Very stressful experience with guest

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

Hi everyone, 

We had a very stressful experience with a guest who arrived a few days ago. He seemed a bit "off" to begin with but nothing too out of the ordinary until the second day. He and I were alone in the apartment and I received the message,  "What would you do if today was the last day of your life?" My blood ran cold and I contacted my husband right away, who returned home from work early as I stayed in my room until he arrived, missing a workshop I was supposed to attend. 

The next day my husband saw our guest bring a steak knife into his bedroom; we checked our kitchen the next day and the knife was still missing. Later that day I noticed 400 pesos (around 20 USD) missing from my wallet, not a huge quantity but still upsetting! I searched the house and reviewed my purchases and the money was still missing. It was then we decided to end the trip early with our guest, out of concern for the safety of our family (we have a 7 year old boy as well). Our guest was understanding and left the home within minutes. We went into the room and the knife was still there (we have no idea what he used or planned to use it for). 

We contacted Airbnb, told them what happened and I sent a screenshot of the conversation with our guest. They asked if we were sure the guest had taken our money. I said I couldn't be 100% sure because I didn't see him take it, but that I strongly suspected it due to his suspicious behavior. They said they were sorry but couldn't be of any more help, and closed the case. 

Through the "send and request money" feature I put in the request for the missing money. Whether or not he admits to have taken it, I think the emotional distress we went through (plus the lost wages) due to his behavior is enough to request some type of compensation. If he refuses to pay it, fine, but I at least want to make the point that his behavior was not ok. 

On another note, we're investing in locks on our doors and security cameras before we host our next guests. Not really asking for advice, just ranting I guess! Had anyone had a similar experience?

[Letti0]

@Liliana---Eduardo0  At least he left peacefully. Make sure you review him honestly so other hosts are forwarned about hosting him. If I got that messaged I would have contacted the police to remove him immediately lol not my husband, but I tend to be more agressive than most people. Sorry you had to deal with this. 

[Ana1136]

@Liliana---Eduardo0 I agree with @Letti0,the police would be escorting him out as soon as i got that message. I wouldn't even care if I had to cancel on my end, It is not worth the stress. Not to mention if a knife went missing. I am sorry you were put into such stressfull situation but I believe calling the police is the way to go, what if he got agressive when you told him to leave.

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

You're right, for that reason I took our son to work with me so my husband could confront our guest. That was the same thing I said to my husband, maybe he is harmless, but the stress it caused was not worth it 

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately in Mexico the police are not always reliable and self defense is hard to practice legally. That's why the locks and cameras are important so Airbnb can have our backs as well 

[Ana1136]

@Liliana---Eduardo0 don't put up much hope with Airbnb having your backs. Even if he does something illegaly they can't press charges or do something significant to increase your safety. They can only cancel the reservation and block him from the platform but he can make another profile. Your safety is in your own hands, get cameras, put locks on doors, select guests more carefully and don't hesitate to call the police. They might be unreliable but a knife is a weapon and if they recieve that kind of a call I am sure they will react.

[Julian234]

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@Liliana---Eduardo0 wrote:

Unfortunately in Mexico the police are not always reliable 

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@Liliana---Eduardo0@  Love the understatement. 🙂 too true and completely not understood in countries where the police are more "reliable". Definitely do whatever you think will enhance your security as nobody will "have your back". We have cameras as well and I make sure the guests know it. Always remember though that cameras only record what has already happened. 

Proactively, we rely on our gut feel, like you did. If if feels wrong, it is wrong, even if it turns out to have been nothing, but there is no way of knowing that is there? 

Saludos desde la costa. 

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

No es total desconfianza en la policía, pero tampoco confianza total...fue justo lo que dije a mi esposo, aunque no sabía exactamente que pasó, que me sentía incómoda y eso fue suficiente para mi...me da gusto que tengas cámaras en tus propiedades..saludos

[Sarah977]

@Liliana---Eduardo0   Yes, very weird message. And it's somewhat telling that he left right away when you asked him to. (Lucky for that! ). Like he knew he was out-of-line.

If you and the guest were the only ones at home when the money went missing from your wallet, I wouldn't have told Airbnb that you couldn't be 100% sure since you didn't see him take it. I would have said "Well, yeah, he was the only other person here, aside from my young child, of course he took it."

I would suggest that you never leave your wallet around when you have guests- best to keep it in your room, tucked away somewhere. I have 3 daughters and when they were teenagers, I never even left my bag around if they had friends over- better safe than sorry, and it's a terrible feeling to have to suspect someone, when you might even have doubts whether you spent the money on something and forgot, or thought you had more in there than you did.

I had another thought regarding the message and taking a knife to his room. Maybe he was suicidal? Thinking about doing himself in. Maybe the message wasn't a threat, but talking about himself in a roundabout way. I had a friend who worked on the crisis line in Canada- people would call when they were in the process of committing suicide, wanting someone to talk to. They weren't interested in being talked out of it, they just wanted some human interaction. In any case, it's good you got rid of him swiftly.

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

Thanks for your comments, I do always keep it in my room, but am a pretty sound sleeper so can't be sure he didn't come in when I was sleeping (or in the shower etc.)... I thought the same thing about his message, that he might have wanted to harm himself...I requested the money but whether he pays it back or not, just glad he is gone...

[いずみ荘--Izumisou-0]

should be made into a movie lol

[Liliana---Eduardo0]

haha! i thought that too