DEALING WITH BAD GUESTS – Don’t Hold Your Breath.

John320
Level 4
Thousand Oaks, CA

DEALING WITH BAD GUESTS – Don’t Hold Your Breath.

DEALING WITH BAD GUESTS – Don’t Hold Your Breath.

 

The Airbnb system does not filter guests perfectly and troubled people may fall through the cracks. When we open our home to strangers we are gaining new experience, making a little extra money; but exposing our family to danger as well. If the Airbnb team does not offer us timely and caring help, we will be under risks and sustain damages while defending ourselves right in our home territory. I am sharing a true story in hope to stimulate host exchanges for meaningful ideas that may help Airbnb make changes in the prompt resolution of unfortunate situations.

 

I have maintained my super host status since the beginning, took my job seriously, and cared about all my guests. I enjoyed many pleasant experiences but encountered two exceptions, so far. The first bad experience was a drug addict who smoked pots in my home, opened and searched all the drawers; but refused to leave when the contract was expired. In the second case, there was no indicator from the website enabling me to second guess a family from China. Within one week of serving them, we knew we were in deep water and the scary feeling may last a long time.

 

  • My house rule states clearly that guests should not enter our family room and kitchen area unless invited by us. It is our place to sleep and rest. However, they repeatedly entering this area with Zimo (the husband) violated it when my wife and I were not fully dressed. We finally bought a room divider that blocked their entrance. They simply do not respect rules and reminders mean nothing to them.

 

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  • They lacked common sense by using a Chinese hot water pot (200 volts) and inserted into our electrical outlet (100 volts) while running multiple appliances. They overloaded the electrical circuit, burnt the fuse, offered no apology; but blamed our US electrical circuits not up to par. We connected electric lines from other rooms so they could have full electricity and maintained the same level of comfort. However, they not just refused to pay the repair fee; but demanded monetary compensation of two times the daily rent.
  • Our contract does not provide kitchen. They wished to cook Chinese food and agreed to infrequent preparation of mild food. Out of kindness, my wife turned her laundry room into a small kitchen for Wendy (the wife) to cook, free of charge. She made a big mess of the room by splashing food and cooking oil all over the floor. She also prepared smelly food (using onions, garlic and spice...) from 6:30 AM to 10 PM. I am allergic to strong smells as such food caused me running nose and coughs. When we explained to them on food odor and cleanliness, they yelled, turned unfriendly and escalated into full confrontations; backed with threats.
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  • Our 2nd bedroom is normally NOT for rent. As a friendly gesture, we allowed them to sleep in the 2nd room. They used it as their extra bedroom, dining room, utility room and made a big mess of it. They carried food from down stair to up stair and stained our carpets.  
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  • We received two letters indicating that Zimo and Wendy applied two bank accounts with Bank of America using our home address without prior agreement. This was unacceptable and rather peculiar.
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  • They said they are Chinese policemen with military background. Regular policemen receive a salary of about US $10 - $20 daily. Chinese government is clamping down the Yuan flooding out of China and has strict rules that limit its withdrawal to 100,000 Yuan (US$15733) per annual using UnionPay bank card. This family can hardly speak English, bought a large BMW SUV X5 immediately after they moved in (The auto dealer, Ivan, using the VIN number confirmed that they paid about $45000). They have no US credits per se and must use cash. They sent their daughter, Emma, to our local private school at an annual fee of $30,000. They were looking for an apartment to stay for half a year while shopping around daily for a million dollar house. The estimated rent, food and necessities may cost another $25,000. Somehow, they managed to transfer over a million US dollars from China to US in just a few days while the Chinese government prohibits such practices. We naturally were alerted by their extraordinary behavior. We concerned about our own safety, reported to Airbnb, and wished the guests could leave our home ASAP. For three days, I spoke to about ten Airbnb operators (855-424-7262) and begged for their help into mid-nights. They played shuffle balls with me, offered little help, and referred my case to the Trust and Safety team. Said team then turned me over to the Travel Experience team. Only after I wrote an urgent letter suggesting police protection that one case manager kindly stepped forward and negotiated with the guests. She offered monetary refund, relocation options, and set a firm date to vacate at 11AM. I followed with an “Alteration Request” for an earlier departure date; but the guests must concur. When the guests did not agree with the Alteration, my case manager disappeared and never returned again.Upon further questioning, one staff advised me to directly choose the “Cancelation Request” which will cancel the contract by imposing a monetary penalty on me and having my calendar blocked. I refused to take such action since it subjected me into an unfair settlement. Then another staff said if my safety was in danger, I should do whatever is the best for me that included having a police to intervene; but without support from Airbnb. On the very last day at 11AM, I gave Airbnb my final notice prior to police intervention. All of a sudden, a new case manager was assigned who offered “real help” in re-negotiating with the guests and effectively closing the case. It seemed to me Airbnb could provide me with a responsible case manager from day one, promptly settled the situation; but this was not my experience. All hosts in our global community may eventually face similar episodes so this topic should not be sneered at.
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In conclusion, the two case managers were helpful and they were my heroes. But I cannot vouch for most of the staffs, the Trust and Safety team, and the overall tactics practiced by them. It seemed to me, even if guests break rules of the contract and present threats to hosts, the positions of Airbnb are: Have the hosts to tackle the problems first and at their own costs. If this is not working, then advice hosts to seek either Alteration (refunding via our account; but minimizing monetary impact on Airbnb) or Cancellation (hosts will be penalized). Airbnb is not willing to assign a case manger who works with a host from day one until the problem is solved. Only at the last moment, Airbnb may assign a responsible case manager who may step forward and settle the problem.

 

In my view, it is important that Airbnb works with the hosts as a well-coordinated TEAM. The right attitude is: Airbnb be the TEAM LEADER in proactively solving problems, particularly when bad people enter our home and our safety was jeopardized.

 

 

 

 

37 Replies 37

 they did not charge me a penalty

I don't have much faith in AirBnB helping you with a bad guest. I have had two awful guests. One had a party (strictly against my rules) and tore down my curtain and continuously woke up my neighbors throughout the night "partying" on my deck playing basketball.

AIrBnB didn't do anything even though it was doucmented and witnessed.

Similarly I had another guest who had a party and brought a dog (against my rules) and the dog defecated on an antique of mine, on my beauitful antique rug and in my daughter's bedroom. Still, AirBnB did nothing!

Sorry, but I've learned it's a waste of time to even contact AirBnB about anything-they won't help you. You are on your onw...

Leslie281
Level 1
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hi I have been reading your comments. We have just had a terrible guest in our house in France. They turned up and hid the fact there were many more people staying, were very aggressive to the lady who helps us with the change overs, said he was a cop and bullied her. Then they broke our washing machine then claimed for it , costing us money,. THEN left the house in a state so we had to delay the next changeover because it was so disgusting.ABB no help at all.

I like the suggestion of switching to VRBO and will look into it.

ABB not at all host friendly, so disappointed as really it was such a good idea but now is becoming so much work and creating so much angst. The poor lady who does our managing in the village was worried when we said we would give the guest a bad review because now she thinks if we do ,he will come back and do something to her shop ( this followed someone throwing a brick at her window) as he had her mobile number.

I am so sorry to hear your difficult story. ABB is a good place to do a side business; but hosts take tremendous amount of RISKS. I would suggest that you contact ABB first and then file a report at the police department to protect the welfare of both your manager and you. Do not expect the case managers of ABB to  really help you. They will even erase the e-mail communications, so we could not tract the records and our reports. When in doubt get the police involved as your safety is of primary concern.

Diana15
Level 1
Panama, Panama

Hello...I hope I can reach out to someone as I tried to contact airbnb directly and cant find a number or email for them. Airbnb does not filter guests properly and I received two bad reviews so far. I realise now that I will just to tell bad guests or the ones that complain too much to leave as Airbnb decided to pause my listing because they said my rating was below 4. I am wiser now and able to sense bad guests from the time they enter my place. My listing is very detailed and I stick to my rules. I have stopped going out of my way for guests because I realised they feel and rather know that they have better protection as guests than the hosts. For example the last guests I had came with very high expectations for the cheap price I offer. They just booked the reservation because it was cheap but didnt read the accomodation properly. I want to know whose fault it is if the guests misunderstands something in your announcement? It seems like its the host fault that the guests misunderstood your announcement.

I tried to make the two persons comfortable and they left my place without saying a word and didnt pay for some extra services I offered like to wash and dry and press their clothing. They made claims that the apartment wasnt clean and I clearly told them that I dont offer maid services and I am not a maid. I will assist with cleaning but you need to clean my place when you dirty it. Then they wrote a bad review so I reached out to them and said why write a bad review? Why didnt you cancel your reservation and go somewhere else? The guy said he found somewhere cheaper but didnt want to pay airbnb penalty. So I responded by saying why use the service if you dont agree to the rules?

I found out 12 hours after my listing has been suspended....I am comtemp[lating now to just delete my account from airbnb....

Hi, Diana:

 

I am so sorry to hear the bad experience you encountered. I am certain that many other hosts have shared similar difficulties.

 

To be fair, I believe Airbnb tries to filter bad people and is a reasonable place to do home-renting business. Unfortunately they do not do a good job in eliminating bad candidates and protecting the hosts. Their Trust and Safety team is, per my past experience, unreliable and not responsible. Sooner or later, bad guests may leak through the system. We must individually take precautions in picking good guests and protecting our own interest and safety. Good guests will give us good reviews while bad ones will give us bad reviews. So the secret in this business is picking good guests. If we keep getting bad guests, it is probably best to get out of ABB business so our safety and well-being would not be jeopardized.

 

The advice I have is do not rent out to a new guest (unless you are certain this person is fine) or those who do not have at least several good reviews. Never take in any guest if we smell trouble. The bottom line is opening our home to strangers help us make a few extra bucks; but subject our family under risks as well.

 

Airbnb is in a money making business and their business model is to protect their own interest first; not the hosts. So don't hold our breath if we want Airbnb to help us promptly and efficiently when we are in trouble. Report to Airbnb and seek their help first (855-424-7262); but consider police protection since it is our own safety (not Airbnb) that is on the line.

 

My suggested method for your consideration is: Contact ABB first alerting the urgency of the situation and let them aware that we will lock out the bad guests if ABB is non-response. We then take action accordingly by locking them out. The guests may call ABB and this puts ABB back into a position to act. The key is have ABB take responsibility in settling the problem; but not to have us cancelling the contract, paying penalty and getting our calendar blocked. At the same time please consider involving policemen, if needed.

 

Above is my 2 cents view. If within ABB community, someone may offere better ideas, please contribute as this is an important subject.

 

Take care and best wishes.

 

John

 

Again - if you lock out a guest, and I’m sure it would be for a very good reason, wouldn’t Airbnb penalize you?

Is it even legal that Airbnb suspend your account if you’re merely protecting yourself?

Hello. I too am a SuperHost and have had nothing but 5 star reviews and over 67 guests. I take it very seriously. This my primary and only home and I truly shocked and horrified by AirBnBs lack of customer service and support for long time hosts. I have a strict no pet policy as my oldest child has severe asthma to dogs and cats. I had guests from an Art Gallery stay in my home. They brought a dog that defecated all over my personal items, wool rug, antique waldorf crib and baby blanket I've had for 44 years. AirBnB didn't even pay for the cleaning bill. I have sent over 40 emails to them and have requested a discussion with Trust & Safety but they refuse. I hontesly don't know what the point is of a security deposit if guests can break house rules and the hosts have no proection. AirBnB is corrupt. Not only did they not pay for cleaning they lowered my position of visibility. I honestly don't even know what to say. I wish there was alternative. 

I sympathize with your situation. I believe your story and agree with your
statement regarding Airbnb that they do not have good policy in helping
hosts under difficult conditions. They are a business to make money only.
There are real risks joining Airbnb and welcoming strangers into our home
no matter how hard we try. It is up to us to protect ourselves in such
occasions. Please never rent your home to outsiders with pets as this is
asking for troubles. I wish you the best.

John

Wow.. terrible story. 

 

I have had pretty good service from Airbnb as a superhost so I'm surprised.

You've had absolutley no response from them? Or if you have, what was their reasoning for not helping you out?

 

Tori

As I stated in my story. ABB offered no reason and they just didn't help me until I exerted pressure. 

So what is a security deposit for? Haven’t Airbnb violated their terms of service with you?

Yes, they did. Thanks.

Firstly, you shouldn't be upset about the guest being from China.  Chinese guests come from a different culture, they are more demanding (in part due to culture of service in Asia), but they do have more money to spend.  

 

If you are having a troubled guest, you need to get on the phone with Airbnb and be firm.  Simply state you fear for the safety of you and your wife since they keep coming in your room and are damanging the electrical system which could cause a fire and demand that the guest is out tomorrow.  You are not cancelling the booking, the guests are not following the basic safety rules!

 

Any damages need extensive photographs, receipts, weblinks, and probably a super long unreasonable checklist of items from Airbnb to claim it back.