Drug Use and House Rules - Not upheld by Airbnb

[Harrison14]

Hi all,

My current guest has booked a long-term reservation for 2 months. I called him and ran a credit and background check to give to my landlady. I also wrote him in the app to confirm he is not a smoker and agreed to not do drugs.

Since arriving he has introduced himself just once while drunk and high, and showed me 3 containers of marijuana he's using. The apartment smelled of smoke, but I cannot prove he is smoking.

I told him this won't work and he needs to stop smoking and get rid of the weed. He said he can't do that.

Airbnb directed me to photograph his stash to support my claim, and then proceeded to tell me I violated the privacy policy. I was told by Airbnb to do this.

I also was told by my guest "I have nothing to hide" "I'll leave my door open" and "You can come in anytime."

The guest has openly admitted to Airbnb of his possession of drugs.

I am now being told the best Airbnb can do is open up my calendar and tell him he has to leave. I then said well I guess if you talk sense to him he can stay that way I don't lose rent. Now Airbnb is saying it's a "personality issue" and that we are "butting heads" meaning that the guest will be refunded and cancel without penalty.

How is this fair to me? How is this upholding host's house rules? What appeal process is there??

HELP? Called Airbnb like 10 times today and got mixed responses and no help.

[David126]

@Harrison14

I suppose it is possible that he could change but I would have thought very unlikely.,

Personally I would want him gone, some business os not worth having, what do you want to happen?

[Harrison14]

Thank you @David126. I don't know what to do but customer service just shut me down and sided with him. I'm stuck.

[Sarah977]

@Harrison14  You can't have it both ways. You have a guest who's a pot smoker. He isn't going to stop because you want him to. Airbnb offered to tell him to leave and open up your calendar. But you didn't take them up on it because you didn't want to miss out on rent. It seems like you are conflicted about your priorities. 

[Harrison14]

@Sarah977Not sure what you mean... I am not trying to have it "Both ways."

1)The guest booked my place knowing I don't allow drugs or smoking

2)I turned down other guests to allow him to book

3)He decided to break rules and now I'm stuck with him breaking them and no penalty. Policy-wise if he misunderstood the rules, he should have canceled and booked somewhere else. In which case he is liable for the first month since he blocked my calendar.

How is that having it both ways? You can buy a steak and send it back if they give you a chicken. Not your fault they cooked a chicken. Your logic leaves a lot to be desired.

[Sarah977]

@Harrison14 What I mean is that your listing description clearly says no marijuana. So he broke a house rule right off the bat which is obviously really important to you. Airbnb offered to tell him to leave and open up your calendar. That would seem to be exactly what you would have wanted at that point. But instead you told them "Well, I guess if you talk sense into him he can stay that way I don't lose rent".

It's not a matter of "talking sense into him". He ignored your house rule and doesn't care. 

What we want to happen (in this case guest gives up his habit and you collect rent) vs. reality (he's a pot smoker and either you let him stay and collect his money or kick him out and hope you can rebook the space). That's what I mean by you can't have it both ways.

[Harrison14]

For long term cancelations I collect the full first month. End of story.
What airbnb offered was equal to a financial loss--not what their cancelation policy supposedly protects us from.

[David126]

@Harrison14

Personally I do not do long term booking, wel I do but not through AirBnB and would not as I want a proper lease.

One of the risks using AirBnB is that they are Guest centric if I need someone to go it is not such a big thing as it is a few days at most loss, so I live with it. Fortunately has yet to happen, came close once.

From the ABB perspective you have justification to ask him to leave, but as you are the one terminating then he gets a refund, you can not ask him to leave and keep the balance of the month.

Personally I would never rely on the policy, too easy for someone to get around it, see Extenuating Circumstances for an example.

Now with a lease things are different.

[Harrison14]

@David126I definitely agree they are Guest-centric. Unfortunately in this case, I have not canceled anything or terminated anything. The guest has. I have a theory that he found some friends to stay with and so blatantly violated house rules so as to weasel out of his rent obligations. This does mean that whenever I do Airbnb in the future (which is unlikely), it's going to be a tooth-and-nail business venture and no niceties or good faith--since clearly that is not what Airbnb upholds. I have a real case for a 3rd party arbiter if only I had the time for that.

[David126]

@Harrison14

Could be deliberate, could be accidental, only the Guest would know biut the effect is the same.

Essentially we often rely on Guests not knowing how easy it is to duck out of such things.

[Harrison14]

UPDATE: I've now discovered that Airbnb considers smoking disputes of any kind to be a "personality issue." The main question then is even if it's in house rules--they will side that it is a personality issue? Sounds like the answer is yes.

To make matters worse, the guest lost their key and now I have to go through the process of getting locks changed, police report etc. Had to do it once already... Airbnb does not side with their hosts. Last time I go thru them to rent something.

[David126]

You might find different response depending on who you speak to, so many issues here seem to vary. I think you would have a hard job terminating the stay and keeping the booking fee whoever you speak to.

[Harrison14]

I did not terminate the stay.

[Harrison14]

If a kid gets expelled from school, you think they get their money back? You break the rules, you gotta pay.

[Mike340]

@Harrison14

I would never do a long term rental through Airbnb.

With regards house rules..they are almost pointless as far as Airbnb are concerned

You really need to do a Skype interview or something before you agree a long term rental and record it as evidence that the terms and rules were known and agreed