New host. Guest trying to take advantage of me?

[Anh48]

Hi everyone, 

I just need advice on how to handle this guest.

My first guest checked in on Monday. Prior to confirming the booking she had inquired about 1-2months rental  which I told her I wasnt interested. At check in, she again inquired about long term rental, which I told her again my reasons for not doing long term. She didn’t seem too happy and made a comment... “so, I have to find another place after this. Ok..” I found this to be odd, as I did make it clear in the beginning I wasn’t interested in long term. 

From the time she’s checked in until now, she’d made multiple complaints about different things, which I tried to accommodate. Until last night, she claimed that my blankets and sheets had odor and wanted new ones. After I accommodated those, she then said it wasn’t the blanket/sheets but it was the bed that had odor and said she’ll be sleeping on the couch. My house was newly remodeled, I bought a lot of brand new items specifically for Airbnb guests and made sure everything was clean since this is my first listing. If it smelled as bad as she claimed, why did it take her 3 days to actually notice the odor..?

Long story short, I offered to refund the difference if she wanted to check out early to find a better place. She declined my offer and wanted to stay. She then complained that I should’ve been honest about not taking long term rental, etc... and it became clear to me that she’s attempting to make things as difficult for me as possible because she didn’t get what she hoped for (extension of the rental). During our exchanged conversation, she’d also hinted that she’d leave a bad review. 

Please advice on how I should deal with this guest. At this point, I can careless about her review. I’m just concerned that her bitterness might cause her to treat my place poorly. 

Thank you all, and sorry for this long message. 

[Ana1136]

@Anh48 I am sorry you had to deal with such bad guest from the beginning, most guests are good people, don't let thia discourage you. I personally wouldn't allow her to book from the beginning. You knew that she wanted to stay long term, what would be the point of her short term booking except convincing you to extend her reservation. With time you will get better at distinguishing the good from the bad guests. As to her review, it will be bad but you can respond publicly keeping it polite, short and clear. That response is for your future guests. Also please write an honest review on her. Is your communication on the Airbnb platform? If not, always keep it there just in case you need evidence for something in the future. If she breaks your house rules you can call Airbnb and have them cancel the remaining of her reservation. 

[Anonymous]

@Anh48  I agree with @Ana1136 .  I can also add, when you have a guest who is clearly unhappy with everything and threatening to sleep on furniture that wasn't made for sleeping, you do not have to allow her to stay. As long as you're willing to part with the money for the unused nights, you have the right to terminate the booking at any time. 

I recommend summarizing all that's transpired with the guest in your correspondence on Airbnb messenger, then calling Airbnb to ask that they cancel the remainder of the booking without penalty to either party. Then, send your guest on her merry way before she has a chance to sabotage your property, and block her from contacting you further.

[Anh48]

Thank you for your response. Since I don’t go inside the property, I can’t tell if she’s violating any of the house rules... so technically I don’t have a reason right now to kick her out. 

I’ve sent Airbnb a message last night when all this happened. I’m waiting for their response. 

If Airbnb terminates the reservation now, does she need to leave immediately? I feel really bad to kick someone out without advanced notice like this... but then, if she’s informed of the termination and I allow her to “take her time,” she may sabotage the place out of anger... sighhh this is tough.

[Alice595]

@Anh48  I could feel your pain because I had the same thing happened to me as well. A guest asked me to rent to him for long-term stay outside of Airbnb 3 days after his check in. I refused him. Then he started to find pick on me in various ways. I had to call Airbnb and asked Airbnb to terminate him. And I refunded the rest of the days he did not stay. He booked three weeks but stayed for 10 days.

I am not sure how long she booked your place. If it is less than a week, you can just let it be. If there are still more than a week, I would suggest that you call Airbnb and try to get her out as soon as possible.

After you contact Airbnb, Airbnb will talk to your guest and try to relocate her to a different listing. The only issue is when Airbnb terminates her, she could still stay. And there is no way to get her out unless she is willing to. If she does not want to get out after Airbnb terminates her, you may try to call police to help.

Definitely you will get a retaliatory review if she writes one. Sorry for your bad start. Lesson learnt. Be very careful before you accept a guest's request.

[Sarah978]

Document everything. Take pics of everything once you gain access again in case she tries to make false claims. I would even walk thru and make a video and verbally document everything like you do when you do an insurance claim just to cover yourself. She sounds like someone who is looking to cause problems. I would get her out w ABB’s assistance as soon as possible. Don’t worry about her review; you get to respond to that. If she’s inappropriate in her review of you or breaks ABB’s policies in any way, I would call ABB, ask to speak to a case manager and ask that the review be removed bc it violates policy. Also, if she makes any false claims in it, ask for the photo documentation. Both hosts and guests are required to take pics to document any claims. If she doesn’t have pics of it, it didn’t happen. I’m so sorry you are going thru this, and I wish you the best of luck! 

[Anh48]

So I decided to terminate the reservation early. Airbnb said they sent her alteration to the reservation and she has to leave today, but she’s not accepting it. It’s getting late and it is still not resolved. What to do now?

[Anonymous]

@Anh48  An "Alteration Request" only goes into effect in terms of refund when the recipient accepts it; however, if you have ordered the guest to leave the property, she has to leave. As a short-term stay she has not acquired the right of tenancy and is not entitled to a notice period. 

Presumably by now, she has already departed, but if not you can enter the property to eject her personally (best to bring someone else along if it comes down to this).

[Lisa723]

@Anh48your post is not clear. Did Airbnb terminate her reservation or propose an alteration for her to accept or decline? If the latter call back and insist on the former. If she stays after that she is trespassing and you can call the police if necessary.