Bad Guests = Too Bad For Hosts

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Julieanna0
Level 10
San Antonio, TX

Bad Guests = Too Bad For Hosts

I have been hosting on Airbnb for about 1 year now and just had the unfortunate experience of asking guests to leave my home.  My home was booked for 2 nights this Memorial Day weekend and my house rules are clear; no parties and all guests staying in my home must be mentioned by name in the initial booking as well as their relationship to the person who booked my home.

 

Long story short, as I have Ring doorbell, I was able to see 4 people entering my home prior to my 3:00 PM checkin time, 5 more people entering my home in the following 2 hours. I tried texting my guest; no response.  I tried calling his phone to inquire as to why there were 9 people in my home instead of 1.  No answer.  At least 7 of the 9 people had backpacks or bags as if they were planning to spend the night.

 

I called Airbnb and was told that I was within my rights to ask everyone to leave as they had clearly violated my house policies, and because my cancellation policy was moderate I would be paid for 1 night as well as my cleaning fee with no penalty against me for cancelling the reservation.  Airbnb did ask me to wait before taking any action while they tried contacting my guest.  Airbnb was not able to contact my guest either.

 

Finally at around 6:00 PM I went over to my house to inquire what was going on as I could not get any response via the app or phone.  I had to BEAT on my front door in order to be heard.  The young man who came to the door was not the person who had booked my home and told me there was no one at my house by my guest's name.  I was momentarily speechless.  I asked several more times and he continued to deny there was anyone by that name in my home.  Finally I said I was going to have to ask him and everyone in the house to leave.  At this time, the man who had booked my house appeared at the door and I was able to ask him and everyone in my home to leave.

 

I contacted Airbnb again to let them know that I had asked my guest and all additional people in my home to leave.  At this time I was transferred to a different department within Airbnb and the representative I spoke with, Aysia, questioned me as to whether or not I really would need to clean my home and said Airbnb would not be compensating me for 1 night's rental fee.  She said, "well, you could have a rule about not wearing shoes in your house and ask everyone to leave because they wore shoes in your home" as if I was the one being completely ridiculous.  I tried to point out that my house rules clearly state no parties and that the names of all guests staying in my home must be mentioned when the person is booking my home.  She told me that if I could provide proof that my home needed to be cleaned, Airbnb would compensate me for my cleaning fee.  I told Aysia that I would not be able to return to my home until the following day in order to assess the condition of my home.

 

What I found when I went back to my home: during the five hours that 9 people were in my home, the bottle of complimentary wine and brownies I leave for my guest(s) had been consumed, both bathrooms/towels had been used, and all beds had been slept in.  The kitchen had been used and trash left.  No one bothered to lock my doors when they left my home, so it was left unlocked overnight and into the next day.

 

I uploaded the pictures proving that my house would have to be cleaned and again asked Airbnb representative Aysia for 1 night to be compensated as well as the cleaning fee as I would not be able to rent my home out over the weekend to someone else.  Aysia said that because the guests didn't actually stay in my home overnight she would not be able to credit me for one night.  However, my guest was refunded the entire amount of his stay while I was left unable to rent my home out or recover any loss of income due to HIS violation of my home policies.  I let Aysia know if all 9 guests had slept in my home overnight, I would have been in violation of my City of San Antonio STR permit as only 2 people per bedroom are allowed.  I have 3 bedrooms.  It made no difference.

 

I am left feeling very unhappy with Airbnb.  In all probability, the guest I had to ask to leave will go on to do this to other hosts as there was no penalty to him whatsoever.  Airbnb has taught this young man that it's perfectly fine to disrespect a host's home policy.  In fact, they refunded his whole fee and offered to find another Airbnb house to stay in.  Airbnb has taught me that they don't care if my house rules are disrespected either. 

 

When I asked Aysia if the first Airbnb representative who told me I would be compensated for 1 nights stay as well as my cleaning fee could be located, I was told that because I didn't have anything in writing from this representative, it would not be honored.   I reminded Aysia that the call was recorded, so surely they could listen to it in order to confirm.  Again, I was told no.

 

I think I am finally understanding why Airbnb is offering $360 for new host referrals.  

 

Although I asked for a supervisor, I was told a callback would be scheduled. I'm still waiting.......

 

It also appears that I am unable to upload any images to this post.  I get this message when I attempt to add images, "Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied."

 

Does anyone else hosting on Airbnb also feel that they are biased against hosts?  Or, that bad guests are rewarded for their bad behavior while the host is penalized?

Julieanna
1 Best Answer
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Julieanna0  A friend of mine who has been hosting for years gave me some really good advice re dealing with Airbnb CS. If you get a clueless, unhelpful rep (why was this Aysia even talking about wearing shoes in the house?- the issue was 9 people staying on a reservation made for 1, the cleaning fee was a minor issue in comparison), you don't continue to engage with them at all. If they start out that way, they'll continue in that fashion, or become even more unhelpful or close the case. You just grit your teeth, say thank you for your time, hang up, and call again, as if it is a new issue. Don't mention you've already spoken to someone else about it. You may have to do this several times until you are lucky enough to get a CS rep who actually understands the issue and is willing to work with you respectfully on it.

Also, although I realize getting guests out ASAP would require a phone call, as it's urgent, phoning seems to be the worst way to contact them- from what I read here, users have their calls dropped, claims that there is no record of any previous conversations, and they almost never seem to call back, despite the assurances that they will. For non-emergency issues, I prefer the messaging function- at least there is a message documentation trail which I can screenshot. And while I haven't used Twitter to contact them, others say that works better, as well, and same, you'd have a trail of messages you could screenshot before they mysteriously disappear.

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80 Replies 80

@Joanne63  I read a helpful tip somewhere about this,--when a guest attempts to private message you, just copy their message, paste it in the Airbnb app and respond.  That way you have a record within Airbnb.

Julieanna
Rosemary12
Level 9
Burnaby, Canada

I am sorry to hear of this experience. I feel like we have to be on our toes all the time.

I am currently trying to decide what to write as a review for a guest who stayed with me for 3 days. I share the home with guests and I provide a cooked breakfast for my guests and he wanted to add items beyond the 17 choices they have, told me how to cook things, wanted laundry facilities and I explained that I do not allow my guests to use my laundry but I would be happy to do a load for him. The night before he was leaving he asked about doing the laundry and I had to tell him that I couldn't do it in the time frame (he wanted breakfast at 8:00 and leave at 9:30). When I told him that I was sorry but that didn't give me enough time he wanted to leave his laundry and come back later in the day...I had to say no. I should say that I loaned this guest a rain jacket, iron 2 pairs of shorts and t-shirts for him with no thank you.

In addition, I knew that he was travelling with friends who were in another Airbnb in our city. Turns out he rented the home for them and he got a good review from the owner!! I contacted Airbnb and they confirmed that you cannot book for a 3rd party. I was wondering how this guest could hold down a full time desk job with the US Army and still get to travel to 4-5 countries each year and stay in Airbnb's. Now I am left wondering if these were for properties he booked for someone else and took the credit. This is very misleading for hosts who presume that a good review is for the person they are considering.

 

I must say that Airbnb have been very good about responding to either my phone calls or emails (maybe being a superhost has its benefits!) but when I contacted them about this guest the agent prattled on thanking me for sharing my "humble abode" until I explained to her that this is considered an insult since this term is used to describe a lowly dwelling. I am convinced that most of their agents are in countries where English is not the first language.

 

@Rosemary12 - Thanks for your post.  I didn't realize that there were people engaging in "3rd party booking".  Just when I thought I might be avoiding some  problems by permanently sticking to "must have positive reviews from other hosts"!  Also, I think you're right regarding agents being in places where English is not their first language.  I've noticed this lately,--sometimes it is very hard to understand what they're saying making an already bad situation worse.  I guess Airbnb makes more money this way,--or perhaps their call routing system is as antiquated as their search optimization practices.  

Julieanna
Kerrilee0
Level 1
Melbourne, Australia

I am a new host and my first guest was unfortunately a nightmare. She had more people stay than was agreed upon and now my power bill is $300 over the normal 1 person estimate I had factored into the stay charge. Unfortunately, I was waiting for my bills to arrive so I could lodge a claim with valid documentation. I wasn't aware I had to do this within 14 days ... silly me. Now Airbnb are refusing to compensate me. Lesson learned. I will never host again. 

@Kerrilee0  What a shame. You really don't have to stop hosting, you just need to learn how to handle these situations.

1. Always message with guest when they book or request to book, making sure that they have entered the correct number of guests who will be in their group.

2. Make it clear that if they arrive with more people than they booked for, they will not be admitted to the property and if more arrive afterwards, their booking will be instantly terminated. 

3. Keep tabs on your property- if you aren't around to oversee, make sure you have a co-host who can, as well as outdoor cameras so you can monitor who is going in and out (the cameras have to be disclosed in your listing description).  Don't be afraid to tell the guests they have to leave or amend the reservation to include and pay for the extra guests.

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am more upset by the way Airbnb are refusing to assess my claim in good faith that I was a new host and did not understand the protocol. 

@Kerrilee0  Yes, they are incredibly difficult to deal with and seldom do the right thing by hosts. You aren't alone in receiving horrible customer service, although I realize that's little consolation.

I am happy  to report that I took my grievance to upper management and they have paid me a reimbursement! I am quite surprised with the outcome I must say. I wasn't expecting it at all but I eventually received some very good customer service! 

That's good for you and happy you got some relief.  However, have you considered how many hours you spent trying to resolve your issue, then multiplied it by a reasonable 'hourly rate' for your service? How much did it cost you to get a reimbursement? Was it more value than your time?

 

This is one of the many gripes I have  with Airbnb's 'help' process. It is not effective, helpful or efficient, and puts the hosts in the position to be 'helpdesk' on the app for guests, or to be on the defensive when bringing a problem to  them that requires support to the host, esp. in the case of a difficult, demanding, or crazy guest. 


Joe28
Level 2
Templeton, CA

Yes

not impressed at all with Airbnb!

i lost my super host status  because of a bad guest and Airbnb said I would not!

they never even read my profile page and I got dinged for their complaint that is clearly stated on my profile page

Anthony608
Level 10
Silver Spring, MD

I recently had a guest who left a 4 star review after he was overheard upset there were two African American woman in the house, and he didn't want to use the shower after them.  I don't usually complain about 4 star reviews, but let AirBNB know he had behaved with racism against another guest.  They said since he didn't make actual racist remarks in the review itself, there was nothing that could be done.  That was clearly a case of siding with the guest, I think.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Sorry to hear about your horrible guest. @Anthony608 

 

Personally i would have asked Airbnb to cancel his booking then and there as I wouldn't have wanted a guest like that staying with me and making my other guests feel uncomfortable.

 

In this case, much as I am happy to call Airbnb out when they behave badly, there is nothing they could do in the situation you describe in terms of the guests review. 

Kathleen726
Level 2
Fayetteville, GA

I just hosted my worst guest ever. I am afraid to leave a bad review as the guest is local and now knows my address, phone number, lock

box code, etc. what if they retaliate? I’m inclined to leave no review but want to warn other hosts. What can i

do?

@Kathleen726  I can understand your concern and have heard other hosts say the same, but I have never read of these retaliation concerns actually coming to fruition.

 

While most of us prefer honest, informative reviews, in this case, you could leave a "coded" written review which most hosts will understand. One I have heard mentioned is "Guest stayed 3 days." Or however long they stayed. 

 

It would be evident that you had nothing good to say about the guest. Then mark them 1* star across the board and a "Do not recommend". Hosts like me who don't use Instant Book are not privy to see the star ratings, but guests can't see them either. The guest will have no knowledge that you gave them a 1*review and a thumbs down.

 

Don't accept locals in the future- they are usually just looking for a place to party, deal drugs, or sex work.

There could be legitimate reasons fir a local needing a place, like the plumbing in their own place burst and flooded the house, but you'd need to have a way to verify that.

@Kathleen726 Just a thought - The lockbox code should be changed regularly and definitely after local guest stays.