Ignorant and inconsiderate guest asking for refund

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Sally171
Level 2
Jakarta, Indonesia

Ignorant and inconsiderate guest asking for refund

Hi everyone! 

I have recently hosted a nightmare-ish guest who is now asking for a refund. I have been lucky enough so far to have hosted 5 wonderful guests prior to this one and gained consistent 5* reviews. During his stay, he has demonstrated complete lack of consideration and disregard of our house rules, and not to mention lack of basic ethics when living in someone's home. Firstly, we agreed to give him early check in upon request, I had to take half day off from work to personally welcome him. Waited for 2 hrs with no late notifications and he remained uncontactable until he finally checked in late afternoon. The next morning, there is a stench in the living room and we found his used smelly socks lying on the armrest of our leather couch. I politely notified him to keep our common areas at least to be clutter free (as it is written in house rules). This notification I addressed through Whatsapp and also document it through the Air bnb messaging platform. That day, he went for a run and came back and sat on the leather chair and left sweat stains all over the leather couch, leaving it unwiped and musty smell. We have provided a giant pool towel for every guest yet the next day he went for a run and came back to jump into the pool complete with his running clothes AND socks, and walked upstairs to his room without toweling off himself, leaving water mess trail throughout the house. And he didn't even bother notifying me or any house members to clean up after his mess. The room he's staying in is a complete mess, socks and clothes all over the floor etc, which we tolerated because that is his private area eventhough we have mentioned this in our house rules. He was given a key to the gate of the house as well as key to motorbike parking space. One night he rushed off out of the house without locking the gate. On the final eve before check out he damaged and dented thr motorbike parking gate. I only realised this damage after he checked out and immediately addressed this to him, in which he agreed to pay for it, tolerating his insults during this communication. Have sent request for money through Resolution center and it is done and paid for. There are many inconsiderations that he committed but I won't get into too much details here. I gave him a general review of "this guest is better off in a whole house listing or hotels due to his travelling style" and i gave him a constructive feedback privately along with it. Turns out, weeks later he has only read my private feedback and now accusing me of unfair behavior and asking for refund from air bnb, with insults like my place is like a jail, and claimed that I have committed ongoing aggression even after he checked out, which is untrue! Because i just didnt want anything to do with this person anymore from the day he checked out. He also claimed that he had used air bnb for a long time and he only uses different login accounts, hence i assume he is hiding bad reviews from his previous stays. I declined his request for refund... simply because I cannot tolerate his lies and dramatization stemming from his lack of respect and consideration, and his inability to receive feedbacks. Someone suggested to me to just refund him and be done with to avoid bad reviews from him. However, my view is my constant excellent reviews can speak for themselves? What are your suggestions to deal with this refund that's requested? And how to deal with such guests? He constantly ignores when addressed politely and now plays victim. I address concerns about broken house rules so that I dont have to give him a bad review and give him a chance to rectify but it seems like I am still regarded negatively by this guest. 

1 Best Answer
Maria-Lurdes0
Level 10
Union City, NJ

Hi @Sally171  I would call Airbnb right away and give them your side of events and have them make note of it.   I would ignore his request for a refund and if he contacts you directly just direct him to Airbnb's support.  Don't engage.

 

It's ridiculous that he was so obnoxious and only after reading your private comments did he get himself in a knot. 

 

Good luck to you.

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5 Replies 5
Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Sally171

 

What an absolutely obnoxiuous guest, sounds like a real entitled piece of work!

If that had been in my home I would have been on the phone to Airbnb after the second infraction. I have never had to handle a refund issue myself, but in this case where it would be a he said/she said issue I would call them. You probably already have the information, otherwise go to the Hosts discussion room and there at the top is a board note with helpful links for hosts, amongst them one about how to contact Airbnb. It will give you the nos. for the different countries.

My experience with the helpdesk has always been very good, even if a couple of the emplogees seemed to be newbies. Report the guest for his inappropriate messages and his behaviour during his stay.

House rules are there for a reason.

 

 

Thank you Andrea for your suggestion. I finally took your advice and called Air Bnb and they said they have looked at our communications, also noting that his claims are baseless considering he had paid for the damage weeks ago yet claiming for his stay refund now. 

Maria-Lurdes0
Level 10
Union City, NJ

Hi @Sally171  I would call Airbnb right away and give them your side of events and have them make note of it.   I would ignore his request for a refund and if he contacts you directly just direct him to Airbnb's support.  Don't engage.

 

It's ridiculous that he was so obnoxious and only after reading your private comments did he get himself in a knot. 

 

Good luck to you.

Thank you so much for your advice, Maria! I have finally called Airbnb and they have advised the same - do not engage anymore- as they will intervene from here on out. I also asked them about what to do about these 2 used, stinky shirts this guest left behind. After he checked out, I immediately contacted him and offered to send them to wherever he was. But he declined, and from his response, it seems like he left them behind on purpose, confident that he will come back in 2 weeks' time booking our house again. #facepalm 

So I told the call center that I do not want anymore claims from this guest with regards to these shirts he purposely left behind and have no instructions of forwarding address. Call Center said they also don't know what to do about them, but they will make note of this and try to communicate it with the guest. 

one out of every 20 or so guest are coming in looking for a refund. It doesn't matter what you do because they are looking for an angle to get money back.