“Blackmailed” by guest after huge party

[David238]

Long story short:  

guest booked one of my smaller places For one night to “propose to his wife”  Upon arrival, he said it was “too small” so I offered him a free upgrade to a much nicer, larger home.  He was grateful and appreciative and promised a glowing review for my extra effort.

Plus, This is COVID quarantine era, so we are not busy — and I did not imagine anyone would be throwing a giant party with the virus going round. 

man was I wrong.  Big party.  Beer spilled everywhere. Trash.   Normal party stuff 

When I told him he violated my house rules and I requested a $100 deep cleaning fee.... he went nuts on the app messaging...

he has clearly suggested that if I push for a cleaning fee he will leave a horrible review— making up all kinds of problems including “smell like a dog” and “broken locks” (patently untrue). 

his note concluded that he would not “bash” me in a review if we just “let it be”.  

if I were to write an honest review, and he retaliated, what are my options?

i know there’s no easy answer, but this sucks and I had to vent. 

[Helen3]

As you know a guest can't threaten a host with a bad review as blackmail for not  reporting their bad behaviour (Airbnb Help Review T&Cs). @David238 

Report the guest. Send a request for extra cleaning. Leave an honest review.

If your listing is as described there is no reason to upgrade a guest. 

If haven't done so already instal CCTV at your properties so you can monitor guest behaviour at your STR businesses. Also particularly where guests are locally invest time and effort to vet guests more carefully and meet guests on check in to emphasise expected noise levels and rules, no extra house guest, immediate cancellation on violation of house rules etc.

[Mark116 · Accepted solution]

@David238  I'd contact airbnb, point them to the messages that infer a bad review if you charge him extra for the damage/cleaning and ask them to ban the guest from the platform and prevent a revenge review.  It might work, or might not, as you may know airbnb is kind of random in how it enforces its rules.

Also, he won't see your review until he writes one, but he will know that you have written a review, but not the contents. You could also try waiting until the very last day of the 14 day review period and then leave an honest review in the hopes that if the guest is not super savvy he will  not see it in time to leave his own false review.  Supposedly there is a way to tell down to the hour how much time is left for the review but I have never figured that part out, only the day.

[Sarah977]

@David238  Report the guest to Airbnb. Make sure to use the word "extortion", as extortion is specifically against Airbnb policy. Ask them to look at the messages from the guest where he is attempting to extort you for a good review.