Unbelievable.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sean433

Good that you posted this, such shameful and discriminatory CS treatment about your review deserves it.

Regarding overstay: https://www.airbnb.com/terms#eusec7

Paragraph 8.2 / 8.2.2.

[Mike1034]

@Sean433Lucky you. I would urge you to buy lottery tickets today instead of managing your Airbnb listings:-)

Now it seems that you ran out of tricks in dealing with the bad guests because of Airbnb's unfairness.

That is what I responded you when you followed my post with your suggestions to Airbnb about vetting guests by yourself. If Airbnb does not change its policies, what a host can do is very very limited.

[Sean433]

@Emilia42 @Jennifer1421 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Mike1034 

Guys, you wouldn't believe what happened with guest # 3

So the guy refused to leave. Scared our cleaner away. Only left just now at 4:00pm after new guests came knocking on the door. Read screen shot below for further info. Customer support has not gotten back to me yet. I found out he left through the new guests. I will probably get a bad review. Let's see if it gets removed.

[Jennifer1421]

@Sean433what a cluster"Bleep" (self censoring 🙂 )

Soooooo interested to hear what the follow up and outcome of this is. Also, maybe send to Laura to help inform the never ending 10 day sprint?

[Sean433]

@Jennifer1421 

The evidence is so clear, I am posting it from both our cleaner and the current guest who had to ask our guest Shlomo to leave. This is inexcusable. The guest should not be allowed to be on airbnb.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sean433 

your guest Shlomo can be charged 2x daily rate for her overstay. You have the right to demand it.

8.2 Booking Accommodations

8.2.1 .....

8.2.2 You agree to leave the Accommodation no later than the checkout time that the Host specifies in the Listing or such other time as mutually agreed upon between you and the Host. If you stay past the agreed upon checkout time without the Host's consent (“Overstay”), you no longer have a license to stay in the Accommodation and the Host is entitled to make you leave in a manner consistent with applicable law. In addition, you agree to pay, if requested by the Host, for each twenty-four (24) hour period (or any portion thereof) that you Overstay, an additional nightly fee of up to two (2) times the average nightly Listing Fee originally paid by you to cover the inconvenience suffered by the Host, plus all applicable Guest Fees, Taxes, and any legal expenses incurred by the Host to make you leave (collectively, "Overstay Fees"). Overstay Fees for late checkouts on the checkout date that do not impact upcoming bookings may be limited to the additional costs incurred by the Host as a result of such Overstay. If you Overstay at an Accommodation, you authorize Airbnb (via Airbnb Payments) to charge you to collect Overstay Fees. A Security Deposit, if required by a Host, may be applied to any Overstay Fees due for a Guest’s Overstay.

[Sean433]

@Laura_C @Laura_R @Lizzie 

Hi Laura and Lizzie, Thank you for making my conversation with Margaret happen. It was great speaking to her and adding my insight. I hope it will help airbnb to improve.

In the meantime, I would like to bring to you the attention of today's events. I had 3 interesting events occur today . All 3 had safety implications especially the one which I will be referring to now..

Our guest, Shlomo refused to check out at his check-out time of 11:00am. We discovered this when our cleaner sent me a message. Further evidence was provided by our next guests who check-in after Shlomo, Natalie. These our amazing guests who have been staying with us for months on and off. Natalie confirmed over the phone that Shlomo only left after they arrived to the home. I had to sent Natalie back her $120 in cleaning fee because our cleaner had left after waiting hours and after Natalie expressed that they will just clean themselves. I also requested that Shlomo pay half of the days stay for his overstay. Now, I expect a bad review from Shlomo. I expect airbnb to at least give me support on this matter. The request for payment I am sending is a matter of principle just as it is a matter of the cost we will have to be out of pocket for as a result of his actions. I also ask that you send this matter to trust and safety to have this guest reviewed. He is lying saying that he left much earlier despite evidence from our cleaner and our guest, Natalie who will and can confirm everything. He will likely do this to other hosts in the future if he is not stopped. We are lucky that Natalie is a great guest and we have a good relationship. If this happened with any other guest, we would have been in an even worse scenario.

I have attached proof from the cleaner and my refund to Natalie of what happened. Once Natalie writes to me what happened, I will attach that as well. Out of urgency, I called Natalie at 3:30pm to give tell her what was going on and she called me back at 4:00pm to tell me that her friends saw Shlomo leave - At 4:00pm.

[Sean433]

The reason I said in my text message to my cleaner "if you can't explain something to them" is because her English is poor and she often uses google translate or sends my messages to her daughter who translated and sends it back to her. I also called the guest, he did not answer. Messaged him twice, he finally responded at 4:45 pm with a lie saying he left much earlier.

He only left because 3 big guys knocked on the door. These guys are our current guest who Natalie always books for us.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

oh yes .. life is so much easier when you are a big guy :)))))

[Helen3]

@Sean433  I am so sorry to hear this happened but a little confused as to why you didn't go there to ensure the guest left once you knew from your cleaner there was a problem, rather than just calling them?

In these sort of situations, I don't think we can expect our cleaners to deal with problem guests, as the co-host or host we need to be able to deal with these situations directly, particularly when we know new guests are due to arrive and the previous guest is still there.

I agree with others charge him the late check out fee, leave an honest review and I would give the contractors a thank you gift and apologise to the person who books on their behalf.

[Mike1034]

@Sean433  Sooner or later, you will get comments from a few hosts why you not vetting guests carefully, which have made your lucky day.

From your posts, I know that you have various tricks and ways in managing your listings to get the best results including good reviews from guests and vetting guests to avoid potential damages to your listings and your co- listings.

No matter how good a host you are, you will be the next lucky host like @Sean433 before Airbnb finally make some changes in their policies and system to put correct measures of vetting guests and to build a trust worthy and fair review system to both guests and hosts.

[Sean433]

@Mike1034 

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

@Rebecca181 

@Emilia42 

I never claimed to be immune to bad guests nor that any of my experience in customer service will yield a total 100% guarantee of positive reviews. But generally speaking it has been of tremendous help. 9 out of 10 times I let things go. You need to pick your battles especially when hosting multiple listings. This one in particular hit a nerve because first and foremost, he scared our cleaner into leaving. This is a hard working lady who did not deserve this.

Nevermind that the guest wasted a good 1 hour of my time dealing with airbnb customer service but intimidating our cleaner to leave is unforgivable and I will be pursuing that this guest is removed from the platform. Luckily she did not get hurt nor is she quitting after this experience but she did send me a rather concerning text message today about it. Guests sneaking in extra guests or smoking marijuana is something I have let go in the past. Risking the safety of a good employee and potentially losing her is something I cannot let go.