Guests been stoned in your property and airbnb response

[Liz223]

Last night I had a guest...[Guest] turn up stoned out of his head, wanting entry to my property. He reeked of dope and it was so strong and pungent. I turned him away and logged this with the police as he got into a vehicle and eventually drove away from the house. THis also means he drove from where ever been in charge of that vehicle on our roads and at any point could have had an accident and potentially killed anyone in his path. Now that is a criminal offence to drive a vehicle whilst under the influence of drugs.

I also obviously contacted airbnb help and got what i thought was the correct response on the phone, however Hilda the case manager, was the complete opposite and said because i had not put this in my house rules I can keep the money as they guest hasn't broken the rules.............. I want to share this with the community as to me this is basically saying that all guests in your home could end up sharing with a drug taker........... I will escalate this within airbnb and I will go public with this on other media sites as i dont feel this is right. 

How do you feel about this?

If you dont agree with this raise it with airbnb, as this is sending out a message of drug tolerance and I was never made aware of that before and Ive hosted for many years now. 

This is the conversation I had with Hilda.

 

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**[Private conversation and guest information removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Anonymous]

@Liz223  "d" is the most coherent and reasonable thing you've said in this entire thread; congratulations!

[Liz223]

**[Inappropriate content hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

[Anonymous]

@Liz223  You certainly are quick to accuse people who you don't know of being on drugs, purely out of vindictiveness. This really casts a lot of doubt upon your allegations regarding the guest that you turned away. For all we know, your tale about the guest having (shock, horror) smoked cannabis may have been a fabrication to justify some other form of discrimination.

@Susan17 is kind and generous enough to refrain to report you for this, but that doesn't mean all of us are. In my opinion it's quite fair to make Airbnb aware of the fact that one of its hosts is making baseless accusations that have real consequences. We can't know whether this will result in you being de-listed, but if that were their ultimate decision it would be more than justified by your comments in this thread. 

[Mark116]

I'm sure it is more wrong advice given by airbnb that a host has to state that they don't allow illegal behavior, because the behavior is already against the law, but then airbnb never won any points for common sense.

I'm a little surprised at how much push back this host is getting.  If weed is still illegal in the UK, then it is what it is, the same goes for the fact that if you are going to a non smoking place reeking of whatever kind of smoke..cigarettes, weed, or vape it is both dumb, because you advertise you are doing something not allowed, and rude.  We had a similarly bad experience where guests showed up in a haze of vape smoke when we greeted them, which started the visit off on a bad note, as we then felt compelled to remind them that there is no smoking in the house, and the trip was fully down hill from there.  

Not everyone is super comfortable with marijuana, and in places where it remains illegal, this is a reasonable attitude, even if it is not one I personally agree with.

[Anonymous]

Homosexuality is still illegal in 72 countries, including some in which a few contributors to these forums live and host.

Imagine for a moment that two women or two men arrive to check in at the Airbnb they've reserved, and the host takes a note of their appearance and suspects that they might be a gay couple. Do you feel that the existence of the anti-gay law would make it ethically appropriate for the host to deny them entry to the property, keep their money, and report them to the police?

[Susan17]

"In what for some is a controversial move and for others simple logic, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has given officers the go ahead to stop arrestin cannabis users. Instead of immediate prosecution, police will advise users to seek treatment – but there is no pressure on them to do so.

The NPCC’s spokesperson on drugs, Jason Harwin, said in a statement: “There is strong evidence to suggest that recommending minor offenders for early intervention treatment instead of pursuing convictions can prevent re-offending.”

As reported by the Times, Harwin announced that this new policy aims to provide “the best outcome” for both cannabis users and the justice system. Research has found that police waste one million hours each year attempting to enforce the ban on weed, so this could be a smart move that both saves funds and stops ruining lives over small-time drug charges.

This decision follows the chief constable of the West Midlands force, Dave Thompson, admitting last week that his officers avoid giving official warnings to young people using cannabis as it would potentially be “disastrous for their life chances”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-going-soft-on-cannabis-users-pzb3m5q7h

[Sarah977]

@Susan17  The police in Canada by and large turned a blind eye to recreational marijuana use long before it became legalized. Their experience told them that pot heads don't cause trouble and aren't a danger to society, that it was a waste of their time to have to show up to testify about finding Jimmy quietly toking up on the steps of his apartment building, only to have Jimmy get a slap on the wrist because even the judges don't find it to be a criminal act worth using up judicial time and resources on. Much more on point to use their time to deal with drunks who cause deaths by driving under the influence, can often get violent, causing property damage and physical assault, as well as alcohol being a very common factor in domestic abuse.

[Olivier291]

@Liz223 , you did what you thought was appropriate and nobody could tell you were wrong!

And I would have done the same regarding french laws:

1- If I would let check-in a stoned guest who would certainly bring his/her illegal products inside the listing, I could have the house registered by police and guess who will be co-sued for drug possession... "Not in my house"

2- if seeing a stoned (or drunk) people about to drive without doing anything (keeping the keys, calling the police), guess who could be sued in case the stoned (drunk) injured somebody else... "safer place for somebody under the effect of any illegal product or drunk driving is police drunk tank or hospital"

Since per ToS guests are supposed to respect local laws there is no need to specify that illegal behaviours are not allowed in the listing.

What Airbnb would decide after doesn't matter except the fact guest not allowed to check-in could review her/his non stay per Airbnb review rules.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I really don't care if my guests smoke, what they smoke, do they drink ... as long as they don't disturb anyone, don't leave a mess or do some damage to my apartment or the building.

[Trevor243]

@Liz223 Personally, I wouldn't someone under the influence of drugs on our holiday homes and I totally respect your wish not to want them in your home. I think you did the right thing for you. Don't be afraid to do that again if you need to.

As for the money, I would say that sometimes it's best to cut your losses. We all get that from time to time - and while it's often unfair, I don't want to dwell on that, I want to focus on the next guests and making money - we can make more money from future guests than we lose from that one undesirable / problem guest.

AirBnB do allow us to set our own Additional Rules so we can set something in there. However, there should be a blanket rule from all OTAs that all guests must be respectful and that "common decency and good manners" should be a given - and therefore, unlawful / disrespectful behaviour in or out of the property is sufficient grounds to refuse access to a property. At the end of the day, these are our properties and our wishes should be respected.

[Quincy]

Hello everyone,

I'm just going to step in here as I think that this conversation brings no benefit to the Community Center.

The Community Center is a place where you can meet, share experiences, and support one another. It is important that we all remember what the purpose of the Community Center is as we all want to get along here.

Personally, I feel that this conversation has gotten off track, therefore, I have decided to close this topic.

Thanks,

Quincy