Demanding guests requesting for longest stay

Answered!
Stacy57
Level 3
Whitby, Canada

Demanding guests requesting for longest stay

Hello

 

My fellow hostess I have currently have 2 guests that booked a stay from November 11- November 25. Before confirming their stay I cheked their reviews they has 3 great  reviews and was also verified. So of course I thought this should be great.  I cheked him in no problem explained all the rules and as I tell with all my guests told him "please feel free to contact me should you have any questions. 

 

Okay so the very next day he send me a text first thing in the morning telling me that my frying pan is no good and I need to replace it. Apparently it is not a non-stick,  its buringing the food and the handle heats up when using it. He also tells me I need to replace it with a non-stick preferred. Mind you it is a high quality stainless steel fry that I have used my self plenty of times with now issues. He then goes on to complain that my bed is too soft and asks me what can be done? alomst implying that i repalce it as well. 

 

Ok no problem I say sorry for your trouble. perhaps the fry pan is doing what he says and maybe the bed is coming of age. Anyway I hurried over to Walmart picked up not one but two brand new frying pans. I also took some time to figure out some options to help make my guests feel more comfortable when they sleep. However all options  I explored in terms of mattress toppers would only make my mattress even softer then what is is, because that is the purpose of a mattress topper to make it softer. 

 

Okay so I dropped off the new fry pans and explain to my guests that I looked into other options however it would not solve the problem. He looked at me as if he was implying that I need to get a new matress immediately. I simply expresed to him thats not an option. The only thing I could think of was to flip the mattress over on the firmer side.  I did just that.

 

Two days go by and he contacts me again via text saying that he would like to discuss  few things. So I call him right away. He tells me he would like to extend his stay unit Dec 2nd and possibly  to January or February. Also that him and his wife have just moved to Toronto  however he did not take into account how expensive Toronto is.. Lolol not my problem have you ever hear such a thing???  who moves to a  comletely new country and doesnt do their reserach?.. Anyway he would like to know what my monthly rate is. 

 

okay so I tell him what my monthy rate is and he because he is staying longer I will make arragemets for the bed. He agrees and sends me another long text telling me he needs a rice pot, that my dish rack is too small  I need to get a bigger one as it can not fit all the dishes. So I take a deep breath because at this point Im really starting to wonder when does this end and why is he calling me to ask me for things specific to his liking.  I really dont understand. 

 

Anyway I send him a nice text explaing to him I will not be able to accomidate the following requests. He texts me back asking to speak on the phone to further discuss. I speak to him on the phone he still telling me that I have a small dish rack blabla bla Again I simply explain to him I can not buy items only to your liking if you wish to have the items your requesting you must purchase, as all items are funtional in the unit. Am I wrong here?? Am I being to nice??

he says okay and still wants to stay longer.. insteresting right?

 

Me being optimistc I thought I set him straight I sent him a special offer to stay until jan as per his request, and he accepts. Now  tonight he send me anoher request tonight asking me if I have can bring him another complete sheet set. Mind you I have an extra comforter, sheets provided there to use..

 

This guest is getting really annoying always asking me for stuff... what is your advice? should i charge for bringing him extra things? I never had anyone demand soo much. really tinking to cancel his booking for january at this point. Everyday every week its something esle

I want to be a great hosts have great rating but this doesnt seem like it will be getting a 5 star rating.

what are you suggestions?

 

1 Best Answer

I would firmly state that you are not changing anything else on your listing for him. He chose to stay there after his initial booking so if it doesn't suit him tell him to cancel. I don't think he will by the way, he is just trying to see how far he can push you. I would also ask him to stop contacting you unless there is a real emergency, I have had one unhinged guest annoying me until 1.30 am about a made up problem and had airbnb cancel their stay as nothing would please her and I was sick of being harassed. No amount of money would make me put up with that. Do not entertain anyone who is entitled, they will continually ask you to jump through hoops- if you let them.

View Best Answer in original post

37 Replies 37
Gillian19
Level 10
St Leonards, Australia

@Stacy57 I am not sure why you agreed to extend his stay? He had alsready raised a number of unreasonable requests and I would have said it was quite clear he was going to continue to do so.

 

Sometimes it's better to turn down the $$ however tempting they may seem.

 

I'm not sure on what grounds you would be able to get a penalty free cancellation given you chose to send him a special offer after he had already stayed with you for a period of time.

@Gillian19 thanks for responding. Im really not sure I think because im a new hosts and trying to be as accomidating as a possible  the money? coming to a slow season? 

 

At this point is there anything you beleive i could say that would make him understand these are beyond un reasonable requests. im really not sure why he keeps asking me 

Gillian19
Level 10
St Leonards, Australia

@Stacy57 Its the old adage 'Give someone an inch and they will take a mile'. 

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Stacy57, I am hearing alarm bells! It is unfortunate that you have already accepted his request to stay until January - I would have turned him down based on his initial demands and complaints. This person is just going to go on and on complaining and I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually ask for a refund for their stay. DO NOT keep accommodating their ridiculous requests - your listing is very cheap already and they do not get to demand new things every day. I would be having a very frank conversation with them to say that the listing is what it is and if they are not happy with the facilities, they are free to cancel. If they do not and continue to demand new things, I would ring Airbnb and tell them you are feeling uncomfortable with the situation and ask them to cancel the booking. DO NOT cancel it yourself otherwise your calendar will remain blocked all the way through to January.

@Kath9 thank you thank you thank you for this now I know Im not crazzy.  And Im at the point when im going to have a very frank phone conversation with him tomorrow moring. Ive never had guests behave in this fashion. Thank you for the advice.

Kathy, Gillian, and Stacy, Your conversation is very helpful.  I am just beginning to book long term stays.  It reminds me to decide upon some boundaries before I extend my bookings.  I also receive the advice about not getting caught in the money issue.  Thank you!

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Stacy57, you're welcome. Best of luck with it - I hope you get them out pronto!

@Stacy57

I host long-term, usually only 4 guests per year but I maintain a 80% occupancy rate. With that said....... your guest is one of the worst type of long term guests that a host can be stuck with. Asking for things clearly not included in the listing and expecting special requests to be immediately accomodated like that is just plain rude! Why would you want to put up with that kind of entitled behavior for longer than you absolutely need to? And bending over backwards will not guarantee a good review either. Listen to what the other hosts have said and do not let them extend their stay..... trust me.... whatever money you make will not be worth it. Good luck~

@Jessica-and-Henry0Thank you very much so this advice its great hearing what from hosts like yourself who've gone through this sort of stuff. I really apprecaite it. I know ikm totally kicking y self in the ass for it right know as i should have followed my gut feeling. But this is a lesson 

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

@Stacy57

We all have to learn the hard way. All hosts have had this guest at sometime and we do develop tricks.

You are new and it is the slow season, so I understand why you allowed this guy to extend. 

But you now have to control the situation. 

#1. DO NOT SPEAK ON THE PHONE WITH HIM! 

       Airbnb warns you about communication outside of Airbnb. 

         "I'm sorry, we need to follow Airbnb policy and only communicate through their app"

        You need a record of his ridiculousness.

       Also, the guest needs to weigh the consequences of a written request and make a judgement.

#2. Learn to say "No" diplomatically. 

       "Let me think about it." "Let me see what's availabe at the store, next  Friday"   Then, on Friday say                    "Oh I forgot to look for a pan. (smile)"

     

 

@Stacy57

 

@Paul154 mentioned a very important point..... you need to keep evidence of all communication exchanged with the guest. Even if you have a phone conversation, always summarize key points discussed and reiterate immediately on ABB messenger. 

@Paul154 Thank you this is sound advice. I will proceed to do it this way. Ive also been in touch with AirBNB and let them know and they have advised me as you did. I need to use to platform as a means of communication. They said they can not accept text messages to support this case. However thay totally support me and agree that anything that is not listed he shouldnt be requesting. Nor should he be requesting any special requets. They also offered to speak to him to mediate the situiton find out whats going on and of course how can they make this a positive  stay. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Stacy57  This guest will never be satisfied AND he will leave a bad review (because this type of guest always does) no matter if you rush around trying to accomodate his every demand. When a guest starts acting like this, you have to shut this behavior down right away. "I'm sorry, but I can't accomodate this- if you need a rice cooker, you'll have to go buy one, it's not listed under my amenities."  "I'm sorry that you're not pleased with the accomodation. I suggest you look for another place which will suit you better."

There ARE some things that guests sometimes suggest (not demand) that hosts need to take into consideration and upgrade from time to time. If a frying pan is all scratched up, for instance, it might need to be replaced. If a mattress is too soft (not just for 1 guest) you might need to look at replacing it at some point. If a guest mentions that the hallway is too dark, we might need to put a good lamp there. We are used to things in our homes, and might not consider that it's not adequate for a rental. But just kowtowing to entitled guests demands is not at all a hosting requirement and will result in nothing positive.

@Sarah977 Thanks for responding I really appreciate it.   Taking it all into considration  is another reason why I decided to be a little bit more patient with this guests. I've really tired to put my self in is his shoes and take into consideration what he is saying. My frying pan his inital statment was that its not a non-stick and then he said the handle heats up, and it burns the food. Mind you if you dont watch out a stainlees steel pot can burn if you not watching and thats with anything. And then he implied that he would like to have a non-stick. Which their in lies the demandness

 

My mattress he said its too soft for him and is hurting their backs. Which again I took a step back and said to my self okay maybe my mattress has come of age. However I've had several guests before who have never complained. And because he said he would like to stay until January I said (again trying to be acomidating) I will look about making arragments.

All in all the demands jsut dont seem to stop and I feel like it never ends. 

I will send him a messge via the Airbnb platform to hopfully set things straight ill have to keep you posted