my guests were Freeloading scammers

[Chris242]

I had a couple that booked a cabin on the boat for 5days to do island hopping trips in the Cyclades in Greece
.I include also breakfast and one. Lunch OR Dinner..Before somebody books I let them know that the pickup point can vary and depends the island that I find myself on..
these two guests knew this and the terms and conditions etc...
Two days before their arrival I notified them where I would pick them up....
On the day of their arrival they contacted me to to say that they could not afford the ferry ticket.... I than had to alter my sailing trip just to put ck them up on a different island and this took me about 7hrs and about 100euro in diesel as there was no wind...
They stayed 3days on the boat, ate my food and abused my hospitalty
On the 3th day, late in the evening and after I paid the meal in the restaurant, they told me that they wanted to get of the boat,
They said that the cabin and the boat was not up to their standards and they wanted a refund..
They were more than happy to be on the boat and the gu basicly stayed most of the time in their cabin coz he was sick all the time. The girl didn't sleep in their cabin coz he was snoring all night, instead she slept in the saloon .
I told them that I would issue them 150,euro refund via Airbnb.
She than claimed another 150euro which was also deducted from my account without my knowledge.
She than claimed another 150euro.
Later Ialso found out that they also didn't paid their bar bill on the island I picked them up and I ended up paying their bill because I don't want to have problems with the owners of the bar..
The 2of them are freeloading scammers that managed to get a free sailing holiday on my boat, ate the food I provided, abused my hospitality and they managed to claim their money back from Airbnb.
I send a good few emails to Airbnb about them but the emails bounce back to me... And I am the one that is screwed financially....
Screwed financially coz of the diesel I burned to pick them up, their bar bill I had to pay, and the refund that Airbnb issued.
Its not very nice....

[Sharon114]

Hi Chris, what a rotton experience and totally unfair.  You are offering a pretty unique experience for a very reasonable price and unfortunately there will always be those who will abuse a hosts hospitality.  I am surprised and disappointed that you have not received a satisfactory outcome via airbnb.  Don't give up, try contacting them again and let them know, in no uncertain terms. how frustrated you are.

Good luck with future hosting - most people are decent but unfortunately the 'bad apples' are the ones that stay in the memory.

[Chris242]

hi Sharon,
Thank you for your kind words... Its certainly a good deal I'm offering and the feedback I have on Airbnb and a few other sailing websites are all positive, very positive.

I'm just very disappointed the way Airbnb operates....

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

Greece +30 211 1989888

This is a number I found on an Airbnb contact list, specific for Greece. Try talking with Airbnb by telephone. You need a real time conversation with them. If you don't get results from the first rep you talk to, keep calling until you get a decent rep who will help you. Escalate your concern to the level that has the power to resolve this for you. Have you tried the Airbnb Resolution Center too? Good luck. Sorry this happened to you.

[Chris242]

thanks very much Jim and Marcia for that number... I'll give them a buzz..
I tried that resolution centre but I'm new to Airbnb and its all a bit confusing I think..
Haven't heard back from resolution yet....

[David126]

You have a strict cancellation policy, well I assume that applied to this booking?

So there should have been no refund outside the amount you voluntairly agreed and I am not sure why you did that.

Just wondering you mention you list on other sites, how would they have handled this?

[Chris242]

Hi yea I do have a strict cancellation policy.
The reason I have that is coz some people never set foot on a sailingboat in their life and if when someone books , I waana be sure that they gonna stay their full stay and not just leave after a day coz otherwise I'm loosing out and coz I refuse other people that wanna go sailing...
I agreed voluntary that I would give them 150 back via Airbnb coz they had no money and I felt sorry for them.... I even organised alternative accommodation for them at a discounted rate in a hotel of a friend of mine....
So whatever Airbnb 's policy is when it comes to refunds, even when you have a Strict No refund policy it makes no sense to me..

[David126]

You mentioned they were Australians and presumably on some sort of world trip.

Now call me cynical but if I was bumming around, half way around the world and had no money the last thing I would do would book a sailing holiday.

They obviously had some money to pay for that hotel and their onward journey, I think you are quite correct about them just being a couple of scammers, no doubt they have done this to other people and will try it again.

[Olivia-and-Olivier0]

David from CO, many times although the policy may say strict cancelations only, hosts agree to refund, because we dont want an angry passive-agressive freeloader on our property, and they might destroy even more or burn the property, so we need to be civil at least until they leave, thank God for that! Sadly there are few bad apples like that and i wish the reviews would show the star ratings given by other hosts, and a way we contact previous hosts to ask references.

[Chris242]

Hi Jim & Marcia... I rang that phone number in Greece.... Got disconnected about 6/7 Times and got finally somebody who was quite friendly but had no powers to look in to it.
I explained in detail and in a polite manner what happened.. I was just told to use the resolution centre which I have now done about 5 times and ' involved Airbnb'
Customer support for hosts????? Non existing!!!!!!!

[David126]

To translate I think what they are saying is that there is nothing they can do as a booking agency, the resolution center allows you ask your guest for payment, probably a waste of time, but you do have that option.

[Lula-And-LP0]

I would also file a police report for these scammers. 

If AirbnB does not reply soon (or at all, it happens), make sure to post also on their FB or use Tweeter.

That wakes AirBnB very fast, they don't like bad PR.

[Chris242]

Hi Lula and Part,
I don't think there is much point in filing a police report... The 2 are long gone back to Australia so I don't think Greek police will beomuch use.....
I'm not to fussed about posting on FB coz I can stand the thing...

[Chris242]

Posted to their Facebook page too.... All I get from Airbnb is **"we so sorry"

[Ange2]

@Chris242  What a terrible experience.  Also, there is a button you can click on their profile to report them and write an honest review.

I am shocked at the many posts I read whereby Airbnb apparently sided with the guest against the host without allowing the host to offer their side of the story.

Takes the saying that the  "customer s always right" to absurd and unjust levels.