Argumentative guest

[Claire155]

Hi I have a booking from an elderly guy which came in a week or so ago on instant book. In the time since he has sent a number of messages asking if he makes a claim are we covered, are we paying taxes, etc. I have responded and told him we are all straight as a die, and the messages are still coming. He says he's had a bad experience already, that we are over priced and he thinks the sharing economy is 'tripe' ; we should function just like a hotel. Anyway I am seeing a bad review ahead, as well as just not wanting him around for three days , right ahead of our wedding as well. I know that with instant book you are ok to cancel within 24hrs if you're not comfortable with a guest, but it has taken more than 24hrs to work this guy out.

Does anyone have a suggestion of what to do? I really don't want this man in the house.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Claire155

very good question and I am curious what experienced hosts will tell you.

If I remember correctly from other similar posts I've seen here , if you will wait for Airbnb to cancel his reservation and rehouse this guest bc you feel uncomfortable with him then you will probably wait 3 days for ABB to do it. Until then his stay will be over anyway. So, I think you should ask him to leave by yourself, tell him that he has to cancel if he wants his money back for the days not spent .... and then deal with Airbnb afterwards. But, I may be wrong.

Or you can let him stay but just ignore all his questions, make him understand that his behaviour is rude and communicate with him as little as possible .

Unfortunatelly, I smell bad review whatever you do 😞 He is just not a good fit for you.... or Airbnb in general.

[Kimberly54]

My 2 cents:  Cancel him now and sort the rest out later.  This is the perfect recipe for disaster.

I think you can trust AirBnB on this one.

[Marie21]

@Claire155

Tell  the guest if he does not feel confortable to cancel and u give him back his full refund

I have done it in the past

when i feft the guests are  going to be headache with none sense request/questions are asked them to cancel and they will get a full refund without giving into details if i cancel bla bla 

But once i told a guest to cancel but he refuse i called ABB and they refuse to cancel him so i dont believe when they said u dont feel unforfortable with guests 

[Lilian20]

Hello @Claire155  Brave the wave : Just brace ! 

[Farah1]

@Claire155 contact airbnb and share your story. They can see all of the messages in the system and explain that this makes you feel uncomfortable. With common sense, they should understand and help you cancel penalty free. Congrats on the wedding btw!

[Claire155]

Hi thanks for this, this is what I've done actually and they have let me cancel without penalties! Thank goodness! And thanks for everyone's help here 🙂 

[Fred13]

"In the time since he has sent a number of messages asking if he makes a claim are we covered, are we paying taxes, etc." That tells me he is all over the place in his mentality. Only an irrational mind could go to such places. I woiuld also move q

[Clara116]

Hi.....I would contact Airbnb and make sure they understand all the questions he has had about making claims, coverage and I would imagine they will cancel him pretty quickly. He sounds like a big problem or storm waiting to happen. When we can drive down a different road to avoid an accident - we would all do that???? wouldn't we???? Good luck

[Clara116]

@Claire155  I have an additional comment : as I reread all your post - I can't imagine you want to keep him on your calendar. I have never been involved in a claim or any such but, my guess is if that's what this guy is talking before he even arrives you will be involved with him LONG after he is gone - do yourself a favor - either tell him if he wants a refund he needs to cancel immediately - that you are uncomfortable hosting him. Call Airbnb and tell them about it all and if he doesn't cancel and they don't - you really want to cancel. His monies will never be ample to cover the headache, low star ratings and stress involved. 

We should be having fun hosting not dealing with such nonsense. Sorry its happening to you! Clara

Best of luck, my 3 cents. 

[Linda108]

I am not as confident that Air BNB cancellation options and policies will work in your favor, @Claire155.  Your best bet is to encourage the guest to cancel sooner rather than later.  Since you have a flexible cancellation policy there is little incentive to cancel soon.  However you want the dates to be open on your calendar.  Express your understanding that the Air BNB experience may not be a good fit for him and you value that all your guests are satisfied, as the last 40 guests have been.  Then offer to full refund if he cancels within a specified time.  You might consider offering an additional 10% to the refund if he cancels within 24 hours.

Or....you can suck it up for 3 days and ride out the booking and review.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Claire155 - Not sure where you got the 24-hour period as a requirement for cancelling an Instant Book Guest for not being comfortable, but I wanted to point out that is not the case.  You can, at any time, cancel for this reason.  However - the fact that he's ornery and asking a bunch of questions that make you worry about him, that might not qualify as "uncomfortable".  If you want to cancel, you would need to work with Airbnb about it, but I am going to suspect that this will not qualify. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2022/how-do-penalty-free-cancellations-work-for-instant-book-hos...