Guests taking advantage/imposing

[Magdalene11]

Hi

My partner and I live in Hobart, Tasmania and we  have been hosting (on and off)  for a few years now.

Our experiences have been rather pleasant until recently when the person in question put a very negative private feedback after her two-week stay at our house.  Even though her feedback was private, they hurt because they are not true.

Both of us bent backwards to make her stay comfortable but in the end, I had enough as she was so imposing and manipulative with her expectations.  She felt we had to cater to all her needs, including borrowing personal items from us and the last straw was when she ate our bread and hardly left any for our lunch.  She did buy a new loaf "to share" the next day, but that's not the point - she never asked us for permission and presumed that it was ok to help herself to our bread.

She claimed that I have a lot of Do's and Dont's - but they are just our general house rules eg please don't put crystal glasses in the dishwasher - and on another occasion after she borrowed a pair of nail clippers from us (which I thought was ridiculous due to obvious hygiene issue but unfortunately my partner Greg agreed to lend them to her) - she left them on the dining table after her use.  Of course, I had to say to her - please do not put them dirty clippers there - and she was not happy!  She retorted that she has no disease and attempted to clean them with alcohol wipes.

Then, to top it off, she commented that our room was dark, cold and mildewy.  There is a big window in her room - all she has to do was to open the blinds if she needed more light, the house has central heating - or put the electric blanket on if it's a cold night  (I also gave her two extra woollen blankets, as well as lending her my dressing gown to make her comfortable) - but my kindness was not appreciated.  All she did was to borrow this and that throughout her stay with us.  The list is endless.

She also insisted on using our washing machine which is located in between our bedroom and bathroom - so when I pointed that we do not provide laundry facility to our guests - she retorted "I don't see why not".  I felt I was living in her house rather than the oppositre.

To put it bluntly, she was not a nice person even though she was always smiling and saying "thank you's" but her imposing nature and expectations from a host were way too much.  Hence, when I read her private comments, I was very upset.

What should I do with a guest like that in future?  Do I have a cause to ask that guest to leave before the expiry of their booking?

Any advice will be much appreciated.  Thank you.

[Andy481]

Good morning

i have just read your article, although I came here to find out about something else,  it made me realise how difficult it is to strike a balance between a guests expectations and your service.

Its a shame Airbnb haven’t responded to the post I would be interested to hear their views, we all do this as an extra to our lives not a business.  

I hope your review for her said how demanding she was.  It makes me realise I should be very careful when I review a guest as it’s other hosts that are going to be affected. 

[Magdalene11]

Well, interestingly, this particular guest has got only one review since 2014 and so it made me wonder now.

That review said she was a great person but nothing about whether she was a good and respectful guest???

Hence, I could not bring myself to give her a review - so far.

I am also interested to hear from AIRBNB Admin on this matter as I have also reported ‘its incorrect information’ from the link beneath her feedback.

[Ava30]

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@Andy481 wrote:

Its a shame Airbnb haven’t responded to the post I would be interested to hear their views, we all do this as an extra to our lives not a business.  

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“AirBnB “ doesn’t respond to posts. This is a community center forum set up for hosts and guests to get help from each other and from a few moderators.  If one wants a response about a concern or question from customer service, they have to contact customer service. Information from this forum is funneled to people that make future decisions concerning Airbnb policies, but I’m not exactly sure what that process is to get it to them. 

[Ava30]

Hi @Magdalene11 ,   It’s always unfortunate when we get a guest that makes us uncomfortable in our own home. I feel bad that you had to go through that. As far as your question,  Do you have cause to ask the guest to leave before their booking is over? I suppose you could’ve gone with “The guest is making me very uncomfortable in my home, they are making demands that I cannot provide and I cannot seem to make them happy”. You would have to understand that you would forfeit any monies for any nights after that point. It would probably also be a good chance of the guest would attempt to get a refund for any time at already been there for the inconvenience of you asking them to leave in the middle of their reservation.   And your chance of a good review would, of course, be down the drain. For me, if I were that uncomfortable that I asked them to leave I really wouldn’t care. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0 · Accepted solution]

@Magdalene11 

If you want to make sure other hosts are warned before hosting that guest...... so that other fellow hosts are not blindsided like you were, you should leave an honest and factual review based on your experience. So please do 🙂 before time runs out. 

About the laundry...... I'd assume anyone staying 2 weeks would have to do laundry somehow, somewhere. If you are firm about not allowing guests to do laundry maybe it's best if you don't accept stays longer than 1 week? or proactively give info about the nearest laundromat before they ask to use your washer/dryer. 

For a review, how about something like this? - GUEST stayed for 2 weeks (which is longer than our average guest). We were surprised and disappointed when the guest complained about our common sense rules & requests which we have to manage expectations of both guest and host. She was mostly polite but frequently made us uncomfortable in our own home by challenging our rules and not respecting our personal items. Based on my experience, I would not recommend her to other hosts with a shared home listing. 

[Magdalene11]

Thanks for all the constructive advice.  Really appreciate them.

Hopefully, that's the one and only bad experience I will ever get and moving forward - I have definitely included "laundry facility not available but there is a Laundromat down the road from us".

However, I do make exceptions in allowing our guests to do their laundry when I am at home and when they are staying over a week.

Now, this will make you laugh - I just remembered, that particular guest also asked if we would allow her to use our car because "she is a good driver".

Good luck all and happy hosting.

Cheers.

[Charles224]

Hi Magdelene, 

"I'm an excellent driver" by Dustin Hoffman (in Rainman) just came to mind. Too funny.

With regards to a comment, be nice and vague so hosts can read between the lines, and tick the 'thumbs down' button as it (apparently) means that guests can't instant-book and a careful host can therefore read comments. 

Hope the fires haven't caused too much havoc.

Cheers

Charles

[Magdalene11]

Hi Charles

Sadly, the recent fires have caused a fair bit of damage to some beautiful nature walks, etc.

Now looking back about the bad experience with that particular guest, I guess we should have been more firm and not appease her unreasonable expectations from us.

Cheers

[Yulianna0]

@Magdalene11, I’m pretty sure that the guest has to realize that he or she is a guest, not the master of the house. We make an offer, they accept it. You can provide extras if you feel like but guest has no right to claim it! And it is absolutely unacceptable when strangers start using your personal items. For me it is undiscussable reason to shorten their stay. Guest with high demands for sure will give you bad review. So save your nerves and let such guest enjoy the hotel! 

[Magdalene11]

Hi Yulianna

You would think the guest have read and agreed to the host’s ( our) rules before booking.

Absolutely,  if only all  guests realise the difference between AirBnB stay and hotel  stay and then they can base their expectations on the amount of money they have paid for the room/ amenities.

Cheers.

[Yulianna0]

@Magdalene11, I know that the majority are not capable to read:) even the title:) So, lets be primary school teachers and explain the basics:) If someone feels offended, shame on them! 

[Alice491]

I would like Airbnb to start to re-education guests on protocols in staying in other people's homes. Like anything as time wears on, the guests' manners and expectations start to deteriorate. I do not approve of you not allowing us to see the guest's photo. I have noticed lately the last 3 guests choose instant book and don't answer the guest requirement questions. They basically want to book your HOME as if it's a hotel. They behave as if you have no right to ask who and why they are coming into your home. They are also not reading the house rules which makes for a very uncomfortable stay for the host or bad reviews just because someone has not read details of the listing. I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with using this platform as it is feeling more unsafe and far less control of your own home. Please re-education guests we are not hotels, we are homes, we are not places to freely walk in and out of as you please and without introducing yourself.

[Elizabeth1390]

Alice, I could not agree more! I'm pretty easy going, but more and more guests act like I am simply a maid in THEIR hotel. This is MY home and I generally love hosting, but I let them do one load of laundry and then they sneak and do more laundry late at night. I find out because they do not even clean the lint trap. They "reorganize" my refrigerator to fit their leftovers because the refrigerators in their rooms are too full. They assume a lot. I offer a hot breakfast every morning except Sundays and I recently hosted a family where the mom would roll her eyes when I asked what time she wanted breakfast. She would sigh and say very wearily that she supposed they could have breakfast at 8:30. I offered a few food choices and then served what she asked for on time - only to be told they changed their mind and needed to borrow bowls to make oatmeal. Listen, lady, I DO NOT have to make you breakfast. Go somewhere else. Get up whenever you want. You do you, but stop treating me so disrespectfully. The most recent guests never paid for their extra people and lost or took a very nice beach towel. When I inquired about the whereabouts of the towel, they threatened to leave a bad review if I charged them. Most of my guests are great, but the few who are not are just awful. 

[Ingridjee0]

I have a guest now that besides demanding is mental! 
strange habits too. He uses 1 roll of kitchen towels a day and

asked me for more towels if not towels 4 or 5 dish towels a day. Asks for swabs, cotton balls, aspirin, bandaids, ( mind that I told him a 100 times where things are like the first aid kit), more  washcloths ( who uses more than 4 a week?)

font let the maid clean his room. Put a camera there! 

I offer laundry in a weekly basis in a specific day. He has done three in different days and asking for more  I said no because I i work in my shed ( where my laundry is) and he says it is in the contract - which is not! Besides that he sings or grunts and Moans or sings obscenities or cries  in the shower so loud for the whole neighborhood to hear. 
he is nice when he wants something- it is  like he has 3 personalities or something  besides pot and pills. .Nightmare! 
oh and he locks my whole house, I work in the backyard so the back door has to be open but I  could not get in more than once! I went to the market and he bolted all the doors from inside!  It made me suspicious !