Reviews

[Glenda13]

I understand that a review cannot be published until 14 days after it has been submitted if the other party does not provide a review.  We recently had a very dishonest, manipulative, and hostile man stay at our property. We arrived in the evening at our property to check that the guest had arrived safely with his daughter (he had not responded to several attempts to contact him) we discovered he used the self entry lockbox code to enter the property.  There were two  extra adult female guests with him who were not declared in his booking.  Although he said the two extra adults would not be staying the night, they did indeed stay the night.  We approached the guest about their presence in the morning who said "what did it matter" and we could not prove that they had stayed anyway .  We informed the guest he had been deceptive and dishonest and that we would pursue additional charges with Airbnb and make note of his behaviour in our review of him.

He then became very hostile and, with one of his additional female guests joining in threatened to create reviews against us which would be ‘ten times worse’ than anything we could do to him. He threatened to use Airbnb, and several other social media channels to ruin our reputation as hosts. Upon experiencing this we told the guests to leave immediately.

Within minutes of leaving our property a notification came from Airbnb informing us that the guest had cancelled his one night booking after he had already completed it?  This guest was very technologically savvy and cancelled the booking to try and prevent a review going live.  Our goal was to try and warn other hosts about this guest and his companions travelling throughout NZ as I  strongly suspect this is a repeated exercise.  Question I have are  a) how can you cancel a booking after you have already completed it? b) will our review go live?  I have contacted Airbnb through the "Resolution Centre' but of course that is another process.    Has anyone had a similiar experience and is there some advice that anyone can offer.  

[Marzena4]

For naive Airbnb reps anything is possible, @Glenda13, what is more - not only naive, but also those who side with guests. The forum here is full of such stories. It's unfair that Airbnb refunds such guests, not asking hosts about their version.

You may now flag this user - there is a link below their name. Also file a formal complaint through the Resolution Center to get that money for 3 ppl.

[Glenda13]

Thanks for taking the time to respond and for your advice Marzena.  I still don't understand how Airbnb can cancel a booking after the guest has stayed at a property, has completed their stay and then for their system to process a cancellation?  Seems a little strange to me as this gives guests who have the intent to be dishonest an opportunity to utilize the situation to their advantage.

[Ria16]

How awful for you guys. I’m not that savvy with all the cancellation policies but I understand with a moderate cancellation if a guest decides to leave within that 24 hour period he can cancel and get 50% back. Was he given the whole 100% back do you know @Glenda13.

[Glenda13]

Thanks Ria for taking the time out to respond.  I did receive full payment today for the two people he booked the property for.  I am trying to work with the resolution centre for compensation for the two guests he didn't declare. It is not so much the money I am upset about, from what I can gather from his profile feedback he has done this before and it is becoming a bit of a scam and to date there has been no consequence.  The blackmail over feedback is another one of his traits as he did this with his last host who had a five star rating.  cheers Glenda

[Matthew285]

@Glenda13, I am happy to hear you got paid!

You are correct that it is too bad you were not able to warn other hosts about this person.

But it certainly was not for lack of trying!

[Glenda13]

Thanks Matthew, thats all you can do - attempt to alert others by making them aware,  knowing that they too will be taken advantage of especially if they have a booking from the same guest.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Glenda13 if he canceled it doesn't mean he will get a refund. Anyway, I would contact Airbnb through twitter or facebook and explain my version of the story.

good thing is - he stayed just one night and is gone now 🙂

[Glenda13]

Thanks Branka & Silvia for your time in responding.   Yes......I am pleased that he is gone.  It is just a shame that he will move to his next host/victim, to date he has managed his scam very well.  It would be a great idea to have some flag on these people that make you aware of their history so each host can make the decision if they want someone like him having access to their property especially if they are an instant book and get code access to your property. cheers...Glenda

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Glenda13 years ago I learned in business, you need to have a “poker face”. Never show your cards.

The turning point here seems to be when you dropped the little nugget on them “it’ll be noted in your review”.  

All bets were off at that point. You never tell the opposition what your plans are.

This is why I’m not a fan of charging by the head for a whole house rental.

I can handle six guest and I charge for all six.

It doesn’t matter that one shows up or all six. 

That way, I’m not chasing around greased pigs and worrying about $10 extra. I won’t start an issue over $10.

So now you requesting this $10 has set off a fire storm where this guest is threatening to ruin your business, over $10? Is the extra $10 worth all that? It seems very “school hall monitor” to me where you need a pass to go to the restroom. 

i don’t do threats. God did not create all men equal, Samuel Colt did. You can leave the easy way or the hard way, it’s your choice but you WILL be leaving after you threatened me. 

‘You know it’s hard out here for a Host’

[Glenda13]

 Thanks Rene & Zac for taking the time to respond.  I appreciate your sentiment and where you are coming from.  I suppose I was just so taken back by his reaction after been exposed and the nasty verbal attack ( best form of defense I guess) his attitude of 'so what' what are you going to do about it. He was so smug and threatening. It is not about the money, from what I can gather from his profile feedback he has done this before and it is becoming a bit of a scam and to date there has been no consequence.  The blackmail over feedback is another one of his traits as he did this with his last host who had a five star rating also.  I can see merit in what you are suggesting re a fixed amount for the property but I get a lot of couples staying in the property so to make it affordable for them I have a varied the rate.  If I were to place a fixed rate it would not be so appealing to just a couple.  cheers Glenda