BAD GUESTS!

[Zarah0]

We had a really bad guest in our house and left a HUGE mess and I was left with a large cleaning bill and I involved air bnb after the guest refused to pay! The guest was NOT happy form the start wantng discounts and free things and then left the house a total mess! Air bnb rejected my claim so I not only hosted this guest I actualy lost money! Has anyone else had this happen to them?! 

Thank you

[Carol0]

Can I make a claim if I don't know which guest did the damage? I have 2 rooms that I rent that share a bathroom. One of the guests left a burned in, dirt filled treadmark in it (HOW, I'm not sure).

[Justyna-and-Marco0]

Attention: fraudulent guest!
Mechanism of cheating: reservation of 8 days (automatic discount of 10% if more than 7 days in my case), check in, eating and drinking all what was provided, including half kg of coffee, all beer, snacks and 600 ml shampoo and 600 ml shower gel), after 3 nights a distressing message that the apartment is extremely noisy, claiming that there are party everywhere (it is an apartment building with older people, no parties at all); then a claim of a broken window, where "the horrible noise is coming from", with a photo of a window slightly opened trying to proove the point (lie). One month after the check in I got a request for a full refund of her stay based entirely on the photo of an opened window.
Her data: [personal information hidden] from Avon, CT, traveling with her husband Dave
Claim in the dispute center of Airbnb, refused by me (suddenly after 3 full nights they realized that there is a noise, interesting...)

[Rita180]

Hi,

this happened to me too about a year ago...i had bad guests..they started complaining as soon as they stepped in the apartment...when they arrived i showed them around and also,showed them hiw the appliances worked...they were all in good working order...however i was called almost every day for one thing or another...first it was the tv...which was working perfectly  when they arrived...so i went and fixed it...apparently one of them had messed it up...then it was the tumble Drier..then the tv again..internet ect ect ect...they wanted everything for free....they did not pay for the extra electricity they consumed and left the apartment in a total mess...the doors were all covered with tiny fingers as they had 2 young children..they managed to turn the white towels orange....it was a nightmare hosting them and i was relieved when they left....i complained to air bnb about the pending electricty bill but the guest refused to pay.....and imdid nit get any support from air bnb...this is such a shame...what i got was a bad review from a very rude and irresponsible guest...

[Tanya110]

Three weeks ago I had a party of 3 who stayed 3 nights.  They emailed and complained of an odor the first morning blaming mold.  The place was left in a mess with food on the floor, makeup soaked facecloths, and a mysterious urine-like stain on the sleeper sofa.  Maybe that is related to the set of sheets in the dryer???

I personally re-modeled the home as my family does contracting work.  I know there is no mold.  The ducts have been cleaned and the place is immaculate. There is no carpet, only hardwood and vinyl.  We have had a full summer with people before and after very happy and certainly no complaints since I just reached superhost status in my first year.  

The guest is just now emailing accusing "breathing the air" in my house of causing the respiratory infection and bacterial pneumonia that her daughter had.  DUH, mold is not bacteria.  She has escalated and will not stop emailing.  I gave her a thumbs down but did not comment on her review.  This is my first terror guest in my first year of hosting. Anyone have any feedback?  I take great care in providing an excellent experience for all of my guests and  am highly insulted and angry after this experience. 

[Kenneth18]

Hi all,

I am sorry to hear all these. It seems like hosting in Airbnb is getting more difficult than before. The quality of guest staying is also going downhill. I have a fair shares of bad guests as well and I know how hard, tiring and emotionally stress it is dealing with it. However, I would like to know do you guys screen your guest? Ask them questions? and basically do you due dillegent of the type of guest you want in your house? If so, how do you guys usually screen them? How do you know if this guest will be bad or good? Or do you guys just accept anyone that wanted to book your place. hope i didn't hijack this post. Just looking for a solution of identifying bad guests before staying at my place. 

[Ben493]

We rented through an agent before but this year we started with Airbnb direct, you get no support from AirBnb, they are guest focused and take their side.  I will see what happens over the next 3 months and if it doesn't change I will de-list 

[Barbara9]

I have unlisted many times and re-opened. Each time I write what my complaints are. Nobody ever replies. I have had many really bad guests and airbnb just sides with the guest while I am thinking about calling the police. The website and advertising are great, but host back-up does not exist. I live in the house, so I see everything that goes on. Sneaking people in the back door. Smoking up the non-smoking house. Airbnb just threatens me and the guest can do anything they want. Sad. Now I have a duplicate listing that stays unlisted, so if they block one calendar as a punishment to me, I have the other one.

[Tracey125]

I am an AirBnb host and have only had a few issues, nothing this serious.  One way to screen applicants is to be sure they have good, positive reviews by other Airbnb hosts.  That is my main tool.  If 3-5 other hosts highly recommend them, they probably will be good guests.

Also asking questions of them prior to approving their stay....why they are visiting your city?  Do they need suggestions on places to go and things to do?  The converations may give hints as to their personality and if they are a good fit.  If they suggest going outside of Airbnb or make silly comments about paying over time or with credit cards are red flags.  I also ask them to review the house rules and mention again no illegal activities and smoking is not allowed anywhere on my property.  One person kept asking about noise levels and actually wanted me to buy another easy-chair for my living room-after honestly explaining everything about the apartment (she obviously didn't read my full listing description) and she still had more questions and demaends, it occurred to me she would be a very demanding guest, so I decided to decline her request.

[Susan1028]

thank you. I know this is an older post, but I had to reply. yes, we do need to take responsibility for who we allow into our home, especially as ABB grows and similtaneoysly seems to relax profile requirements.  it warrants its own discussion and if there isn’t one, i’ll start one.

Air BnB has evolved from its “age of innocence” and we need to be aware of the pros and cons and professional hazards of hosting, even more so because we are opening our homes.

This isn’t to project fear, it’s to be aware and intelligent.

[Helen3]

Hi @Tanya110

Sorry for your experience. It's always best to start a new thread, rather than tagging onto someone else's as more people can see and respond to you.

You should definitely respond to her review. Say what you have said here about the place being immaculate, hardwood floors etc and having gained superhost status because of the quality of your listing, so you were suprised and sad to see her comments. As you take good care to make all your guests have an excellent experience.

Go onto mention the mess the guest left and how disappointed you were that your place was left in such a state.

(I am sure you have done this in your original review of the guest but reiterate it).

Don't respond to emails just reply on Airbnb messaging to confirm that you refute what she says and then don't respond further. 

If they put in a claim through Airbnb's resolution centre just be professional, factual and clear. You will have photos to back up your claim that the place was left in a mess so can show Airbnb these.

[Alyssa-and-Jensen0]

It is so annoying to have the nasty guests like them. I just setup Facebook group called Bad STR guest list for us to screen them. I believe these uneducated people should have their name and profile to be shown here without destroying our hosting reviews’ statuses.

[Jane550]

Can I join the group?

[Emma-and-Patrick0]

We had a guest break an antique heirloom my grandmother gave me, and then HID IT IN A CLOSET hoping we would somehow not find out. Also lost the house key and woke us up at 4:30 am in a panic banging on the back door incessantly for no reason. The guests had apparently had an all out fight in our guest room as we discovered the next day. Completely inconsiderate. When we contacted Airbnb to intervene in paying the damages, we got the complete run around and no response. The host guarantee doesn’t exist. We took our listing down out of absolute frustration and do not regret it one bit. We called and emailed every single day but to no avail. Airbnb does not stand by their hosts one bit even when provided with enough documentation for a court of law. 

[Danny0]

I think the fine print in the Hpost Guarantee dstates tjhey will NOT pay fpr anything "antique".

[Leslie80]

It should read they will not pay for anything.