Horrible Guest left 1 star review

Francis1793
Level 2
New York, United States

Horrible Guest left 1 star review

Had an experience with the worst guest ever.  The guest booked our place for her teenage son and friends(3) and it turned to our worst host experience so far.  They broke our NO SMOKING POLICY 1 hour into the booking(smoking marijuana).  We gave them a warning and advised them that the booking will be cancelled if it happened again.  We woke up to smelled a strong marijuana odor at 2 am, so we told them that we will cancel the booking and they must vacate the premises by 11 am. Didn’t want them to leave at that moment because it was so late in the night.

 

They left around around 5 am from the look of our cameras. (There was about 10 ppl going back and forth to the apartment all night).  They left our place deplorable conditions with drug residues and food all over the carpets, floors, beds, dining tables, all the rooms, bathrooms and even the closet.  The place smelled so bad.  They left marijuana, codeine syrup and drug paraphernalia all over the place. I contacted the guest about $50 fee and she refused to pay since the booking was cancelled. 

They now left us a 1 star rating(with message of no ac) messing up super host status rating. I have reached out to Airbnb multiple times and yet to receive a response about the cleaning fee and rating.  We find their rating as a personal vendetta against us for telling them to leave.

 

What steps can we take to prevent future headaches like this? How do you screen your guest to weed out the bad guests especially those with no rating at all? Any effective way to get rid of strong marijuana odor from our home?    Thank you in advance.

6 Replies 6
Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Francis1793 Right off the hop, there's a major problem with this reservation: guests are not allowed to book on someone else's behalf, and you shouldn't accept these bookings. Guests need to be at least 18 years old to book: you don't specify how old they were, but I assume under 18. In future, I would make sure you're not accepting these bookings that directly go against Airbnb's rules.

 

I would call Airbnb and ask them to remove the review. Tell them that it breaks the rules because the person who reviewed did not stay in your home. Hopefully there is communication over your Airbnb messenger that reflects this to back you up. Hopefully they will remove it for you.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

What a horrible experience, but what made you accept a third party booking against Airbnb's T&C  for someone's teenage son and friends - did you not see that a high risk booking that shouldn't be touched with a barge pole? @Francis1793 

 

I am not sure what $50 fee you are talking about but why aren't you claiming on Airbnb guarantee for the full cost of any damage. Why is it relevant that the booking was cancelled? I do hope you left an honest review for this guest to help warn other hosts.

 

The obvious steps to take going forward is not to accept third party bookings and to vet your guests about their reasons for travel and the make up of their party. You can also mark your listing so you only accept guests with previous reviews and turn off IB so you vet guests individually.

 

I agree with @Alexandra316  ask airbnb to remove the review as it was a third party booking. 

Francis1793
Level 2
New York, United States

Thank you so much for your response @Helen3 and @Alexandra316.   In hindsight I shouldn’t have accepted it that booking.   I honestly thought the person who booked it would be there as well.  All of our communication is definitely on Airbnb messenger.  My multiple warnings and everything is document.  I also took pictures sent everything to Airbnb.  My concern is also Airbnb slow response in addressing my concerns with the guest.  

@Francis1793  Its the airbnb catch 22 that you've just been victimized by.  When a host asserts their rights and calls guests out on bad behavior, the guest is allowed to leave a revenge review.  You can keep trying w/airbnb and maybe you will get a good CS person who will remove the review, or not.

 

I've been saying for a long time that when such an issue occurs that guests should not be able to leave a star review that can tank a hosts hard won number rating.  Let both parties leave their side of any dispute in the written review but no stars that can have a much more adverse effect on the host.  I'm sorry this happened to you.

@Francis1793  The entire content of the review is "No ac."  If your listing doesn't offer air conditioning, you should be able to get the review (and rating) removed because it does not meet any imaginable standard for relevancy.

 

Hopefully you never find yourself in this situation again in the future, but you can prevent there are a few more things you can do to prevent it. Saying "only registered guests can sleepover" doesn't leave you much room to break up a party;  in fact, your listing all but screams PARTY HOUSE.  I'd suggest ditching the text describing the home as "great for gathering with your friends" and amending your rule to "no unregistered guests may enter the property at any time" by default. You're still free to make an exception for a guest who has earned your trust.

 

You can also reduce the odds of having another incident like this by leaving off Instant Book and asking follow-up questions when you get a request. And as long as you're not offering self-check-in, you can require that the person who booked present their ID in order to gain access to the property. A group of unaccompanied minors should have never been able to enter the building in the first place.

@Francis1793  

 

@Anonymous  hit the nail on the head re the review. AC is not on your list of amenities. The review is therefore not relevant. This is all aside from the fact that this person violated TOS with this booking. Were these guests underage as well? You may need to be persistent and keep contacting Airbnb every day until you get someone who will side with you (as they should in this case, but it's always a toss up with ABB CS).

 

You're on the right track with PREVENTION as when it comes to Airbnb, that is indeed the best medicine. You've gotten some good tips here already.