Terrible Experience As a Host.

[Becky99]

Has anyone had a terrible experience with extremely high maintenance guests, and had to pull through till the end? It was the worst week I have had. We have a lovely Family home and open it up to air b n b , we get great feedback and reviews and I put a lot of time and care in to the home we have owned for 15 years. We recently hosted a family with a very difficult lady, that after reading the review seems she has a lot of personal issues that seemed to have been taken out on me 100% how do you handle those, air b n b was not a great help, and they had made the decision to reinburs her 50% of her last 2 nights. After i had told her if she really didn’t like it to leave... the was done through and air b n b customer service rep, he called me back to say no she is staying. I am so unhappy about the whole situation from the moment she moved in. It cost us more than it was worth, a lot of stress and time. 

Air b n b has removed our “family” tag due to this review ... all the hard work for some one so difficult to ruin it all. 

[Sandra126]

After reading the review it sounds like the pool was the issue, if the pool had been useable the rest of minor things would have not been a problem. So are you saying the pool was fine all along? It seems to have been fine in March from the reviews, but another in April says the pool and jacuzzi are ''promising''. If the pool wasn't fine (and it is the main feature of your listing) I am not surprised at the refund. 50% of the last two nights actually seem generous towards you as they were there for a week. This, of course, assumed the pool couldn't be used.

Some people are difficult, and as hosts we come across a broad range.

[Becky99]

Yes I think once she started complaining it just kept on coming with other things, the pool was good for her arriving everything was fine, on day 3 she tells me it’s to cold, it was set as normal pool temps so I turned it up to 80 as I didn’t not want her to have another reason to complain. Due to me turning up the temp so fast for her it kills the chlorine and turns foggy and slightly green. As soon as I saw this I made sure a pool guy was called out to sort this issue he did that same day. In the evening so that it would not effect them swimming in it. The day after he wanted to come check in pool and the chemical balance and to vacuum it but we had a terrible storm / small tornado and this was not able to be done nor would they been able to swim in it anyway. He did come as soon as it stopped and they were able to use the pool. The other comments I think just came from anger, they really got to me the whole week, I just had a guest leave and comented on how lovely the home was. It really puts you down. I am a people pleaser and this was a difficult one. 

[Linda108]

@Becky99    Are you referring to the long negative review that complained about the lack of pool access due to some mechanical problems?  Or, has the person you are referencing not reviewed as yet?

[Becky99]

Yes that extremely long review.. about all the issues.. this was the hardest guest I have ever dealt with. She had so many complaints, I addressed them all within the hour the then created another issue for her to complain about it was like a tumbling effect!  I then began to give up as everything I Had done was not acceptable or solving any issue. I even called her to speak to make sure I was able to get everything to make sure she enjoys the rest of the stay and she gets all offensive and angry then cries, I think maybe her personal life was not great, it was a difficult week.  It was like adding fuel to the fire. It was very difficult. I could not reason with this guest.

[Sarah977]

@Becky99   I'm sorry you had such an irritating guest. But " It cost us more than it was worth, a lot of stress and time."  So you sort of answered your own post. You didn't have to  put up with this. You could have asked her to leave after the first day, and refunded the rest of her nights.

If a guest is making you miserable, you have a choice to either just let it roll off you, or sit them down and tell them that it seems they aren't happy at your place and if they are determined to be miserable and complain, you want them to leave. Not suggest that they cancel, or get Airbnb to ask them if they want to cancel. It's your home and hoting shouldn't be an exercise in gritting your teeth, IMO.

[Becky99]

I know this is where I was disappointed with air b n b and their support. I did tell her this, it came to the point to where I had asked them to leave as if you are really unhappy with the home why would you want to stay there anyway? But she wanted to stay, and on the last day of leaving wanted partial refund. I think this was our cheapest guest at $79 per night , 4 adults 1 child and 2 dogs. 

[Becky99]

I have learnt for sure, she did not have any reviews so this is something I am going to pay more attention to in future bookings. You are right we don’t need to deal with.

[Sarah977]

@Becky99  When it gets to that point, whether the guest wants to stay or not is immaterial. Their behavior is objectionable and what they want should take a back seat to what you want. That's how I see it, anyway.

[Becky99]

You are so right I need to toughen up! I should have nipped it in the bud then as soon as it began. I done it to myself and let it go on and on.

Thanks Sarah 

[Sarah977]

@Becky99  It's easy to give advice to others, harder to do what needs to be done when it's right in your face. And we all do really want to be nice 🙂