Has anyone ever kicked out a guest?

[Temi1]

I have someone staying at my mother's apartment and she is a pain in the neck and has only been there for one night.

From the minute she made the request, I suspected she would be problematic as I work in mental health and recognised her overly anxiety ridden questions and constant emails as a sign of something amiss. I tried tto discourage her from booking by increasing the price quite a bit and she still wanted to stay. So I told myself I couldn't justify turning down that income on the basis of 'anxiety ridden questions'

Anyway, her arrival was all over the place; she missed her flight then she changed her arrival times several times and I had to change plans to meet her at the apartment. 

She would barely let me leave after showing her in because she had some many nitpicking questions about everything, even though I have extensive information on most things in the apartment.  Five minutes after I left she texted me to say something wasn't working, then after another five minutes to tell me that she had sorted it. Then over the night I got several other texts from her about several other issues. Then she told me off for not having detailed intructions about how to use the hob (cooker) even though a baby could use it and no other guests have ever complained.

My issue is this: I recognise this behaviour as a particular personality disorder and I know that for the next two weeks that she is staying, she is going to make my life hell. I worry about the state of the house because something tells me that she may push boundaries that will have the management company complaining. Obviously I am not going to do anything unless she does cause problems, but I wonder, if she sends me 10 messages a day, complains about everything and is stressful, is it even an option to suggest she find somewhere else?

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

I hate to say it but.....you created the situation...gut feeling, and in your case professional knowledge should have made you say no at any price!

"From the minute she made the request, I suspected she would be problematic as I work in mental health and recognised her overly anxiety ridden questions and constant emails as a sign of something amiss."

You can contact AirBnB and ask them to find her somewhere else to stay.

[David126]

I am sure people have, I agree you had the warning, now quite who would wish to take her on....

[Eloise0]

Dear Temi,

While I never have had to kick someone out I understand completely your own anxiety at having to deal with a border line personality disorder as they can be the most problematic  without appearing to be anything other than pleasant and harmless.  I can only speak for myself when I say that I would make sure that I only communicated through the airbnb platform, never break any rules, my own or airbnb's, while letting airbnb know the circumstances.  Get airbnb involved ASAP and see if you can get her relocated and save your own sanity.  You already know that the situation is just going to keep escalating, so the sooner the better.  I would gracefully ask her to leave...........She is not suited for this kind of lodging.  She already knows that she is the problem and is probably looking forward to the ensuing predicament in which she will be the center and focus of attention.  I always try to find a way to turn the table on the dynamic by taking away the possibility of giving them any grounds to argue over.  Deflect whatever blame there is onto something that can't be changed.  I had a Guest who started right away complaining about everything all of which I had no control over.  When she complained that after setting paper towels on fire the smoke detector went off and the "noise was so loud it hurt my ears" to which I said Oh! good it works!  For my sanity I keep a journal, have been for about 40 years and now I get a lot of pleasure writing about my airbnb experiences both good and bad.  This woman was the creative stimulus for the chapter "Vegan Eats Pound of Bacon."

I totally commiserate with you as this kind of Guest is my own personal nightmare and it is so hard to explain to other people just how aggravating, manipulative, demanding and emotionally destructive they can be.  Save yourself the grief and get rid of her as soon as possible and don't let her bully or threaten you with anything, least of all a bad review as the more honest Hosts can be in their reviews the more likely Guests like her will get the message.

I wish there was something I could help you with.  Good luck.

Eloise at Happy Trails

[Eloise0]

Don't beat yourself up for accepting this reservation, regardless about how you felt.  

I hope everything works out.

Eloise at Happy Trails

[Jen27]

I agree with "don't blame yourself." My first booking felt rude, but I did not know my listing would be wildly popular, and this person was attending an event at my church, so after many wonderful guests, and really needing the money, "how bad could it be."

Not great.

Just taking it as a lesson moving forward, as well as life lesson about trusting my gut no matter how hungry I am (which interferes with trusting one's gut, I find.). Blaming yourself helps nothing.

I feel you.

[Betty-B--M-0]

@Jen27  "no matter how hungry I am (which interferes with trusting one's gut, I find.)" 

ROFL!!!

You're all heart and made my night. 🙂 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

While I know you are a pro, you do not need to be sucked into her impending drama.   While you may feel the need to respond to her every request, you do not need to do so and can tell her right now.   Set some boundaries.  Only respond to the truely important things which is not how every light works.  

Wish you much luck and peace during her stay.  

[Carl12]

I also trust more in my gut feeling now than I did before but nothing you say sounds that extraordinary at all. Perhaps you are a bit picky?

It is difficult thought turning down potential income. I have been quite happy and no big harm being done but today I recieved 7 drunk brits at 2 pm without any previous reviews and now I am thinking I should maybe require at least 1 good review from each guests since even though you recieve 50 good guests, 1 bad one could really create problems.

[Jeffrey86]

Yes, I have.  We took the guest in for a longterm stay with no reviews, which was a huge mistake.  My gut also told me immediately it was a bad fit, but my partner thought she was fine.  After two and a half weeks, I asked her to leave.  The guest was making life impossible for us and for the other couple staying with us; we were all nervous wrecks.  AirBnb dealt as an intermediary and explained to her why we could no longer have her as a guest, sparing us that unpleasantness.  I refunded the remaining days that she would not be with us (that also was optional, according to AirBnb).  The customer service folks at AirBnB dealt with her and rehoused her.  It was not something you want to do often, but also not as traumatic as you would think.

[Alexander26]

I'm a super host also with 10 Airbnb's and I have to admit I cannot express how incompetent the customer service is at Airbnb.  We have had situations where guests are smoking marihuana in the listing and left the apartment smelling terrible and Airbnb wouldn't do anything about kicking the guest off the platform.  We have photo evidence of all the residue they left and Airbnb provided a refund of $200. 

But the guest was allowed to continue renting on Airbnb and also to even comment on their stay.  I'm sorry but this is just a complete slap in the face to us Super Hosts.  To not only allow people like this to continue renting on the platform but also to even comment on their stay.  We could have called the police and had them arrested.  The way in which Airbnb defends the guest at all costs to the Host is just utterly outrageous.