guests who break all the rules and airbnb support do nothing about it

[Elizabeth2247]

We received a request for a booking for 4 adults, 4 children and 1 infant.   I only actually advertise for 8 people but through my own fault did not ask for the age of the infant.    Jo arrived and immediately i realised that she had 5 adults, 4 children and an infant under the age of 2 which is clearly stated i do not take as we have a hot tub, a pond although covered and lots of steps around.   she has tried to say the child does not count, but she missed the point that the overbook was the 5 adults.    Against my better judgement i let her stay.   During our initial conversations she had asked for a blow up bed as two of the children did not want to sleep together.  I accommodated her.   Shen then asked for a travel cot and high chair, which it specifically states should be organised before arrival.  We have a shared drive and can accommodate 2 cars.  when she arrived she had 3 cars but as one of the cars was a small smart car and would not cause any problems we accommodated her.   We were specific that she must not block the shared driveway and also no further cars.   Not good enough for this lady, went up to my garage and there were 5 cars parked.  My irate neighbour came out and I immediately rang the guest who said she was on the beach with her friends who had parked there.   A very strained conversation ensued with my request that she immediately come off the beach and move the cars as she was in breach again of the house rules, the first one being additional guest.   A text was received saying we advertised 2 cars at the top and 2 at the bottom, not sure where she was going with this as there were 5 cars parked there.   We informed her that the facilities for the house were for the sole use of her family and there were 3 car parks within walking distance of the house.   Nest day, a request for a tumble dryer.  I redirected her to my listing which states there is no tumble dryer, we have washing machine, washing line, free washing pods and conditioner.   Not good enough she then asked me how she was going to dry her childrens clothes ,   I pointed her towards the local launderette and the washing line.  back she came she didn't see why she had to walk to the launderette to dry, wait for it, her childrens swimming costumes.  She originally booked in for two weeks and I assumed that the guests she had booked in were staying for the whole two weeks then i noticed another set of guests who were coming and going in the house.   I asked her if she had additional guests and her reply was my other family have gone and these have taken their place.   you can imagine my dismay that she had not even had the decency, albeit she had ample opportunity to discuss this with me even before she arrived as she had asked for a mid week clean and change of bedding which i thought in all honesty, 8 people in a house, sand coming in, 4 children was a reasonable request, it turned out this was for her new guests.  We were discussing the fact that I was very unhappy when the new guest came over and started screaming and shouting at me with horrendous language, i ignored her as i was speaking to my guest but she wanted her stay and when I said i was going to ring airbnb she said go ahead and see where you get.  

How true these words were.  Airbnb have done nothing but pass me from pillar to post with texts saying we will upgrade this thread.   5 people later and my request that they cancel the booking to get rid of the obnoxious guest who I had no idea who she was or even how many people were now staying in my house, I am still waiting for action.   They even forgot to inform me that they had been in contact with the original guest and were trying to find a solution.   I asked if i had the right to cancel the booking myself and was told i would have to give the obnoxious guest a refund.   I categorically refused.   How can I give a refund to someone who is unauthorised in my home, have never had the chance to make a decision about whether I want her in my home and she stated she had paid for the week sand was "f...ing well going to stay here".   I relayed all of this to airbnb and stated that under their rules and regulations it states that guests should at all time inform the host of who is staying in their home.  yes they agreed she had broke the rules but did absolutely nothing to support me literally in my hour of need as the obnoxious guest continued to come down past our living accommodation, put two fingers up at me and grin.  What did airbnb do.   NOTHING.    Late Wednesday night yet again i had another text from yet another person in airbnb saying the usual script we are here to help and sort out this situation.   it is now Friday, the guest is still in the house and airbnb are not replying at all to me.    WOW  what a company, there is a forum on the community centre and i have redirected all the agents who spoke to me to have a look at it, airbnb support, - no support,  It is dreadful what some hosts are having to put up with and the general consensus is that airbnb will keep you on hold and when the problematic guests have gone, hey presto their job is done, they don't have to bother trying to placate you.   

I have actually written to the Chief Executive and i bet a lot of people are laughing at this suggestion but i stated to him that i did not expect to get a reply even though his blog states he started at the bottom and worked his way up, what about the people who are keeping him on his way up and those of us who are trying to earn a living and relying on his quotation that support is always there and we can rely on them.   What a shambles, unfortunately I have bookings until september 18th and do not want to let people down but at the moment I feel like cancelling and moving on.   My reviews for this year have been outstanding and already had enquiries for guests to come back.   i will be coming off airbnb and taking bookings myself.   The problem too big a company now and not enough care for the little fishes swimming around in murky water.   The moral which should be posted on the airbnb site is guests come first, complaints go to the bottom of the pile and hosts, if there is no other alternative should be dealt with by passing them on until they get fed up.

I wish i could put the name of the guest who really was absolutely the most deceitful person I have come across but hey she goes tomorrow and my life will go on.

Elizabeth.   

[Laura2592]

Against my better judgement i let her stay.

@Elizabeth2247I confess I only got through about the first paragraph but truly this is where this entire nightmare could have been avoided.

YOU are in charge of your home. YOU set the rules. And yes YOU are responsible for dealing with issues. ABB will not help. Being a new host, its tempting to try and be all things to all people. Capacity and rules about kids for safety's sake, are there to protect you, your guests and your property. If you don't screen guests or guests tell you they are wrong for your space and you take them anyway, the fault for the situation lies as much in your court as the guest's. You have a responsibility to be vigilant in who you allow into your home, and it seems you overrode that instinct here.

Your only option is to cancel and refund or allow this horrorshow to continue until the end of the stay. Hosts sometimes dig in their heels with a bad guest wanting payment in full, but that isn't the way it works.

All you can do now is leave an appropriate review. Something like:

"Guest was not respectful of any of our rules. Communication was very difficult. Clean up took significant extra time. Guest allowed various other family members to access the space without permission and did not seem to be aware of amenities as stated in the listing, asking for additional items we could not provide. On the whole a very poor experience and we do not recommend this guest to others, nor would we allow her back into our space under any circumstances."

Then rate under 3 stars in every category and "would not host again." Move on and learn from this.

[Laura2592]

@Elizabeth2247 this might help for future stays:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Tips-for-new-hosts/m-p/1257038

[Mark116]

@Elizabeth2247  You learned the lesson that people who ask/demand extras=poor guests.  

[Elizabeth2247]

Hi Laura, you are right even though i did not want to hear it and halfway through the week we realised what a big mistake we had made but i think newbies on airbnb try as you say to be all things to everyone.  i certainly will not make this mistake again and actually have started by asking my next guests for their names and dob before they arrive which came back very quickly.   It is so easy to actually turn someone away when they are on your doorstep and the other party are on the motorway and also as our house is quite large how could I fill it within an hour as the work we have done on the house is being recovered by the cost of the bookings.  i think it will take a strong person to lose over 5,000 when things are tight in the household anyway, but you are right i have become so strong this last week and gone in and edited all my listing, have re-written my house manual and probably this has made me a stronger person, and made me harder that there are always scammers out there who are willing to be passive/aggressive people but really underneath they want whats best for them regardless of how kind you are.   I look back at the reviews we have had and I know we are doing the right thing because of what people are saying about us and our lovely home and this will keep me going.   I still think that airbnb should have been more proactive with regards to the aggressive guest who arrived on the second week and actually told me that she was an unauthorised guest and they would cancel her booking which did not happen.   Now after being passed from pillar to post, yet another support worker has informed me that airbnb are only a third party, it doesn't say that on their blurb it categorically states that in my case if guests do not inform hosts of who is staying in their home this is a breach of their rules, as well as mine, so why did they not take up the mantle on my behalf and carry out what they said they were going to do.   i suspect it is because they said i would have to refund her money.   I refused point blank, she did not book through me, she informed me she had given the original guest her money so how can i give money back to an unauthorised person and told airbnb that the person who left the unauthorised guest in to the house and had been paid for the week should be the one who gives her the money back and actually a solicitor friend informed me that i cannot give money back to anyone without having evidence of contractual services I have given and as she should not have been given access to my home then the original recipient of the money should be the one to reimburse.  i expect this is where airbnb got a bit worried.  Sorry to rant but thanks for the advice and I am a hardened woman now lol

[Laura2592]

@Elizabeth2247  your guest breached a number of rules. They probably targeted you because you are a new host and figured you would not do much about it as you need the reviews. It happens.

ABB will not intervene so your choices in this situation (and any similar) are:

1. Cancel the stay and refund the unused portion. Once you get to Superhost status this will penalize your ability to participate in that program, but for now you could do it no problem. ABB gives you one free no penalty cancellation per year as well.

2. Suck it up and leave an appropriate review.

A wise person once told me to figure out my hourly rate for any interactions with customers (I run an online business as well as do ABB and have also been a landlord.) Once there is a problem, use that rate to determine how to solve it. So if your rate is 50 per hour and you figure it will take another 3 hours of your life to deal with this individual, but her booking nights are worth another 1200, go with keeping the stay. If the equation balances in the other direction, cancel it.But in the end, money is not always worth the aggravation of others, particularly if they do damage to another investment like your home. Best of luck and use this experience wisely 🙂

[Elizabeth2247]

Hi Laura, thank you very much for your wise words.  I have actually learnt more in the last 20 minutes of us texting than I wold have being left to "wander in the wilderness" so to speak.   I have actually printed off quite a lot of what you have said, particularly the review and onwards and upwards.   thank you again