I have been hosting for 2 1/2 months and had my first bad guest..... no terrible guest! I had alot of issues with dirty dishes and other stuff that I was willing to suck up , but not the smoking rule I have.
I have a very clear No smoking rule in my home. Upon checking in I require guests to read and sign my house rules. I state in my rules that Smoking is not allowed on my property. I am highly sensitve to smoke and also state in my rules that If they smoke I will terminate their reservation and they will have to leave immediately. My guest not only violated this rule but when I asked him to leave he refused. He stated' I can't prove it and it's all about proof in this world". AND He refused to stop smoking. I called Airbnb, was on hold about 1 hour. While on hold the guest came to a main living area where I was and called a friend to come over to help him deal the this lady. (The lady being me). At this point I became a bit anxious and decided to call the police as I was still on hold with Airbnb. After a few minutes an officer called me and when I explained the situation to him. He stated that I had an agreement with airbnb , he is a tenant and I cannot ask him to leave. I did tell him that he was going to have some one else come to my home and he stated he has the right to have guest as a tenant.
When the case manager got on the phone I explained the situation to her and she asked if it was ok if I would let him stay until the next day (It as 2:00am at this point). I just couldn't believe she seemed so empathetic to this man and stated it is 2 am he cannot find another place to stay until tomrrow. What about the fact that I made it clear that I require a guest to immediately vacate if they smoke. This was not a surprise to him.
What about the fact that he just laughted in my face and continued smoking?? What about the fact that he was threatening me?? At the end of the conversation she stated she would ask the guest to cancel the reservation. Once the reservation was canceled he would have to leave my place immediatly. Well he did not leave and continued to smoke. When he left the next day He stated "he had to cancel his reservation because of how inflexible and unstable I was.... no kidding. I am new but I do have 24 reviews all 5 stars and excellent reviews.
When the guest left he threatened me with a law suit and a bad review. So he has basically turned this around by initiating the cancelation as if things were not ok here.
Well, this guest left me a review today. I haven't seen it yet as I have not written his. I am wondering, for now, what should I do and/ or what should I have done differently. This is upseting as It will negatively affect me, and caused me to question if I really want to continue doing this. I have so enjoyed my other guests but this has left me reevaluating if it is worth the risk as I now expect no support or help from Airbnb. I was also shocked by the stance that law enforcement takes on these matters.
Anyways, any recommendations moving forward would be appreciated. I have attempted to contact Airbnb to discuss this matter yesterday and no one has contacted me.
Patricia
