Bad Guests = Too Bad For Hosts

[Julieanna0]

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?

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Robin336 

The $100 fee might have been @Thomas1033 or my reply in this thread:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Paying-for-the-Second-Guest/m-p/1036149/highlight/true#M216...

Retaliatory Reviews post here: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/Retaliatory-Reviews-Inequality-what-to-do/td-p/10368...

[Thomas1033]

@Julieanna0  yes it’s us that has the $100 sneak in fee!  Haven’t had to implement it but I fear we may be hosting our first problem guest at the end of this coming month.  She just yesterday messaged me regarding adding two more people to the booking when she already booked at our max of 5.  I wrote about it in the forum and then added my convo so far with CS.  See “Happening Right Now!!!”  It has of now not been resolved and I’m not backing down so if they stay I’m sure we will get our first bad review but we will be prepared.  We intend to video document the space and peel back all the beds etc to counteract any negative claims.  If I hadn’t been a regular reading posts in this community I wouldn’t have know. How “bad” people can be.

[Julieanna0]

@Thomas1033  Ha ha,--thanks for your post.  I thought the "sneak-in" fee was funny and functional!  I'm glad you haven't had to implement it yet and I hope your guest turns out to be no problem.  I always do a "video walk-through", (or have someone do this for me), prior to guests arriving after having a bad experience when a guest punched a hole in one of my walls.  I never thought about peeling back the bed covers,--however, that sounds like a great idea even if it is extra work!  I wished I would have discovered and utilized this community a year ago!  It would have saved me from a lot of grief for sure!

I'm still waiting to hear back from CS for some kind of resolution in spite of the fact that my incident happened on Saturday the 25th and Superhosts are supposed to get "priority support".  If this is Airbnb's priority support......oh boy!  I was promised a return call or contact by 5:30 PM today, but instead got this message earlier in the day:  

"Hey Julieanna- it's Mercaydeez, a supervisor with Airbnb. I hope you're well today.

I'm currently out of the office but would like to set up a time to discuss your concerns when I return tomorrow, Thursday 5/30. I'll be in the office from 4:30 PM to 12:00 AM PST. Please let me know if you'll be available between that time."

I see so many hosts saying that Airbnb isn't what it used to be.  Sad, really.  I might have a misplaced sense of loyalty towards Airbnb as they are the only platform I've ever used.  However, after reading some of the comments,  I really do think trying out one of the other STR platforms might be a better choice.  The other thing that really bothers me,--I feel like Airbnb silently rewards the hosts who don't say anything and let bad guests walk all over them by boosting their search ratings.  I could be wrong about this,--however, Airbnb's search algorithm make zero sense and this is coming from someone who does SEO for a living.  I have spent hours on the phone with Airbnb inquiring about search results and have resigned myself to the fact that it will remain a mystery.  But, think about it,--if they boost the hosts in search who never say anything about any problem(s), and/or do whatever Airbnb suggests they do, (like refunding guests and eating the loss), they, (Airbnb), make more money.  Taken in tandem with their propensity to encourage hosts to always refund the guest no matter what,--I'm thinking I might not be too far off from the truth.  

What we have to say as hosts probably doesn't matter a whole lot as Airbnb seems to constantly need, (and are willing to pay to recruit), more hosts.  Maybe if they treated their current hosts with more care and concern, they could save money and have happier hosts!  Now if you or I had 5 or 6 listings that were bringing in $400-$600/night, we might also be treated differently.  Another question I have,--I never get paid until the end of the 2nd day a guest has stayed in my home, yet I see people talking in this community as if they are paid before the guest arrives.  Just curious.....

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0  I've never heard of a host getting paid before the guest arrives. I consistently get a payment release 24 hours after guest check-in, although a few times it has been a few days delayed. Then it takes another few days for it to show up in my bank account. But their computer bot is screwed up, - I'll have a "processing" on the transaction sometimes for days after the money has appeared in my bank account. I've reported this,  but of course it never gets fixed.

[Julieanna0]

Thanks @Sarah977 it's good to know.  I do vaguely  remember some kind of program that might have been offered by Airbnb whereby a host could get paid prior to guests checking in,--but you also lost a percentage of your payout if you took advantage of it.  They only offered it for a short period of time; maybe this was one of their tests? Thanks for your response!

[Alice595]

@Robin336I don't understand why Airbnb deactived your listing(s) for a week. Are there anywhere in Airbnb Terms and Agreement that a listing will be deactivated when it receives two 1 star reviews? I saw that you have a lot of reviews. Two one star reviews should be a negiligible proportion. Was it just one listing got deactivated?

[Robin336]

Yes my "backyard campsite" has been "Paused until June 3rd. Says "dropped below global review standards "? I've got tons of awesome reviews. I have 5 listings. 4 in Virginia and 1 in Domincian Republic. Just this one got temporarily deactivated. Kinda like a "punishment" or "slap on the wrist". I am so angry right now. And NO call back Alll day by a CSR

[Julieanna0]

@Robin336 I've been wondering if a disgruntled guest can "flag" a listing.  Alternately, I've wondered if someone even has to have been a guest and stayed in your home before they can flag it.  If anyone, (including upset guests), can flag your listing, maybe this contributed to the "dropped below global review standards"?  I would also imagine every time a listing is paused it causes a loss in search ranking.  I've asked the question in this thread:  https://community.withairbnb.com/unqgh87863/board/message?board.id=listing-and-reservations&message....

[Robin336]

I spoke Yesterday and today to Airbnb CSR. Still NOTHING. My listing is still paused and I cannot book new guests. All because of some lying sneaky jerk who was a stranger prior to Saturday. He gets busted for breaking rules and suddenly HE has the Power to COST Me money and defame my chatacter??! I talked to an Airbnb 'Experience Rep.' This morning. Just as yesterday they promised it would be escalated. 

This doesn't help my Now Paused income. I AM LIVID. I told them about reading in the forum about other disgruntled hosts and how we all get "retaliation reviews". I feel that a guest Should Lose their Right/opportunity to Review If they break a rule. 

They said the guest didn't "violate content policy and it is the guests perception"(they always say that!) I said "an outright LIE! NOT their Perception! If a guests makes up untruths and false statements that is NOT "their perception " that is them Outright LYING. It is Like Science. Or Law. It is about FACT. And if a guest Intentionally Distorts FACT in their review "to get us(hosts) back,then THAT should Be Prohibited!" 

UNTIL we All take a stand and dont tolerate being bullied by Guests IN OUR home this will get worse! And OUR reviews and reputation will suffer. 

AS Julieanna said above, "it takes 19 5 star reviews to bring ONE 1star review back up to 4.8 level!" That's absurd! 

So One lying jerk of every 20 Happy guests can Ruin Us? That is a BROKEN System!

[Julieanna0]

@Robin336 Maybe you should emphasize to the CSR that you are concerned with the FACTS and not what perceptions are.  Afterall, Airbnb couldn't operate a successful platform if they operated solely on "perceptions" and "opinions".   I used to think Airbnb was successful because they based their entire platform on honesty and respect......  You have a photo proving a fact.  I would also ask if that guest flagged your listing as well.  I am curious to know if that is why they have paused it.

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0 @Robin336   The problem is that Airbnb will not disclose to you if a guest has flagged your listing, they even, unbelieveably, have completely delisted hosts because of a "complaint", and refuse to tell the host what the complaint is. This would be akin to getting fired from your job without the employer having to tell you why, or being charged with a crime without the police having to tell you what you are charged with. It's absolutely astounding that they get away with this.

[Robin336]

This was Another Feedback topic I sent today (based on a NEW experience today):

..."If a guest fails to show Up for a Reservation or cancels AFTER check In time, the Guest should NOT be allowed to leave a review.
How can a guest fairly comment on a place they Never experienced? That would be a false review or made up opinion.
The problem with a Guest being able to review AFTER they no show and then cancel DURING an active reservation, if a host has a Strict cancellation policy and the guest requests a refund and we as a host deny them, THE guest will Undoubtedly (it has happened to me and other hosts to NO fault of our own) the guest will be Mad at THEIR Decision to Cancel But NOT get refunded, therefore Giving the Host an undeserving 1 star review
It Is the Guest Responsibility to Read Carefully The cancellation Policy BEFORE they book. They need to realize that just because they change their mind, just Like at a hotel, we as hosts Already have spent time cleaning and preparing the room, often rearranging OUR schedule for a last minute booking, possibly paid a property manager or cleaning service for a same day/quick cleaning, then Guest cancels and want a refund? This is NOT fair and a guest should be DENIED the right to write a Public review &Affect Our ratings When THEY Cancel. Private Feedback NOT affecting HOST ratings to Airbnb should be allowed but they should have NO bearing on our overall score.
If We have a Strict policy it is their for a reason. NOT TO FEEL BULLIED INTO A REFUND FOR FEAR OF A BAD REVIEW.
thank you for your time,
Robin Taylor-Host"

**maybe ALL hosts should Really Increase the Letters  and Feedback we give to Airbnb about what is bothering us with Bad Guests and Bad/inappropriate Retaliation Reviews! I made 3 phone calls this week and FINALLY got someone that truly helped me! (MARIA) She was extremely helpful and listened. 

We talked about the above issue and the lying guy from this weekend who snuck in guests and then gave me a Horrible review for enforcing MY own house rules. 

We all have to become Extremely Vigilant about protecting ourselves. The excellent hosts are what makes Airbnb a success! 

[Julieanna0]

Wow, @Sarah977 this is really unbelievable and very unfair to hosts!  I have a feeling that Airbnb doesn't necessarily believe in full transparency on their end.  Again, Airbnb's behavior appears to be extremely partial to guests,--even guests who take advantage of a host and lie about it.  I would definitely imagine this impacts your search rankings, (obviously the listing can't show up in search if it has been delisted), however, one CS rep told me that it takes a while for a listing to show back up in search even if the owner has "paused" or blacked out a month or two of days.  This CS rep told me it would be better to turn off instant booking and then I could turn down any guest requests as needed.  I'm not sure that would have helped at all as repeatedly turning down requests to book can hurt hosts as well. (In fact, on Airbnb's own help page, it states a listing can be deactivated "If you decline consecutive reservation requests and booking inquiries over an extended period of time" https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/489/why-was-my-listing-deactivated)   This was an issue I had last year when I had to travel out of state for 3+ months and didn't have anyone to manage my listing.   Also, I could be wrong, but it doesn't appear that you must be a guest in order to report a listing,--does anyone know if this is the case?  I cannot seem to find any definitive answer.  And then there are Airbnb's own words regarding search, "We look at nearly 100 different factors for every listing in every search (and don’t worry—you don’t have to perform perfectly on everything to rank well)."  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/39/what-factors-determine-how-my-listing-appears-in-search-resul... Even Google must be confused.......

[Etienne-Marie0]

Partial is slight word. Hosts are noting for Airbnb.

Experienced it again today. Because of a cancellation from guest.

[Joanne63]

Thats the same problem I have. I charge $15 for extra guests and this one guy recently tried to avoid the fee by texting and speaking to me outside the Airbnb App.  That made me suspicious.  First, he called, then he started texting me privately saying he was coming with an extra guest. I wasn't buying it.  I gave him a thumbs down and he threatened me!  He said he was going to be promoted in the military, well, I know a thing or two. And if he displays such deceptive behaviors during a ploygraph, he will fail!