1st bad experience with a guest

[Sherry-and-David0]

We rented our whole house this past weekend.  We have been renting since last October and it has been going great!! We have met some amazing people!

This past weekend was not good. It started off great. We had a couple come in on Thursday night- the rest of the family came in Friday night. 

We have a dog and a cat. They are shown in the pictures on our info in airbnb.   Prior to booking the husband wanted to know if we had pets. We said yes and inside dog and an outdoor cat.  He said his wife was allergic to cats. Not a problem the cat is outside.  We have had several guests stay that are allergic to cats but only if they touch him.  So we assumed the same in this situation.

The cat came up on the porch on Thursday evening - everyone saw him but nothing was said.  One guests was petting the cat. They also left the back door open downstairs so the cat came in and hung out. We live on property. I did not catch the door open until the next morning when i found the cat inside.  The game room is down stairs so they hung out for the evening downstairs.

Friday morning the couple requested we leave the house so they could have their privacy. We do breakfast and did on Friday morning but they requested they no longer wanted breakfasts for the next 3 days. Everything seemed to be going good so we said ok - we have friends across the lake we can stay with. 

We checked in several times over the weekend by text and phone to make sure things were going great.  We also saw the husband when he came by on the boat where we were staying to get help with the boat's sail. No problems they said.  My husband did request that he put the sail down when he returned the boat to dock - but the guest did not. 😞  

On Monday morning (2 hours before checkout- they also requested a late checkout - sure not a problem ) then they started texting and being ugly. That the wife was now having problems with the cat and we had cheated them by not being honest. We were clear we have pets. It's in the pictures and was even discussed with him prior to booking. Not once over the 5 days had they said anything.  Even when we asked how are things going. 

I know they are going to give us a bad review- how do you handle?  We have a 5 Stars on Airbnb. One away from Super Host. 

I'm really upset about this whole situation. I know you can't make everyone happy but,,,,  

any suggestions on what to do?

Thanks! We are thinking to not do a review. Will we get dinged for this by Airbnb?  

What happens when you do not do a review?

thanks! Sherry

[Ange2]

"We are thinking to not do a review. Will we get dinged for this by Airbnb?   What happens when you do not do a review?"

Would love to know. An AIRBNB employee told me, when I questioned a downgrade,  that I hadn't written a review and that  "AIRBNB is all about sharing", not sure if the two issues are related,  I couldn't get a straight answer. 

[Andrea9]

@Sherry-and-David0,

What a beautiful property!

"Friday morning the couple requested we leave the house so they could have their privacy."

Excuse me, but what gives them the nerve to expell you from your own house, since they are either renting a suite or room and not officially a whole home?!

That should have been a huge red flag, no?

"We are thinking to not do a review. Will we get dinged for this by Airbnb?   What happens when you do not do a review?"

You must do a review  to warn other hosts. Keep it professional, don't go into great detail, and possibly add that they are probably better suited in a hotel environment instead of a private home, something to that extent.

Guests will only be able to see your review after they have posted one or the two weeks are up. And you always have the option of leaving a public response on their review if necessary (once posted, you can't edit, so my tip: always take a deep breath and be sure about your wording before you post. Can't remember how long you have time to do this, but it's enough to cool down and put together a professional and unemotional response.)

And yes, house rules are crucial to reflect what you expect from guests, since not everybody has the same standards. Keep them to the point, no explanations to soften them. They're there for a reason! And keep in mind that if you complain about a guest to Airbnb, they will have a look at your house rules.

Good luck.

[Donna15]

@Sherry-and-David0, it sounds like the guests might be trying to scam you, and possibly trying to aim for a free holiday, maybe by asking eventually for a refund or compensation. 

I'd suggest contacting AirBnB immediately. Copy/paste the content of the  text messages (it's always best if all communication goes via the AirBnB website by the way), and inform them of the sequence of events. They will also be able to follow the paper trail on the website. 

As far as I know, there's no penalty for not doing a review, but please don't let those guests' behaviour essentially blackmail you into not providing one. For one thing, it's not fair to other hosts, who need to be alerted to these guests' behaviour. Also, you can respond to their review, though it's best to keep any response neutral and objective.

I note that you do not require a Security Deposit. I'd suggesting adding one. Given that the guests left the door open, anyone could have entered the home and stolen something.

I'd also suggest having a very clear and firm set of House Rules. These should also include something about guests being required to have full travel and health insurance in the case of illness or an accident. 

I note too that you offer your kayak for use, but require a waiver. You might want to be very careful here. In the case of an accident, a waiver might not hold up in a court of law.

In fact, here's an interesting recent thread on the topic of permitting guests to use sporting equipment.

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/I-let-my-guests-use-my-bikes-kayaks-and-paddle-board...

[Sherry-and-David0]

Donna - thanks so much for the info! You were right! On Friday mornng ( my birthday 😞 ) I got an email from Airbnb that the guests wanted a full refund.  So we did a response and turned it over to Airbnb. 

thanks!! Sherry 

[Donna15]

@Sherry-and-David0, thanks for the update! Always interesting how things go. 

I'm sorry that my 'diagnosis' was correct, but at least it alerted you to the possibility of a scam. 😉

Good that you've turned everything over to AirBnB. Did you also copy-paste the ugly text messages?

Please do keep us updated. It's very useful to know how situations are handled. 

Please also be sure to request a Security Deposit and to beef up your House Rules. They need to be much firmer. 

[Sherry-and-David0]

Donna - suggestions on beefing up the house rules?

thanks!

Sherry 

[Sherry-and-David0]

Donna - wanted to let the community know what happened in the resolution.

Airbnb got involved.  They listened to both sides and reviewed our Airbnb page. We offered to refund them $500 and for them not to write a review and we would not as well. 

They refused the offer - feeling that they wanted to tell their side.  

Airbnb called us tonight and asked to hear our side.  We explained everything. She said she had spoken to the other family prior to calling us.   She felt that we had not broken any rules and felt that no refund should be offered.  She did make suggestions so that we would make it clearer on our page about arrangements.  We took the advice and changed up some of the info.

Our concern is the bad review --how do we over come it?  

We also told Airbnb that if at any point prior to their leaving if the family had complained that we would have given a full refund and would have helped them find another place.  But they said not one word until they were checking out.  Also several times over the weekend when we saw them they said things were going great.  So confused but it is what it is.

We know you can't make everyone happy and we will continue to try. 🙂  

Thanks again to everyone who responded!  

Sherry 

[Donna15]

@Sherry-and-David0, never let yourself be blackmailed by the notion of a negative review.

Remember, you can always respond to it. And a response is always most effective - and reflects well on the host - when it's brief and objective.

By the way, I'm glad AirBnB sided with you here. In fact, this is the type of thing that you could mention in a response - the fact that AirBnB considered that no refund was necessary given the behaviour of the guests.