UNRULY , NOISY, DRUNKEN, DECEITFUL GUEST

[Carol375]

Hi, this is Carol here, a Superhost for three years now having five pperties which I rent out through Airbnb, three in the same tenement block.

I would appreciate a response to my concern.  

A guest booked a newly refurbished apartment for himself and a colleague who are working on a two week rota, one has stayed for four nights and the other now for this his third night.  

As they realised there  was a sofa bed in the property they asked if their family could visit occasionally,  so as they were going to be booking until May I agreed and said that I would give them linen etc for the amity to use when they visited..........leaving it in a cupboard ready for the family when required.

We decided to stay in the apartment below the guests on the first night of the second guest’s stay and realised that although there was supposedly only one guest staying we heard  loud conversation followed by the sound of the sofa bed being lowered, to cut a long story short...................this other person has now stayed for two nights,  without permission so I contacted the first guest, as it was he who instigated the booking,  to find out what was happening.  He found out from the second guest that, yes, he had a friend staying in the flat with him and was , when I don’t know,  going to ask me if his friend could stay when he was staying.   Now the other one thinks  that this might be a good idea and would perhaps do the same!  I did advise hem that there would be an additional charge for the extra guest.  

Tonight this second guest, we are staying downstairs again thankfully,  arrived back in a drunken state at 2.30am to be followed by his friend, both having great difficulty aiming the stairwell and making a terrible noise, thankfully it is us downstairs but i have other two groups of guests in the block who no doubt heard the noise !

In short,  how do I cancel the remainder of this and their nex booking?  I don’t want to approach them and say they are not allowed to stay any more, by the way the had no reviews so i am unsure how their profile was judged!   With them in the middle apartment of three I cannot have this type of behaviour affecting the stays of my other guests so ........................how do I cancel their booking and get them to move their belongings in an amicable way?  

Please advise.....................  thanking anyone for a response of how to dea wit this situation. 

Regards

Carol

[Donna240]

You might tell them that there have been noise issues disturbing others in the building; forcing you to reconsider trying to accommodate them and their additional guests. You might add that you are willing to work with them by returning to the original terms of the booking, rather than terminating the booking. If you have house rules about noise that they are breaking, do yourself a favor and remind them. If house rules are clearly stated in your description, you could reasonably expect that their booking indicated their implicit agreement to abide by the house rules.  Good Luck.

[Helen3]

Hello @Carol375

You are a much more experienced host than I with multiple listings, but I can't agree with @Donna240

The second guest had someone (I presume against your house rules) staying without permission. I am not sure why you felt you couldn't say anything (it is your business and property after all)

But you now have a situation where it has moved from one business person staying at a time, to one business person staying at a time with an ocassional family member to each business person wanted to have a colleague stay, each time they stay.

Can you imagine how much damage they could do to your business by creating noise and disturbance with your other guests on a regular basis?

Sometimes as hosts we need to deal with the difficult as well as the benefits that come with running a business.

If you want them out you are going to have to bite the bullet and approach them. Message them through Airbnb and say that they have broken your house rules by having guests who haven't booked and paid in your property and by late night noise (I am presuming both of these rules are in your listings as I can't see them on your profile).  Say that you are going to ask Airbnb to cancel the booking and they will need to leave by your check out time tomorrow.

Follow it up with a call to Airbnb to ask them to cancel the booking citing the house rules the guests have broken. Airbnb may try and persuade you not to cancel; Stand firm.

Luckily you are on the premises so can check it out in the morning once they have left to make sure there is no damage etc.

[Donna240]

Since Carol did use the term "amicable", I suggested that she reverse her decision for additional guests, believing that both men would balk at the idea. How many people get crazy drunk on their own, or have loud conversations with themselves? Going back to the original agreement gets Carol off the hook, showing good faith in her willingness to work with these guys, without having to make reference to drunkeness, lautish behavior, etc. It also saves what started out as a nice arrangement for steady income. If they agreed, there would be no noise issue with only one person in the apartment at a time, and if they decided that they wanted to have guests, they would initiate a breaking of the rental. If Carol terminates the agreement, the hope of an amicable departure is unlikely. The noise issue does not appear in the house rules of the one unit I looked up, but it does say to respect the neighbors.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Carol375

you got some good advice from @Donna240 and @Helen3  and I would suggest you put in your house rules :  Only registered guests are allowed to use the apartment day /night. No visitors . 

And stick to your rule. As you see if you give them a finger they will take the whole hand.

[Carol375]

I really am truly grateful to all who have given me advice on how to deal with the situation, thank you all so much for taking the time.
On reading what I wrote I was obviously very upset at the time and wanted to share my experience and get advice which you all have given, greatly appreciated.
I called Airbnb and basically they advised that I should document things and approach the guests and try to resolve the situation.
I, along with my husband, gave a forewarning and went to discuss the situation with the said guest and his friend. The property was immaculate and they were both very apologetic and rather embarrassed I would say to have caused such a fuss. They admitted that they had both been to a friend’s 50th birthday party and had too much to drink promising that it wouldn’t happen again. Both had also missed a day’s work, the reason they are actually in Aberdeen, so this also is perhaps a bonus for me and an incentive to show better behaviour going forward.
I thank you in the meantime for your support, have advised the party that I have recorded my complaint with Airbnb and fingers crossed look forward to an easier and trouble free future.
I will as you advised Branks & Silvia update my house rules as Donna says I only say respect the neighbours, a learning curve! As Helen rightly says also it is my property and I probably have been lucky up until now in not having had any issues during rentals. Although I haven’t cancelled their bookings I will be keeping a close eye on the situation and hopefully will not have to revisit the issue. It just so happened we were in the building at the time, thank goodness!
At the moment I am happy to have faced the group to discuss the problem and with the agreement made and fingers crossed things will run smoothly from now on.
Once again thank you all so much for your support your comments have helped me greatly and knowing people like you are like family there to give advice when asked, really appreciate your time and effort given to my concern.
Regards
Carol