I rented a house to a guest who registered 4 adults staying. Our house rules are clear that no more than 6 people (including children and infants) may be at the house at any time (our town has strict rental rules and we do not allow events of any kind). The guest showed up with 5 people, we informed them the additional person would be an additional charge (same as if they had registered with the initial reservation) and made it clear that only 6 people could be at the house.
The next day, the guest asked if they could have 3 more people stay over. We told them no, this was not permitted and they have agreed to the house rules. Still, 4 more people show up (we have external security cams, which are indicated on the listing). We told the guest they needed to abide by the 6 person maximum. We contacted airbnb for help. After hours of back and forth with both, the extra people were still there and it was clear they had no intention of complying with our rules (and the security cam picked up on them stating they "would blow us up in the reviews" for enforcing the rules). We asked Airbnb to help us with getting the guests out - we were done and tired of being lied to. Eventually, after being screamed/cursed at and insulted by the guest, they left.
Throughout, we confirmed with Airbnb that we were permitted to remove them for not following rules (after giving multiple opportunities to comply) and that we would not be penalized. Airbnb assured us that the guest would not be permitted to review us and that it was at our option to refund any cancelled nights. We refunded for one night, but not the second as they didn't leave until 9pm (a full 8 hours after we initiated the discussion with Airbnb about the rule violations).
Now, Airbnb is telling us that their case manager made a mistake - that the guest will be able to review us and that we must refund them for the other night. The house was left a mess, damage to our deck, other clear violations of rules (glass by the pool, doors left open/unlocked, pool safety gate left open.... on and on).
Has anyone resolved a similar situation? These guests were horrible - the names and cursing directed at us when we were clear about the rules and gave them plenty of time to correct the violation. Most of our guests/experience with Airbnb has been fine, we have stellar reviews and now this set of bad apples has us thinking of leaving the platform.