Extortion attempt advice

[Ashley26]

Hello all,

I tend to be way too wordy, so I'll try to keep this as concise as possible, and greatly appreciate any advice. Kind of a long story, but I think it's worth mentioning all the parts to get the full picture. 

Bought a house in Nicaragua a year ago, strictly for vacation rental income, so I take this very seriously, as it's not "extra money". I don't know how many total people we have now hosted, but in less than a year we have 42 reviews, so I'd guess at least 65 reservations and 100+ people, at least. All reviews have been 5 star, written reviews are fantastic, Superhost status, I'm way overpaying the property manager to make sure we get great reviews, seems like every day I read another glowing review, I was feeling great about the house and all was going well...

Two weeks ago I had to go Nicaragua for business for 10 days. The house was already rented with 3 different short term reservations, so I stayed one night in the house, then moved to a hotel and let the property manager continue check ins / check outs as usual (All reservations are confirmed to meet with him, as I live in US, but happened to be there when this happened). On Feb 28 he called and told me he had just checked in some guests that he felt weird about, and thought they might be a problem, but he wasn't sure why. He has never done this before, but I didn't think much of it... the next day I recieved a text (a real SMS text - not through Airbnb) from this guest, saying they had bed bugs. Actually a "huge infestation" of bed bugs. I panicked, as this is of course a host's worst nightmare, and I had no reason to think she was lying (yet). The guest didn't realize I was in Nicaragua (looking back, this all makes more sense, but at the time I didn't realize what was happening) so she was surprised when I immediately responded, and told her I would find the property manager and be there within the hour. 

Property manager and I got to the house and waited until they finally showed up, then I let her tell me all about this huge bed bug infestation that I knew wasn't true, but I didn't want to be rude and call her a liar, so I just apologized for the inconvenience and said I'd do all I could to help. I still did think there was a possibility it might be true, but it seemed unlikely, since the house had been full every night for months and nobody else noticed any bed bugs. Still, I was scared to death this might be real.  Until I met the guests and felt how staged they were. The whole thing was an uncomfortable and dramatic show (as I'm sure she didn't think I'd actually be in Nicaragua, and thought this would all be going through a middle man property manager). It was all very 8th grade drama class, but I was trying to go with "the customer is always right" and also just wanted them out of my house, so I agreed with everything she said and tried to shoo them out.

At this point, the guests had spent one night in the house, and they had a 3 night reservation. I immediately refunded their total reservation from my phone on the spot, and offered to take their clothes to the laundry, as we would be taking all bedding, towels, sheets, etc (Didn't yet know if this was real or not, so had to take EVERYTHING to be sterlized and laundered, as though it was real). They declined, and went on and on about how they will still leave a positive review because this can happen anywhere, they live in Costa Rica (this changed later), they know all about Airbnb and don't want to mess up my reviews, etc. At the time, this seemed strange to me, because I was literally worried about potential bed bugs and the thousands of dollars and incredible nightmare that would mean, not reviews...   As my property manager was getting them into the car to take them to a hotel (with 3 bags I had given them to use for luggage), I told them I had already issued the full refund via Airbnb, but this is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not sure if it is immediate or will take 24 hours to clear or whatever... The older man barked "Oh, we know how it works" and got in the car. This stuck with me, but I was still worried we might have bed bugs, and had much bigger things to worry about. Now, I can see it was a scam...

Long story short, we had 2 exterminators come to the house, both of whom said we had no bed bugs. Turns out, they're super rare in Nicaragua anyway, but by that point I had already refunded 100% of their 3 night stay, so I went ahead and did another full house fumigation, which we have to do every few months anyway (open air house, tropical country). This meant I also had to cancel the next reservation (takes a few days to air out after fumigation), all for a fake bed bug claim. So at this point, they had cost me quite a bit, but I was just happy to be rid of them. 

The next day, I got a text (again, now I see how they used Airbnb messages for bed bug claims and regular SMS for things like this) saying they had a set of my keys and also needed $40 for laundry reimbursement.  She also disputed my 100% refund, because the Airbnb fees had been taken out, and she wanted cash for the difference. I was just so ready to be done with these people, I had the property manager take them $40 in cash so we could just be finished with them. Fine. At this point, their fake claim had cost me their own reservation (and myself staying in a hotel because of their reservation), the next reservation, cost of unnecessary full house fumigation, and $40 cash. It was ridiculous, but I just didn't want to deal with them anymore, so I considered it a lesson learned.

A full week passes, and now I'm back in the US. I have not reviewed her, she has not reviewed me, but by this time I've put some pieces together and am aware I've been taken, and these folks are pros. Don't even really care, because I'm just so happy that I don't really have bed bugs, which would be a nightmare to deal with in Nicaragua. Honestly, I was just waiting for the 12 days to run out, so they couldn't write a bad review, then I wouldn't have to write one either, and I could just pretend it didn't happen and hope this wasn't a planned con, as I was afraid it might have been.  

Yesterday I got a message from her, saying they continue to have major bed bug problems, now they have brought the bugs home with them (guess they live in the US and not Costa Rica now), I have clearly known about this for a long time and I'm engaged in some kind of scam or coverup, they feel misled and lied to, I am falsely marketing my property and knowingly exposing guests to a known health hazard, they are very knowledgable about Airbnb's insurance policies for things like this, etc etc... It was written in that kind of language someone uses when they want to scare you legally (except that everyone in my family is a lawyer, so I knew it was BS). Then she itemized all the things I owed her for (please remember she already declined my offer to launder things): $40 laundry fee, $120 extra hotel night "because laundry wasn't finished in time to catch the bus", and on and on and on... At the end of it, she asked for $600 cash, or she'll leave a review about bed bugs. Pretty sure that is clear extortion.

Not only did I offer to do their laundry already (which would have negated the $600 in made up charges anyway), but I have refunded them in full, and gave $40 cash for the laundry on top of that, already! This was a very clear extortion attempt, so I called Airbnb before responding, and was advised that there is not much I can do. They did tell me to provide proof of extermination, which I did, and they said maybe if she leaves a bad review (which she will - that was the threat, if I didn't cough up the extra $600, which I didn't, so the review is undoubtebly coming) Airbnb might be able to delete it, as they have proof that both an exterminator and the Health Dept of Nicaragua certified that we don't have bed bugs. This sure seems like a lot of work to just keep a lie from killing my income. In the US, you could sue for libel, but of course that wouldn't fly in Nicaragua, so I would love any general Airbnb advice on this? I have proactively sent proof that it's not true, but the same kind of thing could happen in the future with another made up problem. Is there no way to safeguard against made up problems / attempts to get money?

This has raised larger questions for me. Obviously I should have been much more careful in accepting guests, in general. This person had 0 reviews, so I should have declined her anyway, but I didn't think to look at the profile again until this all happened. I googled her name, and the person who came up was indeed there, but was presented to me as the guest's friend (the actual guest had a different name). Hindsight is always 20/20 and now I can see they were probably sh***ing their pants when they realized I was actually in town and showing up at the house when they sent the bed bug alert (I'm sure they assumed I'd be in US and accept their word for it), so they forgot who they were supposed to be or who was supposed to be the bed bug expert or whatever. Still my fault for accepting a no review BS account, but now my bigger concern is that this is probably bigger than just my property. These 3 people knew about the Airbnb process and how many hours until refunds would hit their account, what to include on Airbnb messaging and what to use personal texts for, 2nd grade legal jargon to try to scare people (and of course the magic "bed bugs" scare), the importance of reviews, and the ins and outs of Airbnb's insurance policies. Seems like a lot to know for a person who is having her first Airbnb experience (according to the profile). 

Now that it is pretty clear this is a fake account, what can I do (other than leaving an honest review) to keep this person from lying and trying to extort money from other hosts?  Of course "bed bugs" is the scariest thing she could threaten to say in a review, and now I can see the method in the messages on Airbnb vs phone, and why she didn't accept my offer to pay for laundry, other little things along the way... This is not her first or last, but I'm sure this person is opening and closing Airbnb profiles all the time... How do I help get the word out about her? What do I do in the future to keep this from happening again? There was a day when I didn't have any reviews either, so I hate to just ban everybody with no reviews, because I assume they're fake? Airbnb is supposedly looking into other profiles associated with this email / banking info, but I feel like there must be some other way I can keep this from happening again? Any advice? 

This $259 reservation is costing me thousands, and seems to be quite a refined little racket con job, so I'm sure it is happening to other hosts as well. What do I do??  To be honest, I'm just so offended by the personal accusation that I am knowingly lying and misrepresenting my property, it has become a personal mission now to make sure this doesn't happen to others. 

I sent Airbnb proof that I don't have bed bugs, so even if she does leave a negative review, they will delete it (hopefully) because they are already aware of it. But how do I keep it from happening to myself or others in the future? Is there not some way to prevent negative reviews from being posted at all, when there is a clear attempt to extort money?

Sorry... Said I'd keep it short. Ha. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Ashley 

[Matthew285]

@Ashley26, thank you for the reply and further details of the story!

I do want to learn from your experience.

Knowing what you do now, what do you think you would have done differently at that point?

[Robin4]

@Ashley26 @Matthew285. If I can just say one thing here. I'm Rob, an Airbnb Superhost from Australia, I am part of the Experts Group and we are aware of this issue, and as far as Airbnb is concerned there will be a zero tollerance to a false bedbug claim. We understand the consequences of a claim like this on the host and it is pointed out to the complainant now that if their claim cannot be substantiated their account will be immediately closed...are they prepared to proceed with their request!

We have seen the situation where a guest has travelled with a supply of bedbugs and deposited a few on leaving and then requesting a full refund for their stay.

What goes on is understood and ways to combat this issue are constantly being monitored, and I know, at times the company is being seen as the enemy of the host. This saddens all of us who just want to see justice done. We also have to experience the other side of the coin where a host has claimed cigarette damage to the value of $2,000 for an outdoor setting that was purchased from the Salvation Army opp shop for $175.00.

It is hard being the meat in the sandwich!

All we can do is try, we won't always get it right but, we will try!

Cheers.....Rob

[Naomi8]

Hi Ashley,

I was suprised how many unhelpful and unsympathetic replies you received. It is upsetting and disillusioning when guests behave badly. I find myself distressed quite a bit by the behaviour of people in general and in particular guests. A saying I often find true is 'No good deed goes unpunished'.  Maybe you should let the matter go now. You have done everything in your power and it is a source of anguish and worry and it will only prolong the expense and problems.

[Ashley26]

Thanks for your comment, and I was also surprised by the unhelpful comments I recieved when I posted here in March. Since then, I have not visited this forum at all (until today, because I was notified of responses to my post from 8 months ago) and it all worked out anyway. I was satisfied with Airbnb's handling of the situation (deleted the scammer from the platform altogether), I never lost Superhost status, and I'm still at 4.9 stars with a few hundred guests, so it was just a one-off that taught me more about the Airbnb hosting community than anything else, and I certainly won't be asking any more questions in this forum. Ha. Anyway, I do appreciate your response and positivity, and totally agree with you about letting it go. Lessons were learned, but it all ended up fine and I appreciate your positive comment.

[Fred13]

@Ashley26  I was about to message you, because I was wondering how it was going for you since the 'Bedbug Incident' back in March. I did find the whole forum exchange incredibly absurd. I am so glad to hear you still maintain a most positive attitude towards hosting. Forums always become what the present participants make it, and we do have a great lot here.

Also thrilled to hear from @Robin that Airbnb is now wiser when evaluating ill-intent on the part of either host or guest. At the time, you had a long track record of excellence and kindness, and the way you expressed yourself spoke volumes; conversely, the 'Hustlers'  had zero credibility and by their ~behavior~ shouldn't have been afforded a nano-second of further consideration.

Alast note in my case with the 'Confused One', the fellow that claimed in the most bulldog fashion at first that 24th-28th constitudes 5 days, not 4. He didn't dare leave a review, BUT wrote a 3-page scathing rambling diatribe way in the last 3 pages of the Guest Book, so I won't see it. I caught it as they were packing, ripped the 3 pages out and stuffed it in his suitcase as I was putting it in the boat. Just imagine his face when he unpacked it back home. His wife, a sweetheart of a woman really, did write and apologized for the whole incident.

[Robin4]

@Fred13

Fred, I miss the CC forum, I miss the chance to 'chat'. Where I am now everyone has a problem, most are angry and want you to validate what is not validatable....and when you can't they give you a 'red face'!

I truly want to help but, if it wasn't for the money, I wouldn't be there, does that make me a 'tart'!

But I have learned a massive amount about the way the platform runs. That 'hotline to God' has taught me heaps and I can tell you that extortion, or blackmail on the part of any user is a surefire way to get their account closed. Never be afraid to click that flag in the message stream! It is one thing to embarrass the hustler......... it's another to take away their 'soapbox'!

All the best Fred!

Cheers....Rob

[Maureen233]

Had this happen, 2x in the past couple of years.  Last month these 2 20ish year old professional scammers won again thanks to Airbnb. I  lost /paid a maid fee (they slept over despite complaining of bed bugs-found their dirty towels and my neighbor said they were there all night), lost a 3 day weekend of income, and they got a free stay while airbnb shut down my site. Still not a sign of a bug as these people know the ropes...they scam freely.  These last scammers were homeless, had their free food from the local food pantry with them.  They move from place to place for free, using airbnb and using pics of bed bugs they buy online, then videos from YouTube and they get away with it.  I've rented my immaculate luxury condo since 2006 with no issues but now in 2 years, 2 of the same type of scam. I called the police and filed a report and gave them his and her drivers license. This is fraud and needs to be stopped. !  Get drivers licenses and selfies so you can get the police involved and FILE a report to shut them down!! I am so sorry. this happened to you too....wastes thousands of dollars, so many hours in hassles, ,stressful as heck...

[Kelly144]

As someone who worked in a hostel in the 90s that DID get bedbugs, I've seen their damage and the bites are unmistakable. The bugs don't move far between bites, so people who have been bitten by them end up with long rows of red bites. Anyone showing you anything that looks like a mosquito bite is mistaken or a scammer. Also, they don't come out until night, and it isn't until you wake in the morning that you even notice, the bites are not painful enough to wake you (itchy as hell afterwards though). I'd call bs right away on anyone who has just checked in claiming to see them. Why would they even unmake the bed when they've just arrived? And even if they did unmake the bed right away, they wouldn't find them. It's such a shame and very worrying that this is becoming a trend. 

[Marivel0]

I had a situation with a couples husband threatening me to post a bad reveiw if i did not fully refund the total based off of water leaking from the ceiling. i asked the guest why they did not notify me of the problem when it happened as they stated it happened on the first night of their stay but decided to tell me about it after their check out to demand the full refund. This has happened before where a guest breaks the house rules by not notifying me of an issue so they can have a free stay. 

Well sad to say that Airbnb contributes to this problem by not following their own legal policy. The guest's husband left an aweful review using his wifes profile and lied about the whole situation even though i had proof and video of the plumber snaking out the ladies tampons and baby wipes from the pipes they used to flush down these items. It literally felt like a scam and airbnb is supporting these type of scams. 

Very disappointed and will most likely not use airbnb again. VRBO and Tripadvisor are actually better with dealing with situations like this. 

[Sooner0]

What do you do when these people leave a bad review claiming of bed bugs??

This recently happened to my husband and I with some guests over Christmas. It's VERY apparent that they brought the bed bugs with them. There was zero evidence that we had them in our home. All the mattresses are brand new and there was no residue of bed bugs anywhere. They brought the baggie of bed bugs with them and showed them to the property manager. The bugs in the bag were large. Most likely at least 6 months old. We had stayed in that property multiple times beforehand and definitely did not see or feel any evidence of bed bugs. Our cleaning team is incredible and keeps the home spotless.

We were forced to pay a $5000 heat treatment bill AND refund half their stay. The question is - how do we protect ourselves? And how do we make sure people still rent our beautiful home despite the bad review on the STR sites?

Super stressed about this one!

[Robin4]

@Sooner0 

I am so saddened to hear this, I truly thought Airbnb had this good old bedbug ruse sorted out.

There has been over the past few years a class of 'guest' who does carry with them a supply of bedbugs which they have  purchased from somewhere....some backpacker hostel or some other source and introduced them to an unsuspecting hosts listing on the last day of a 10 day stay in order to claim a full refund. They will have photographic evidence linking the bedbugs to that particular listing and Airbnb used to fall for this one, hook, line and sinker.....close the hosts listing down and give the guest a refund. This class of 'guest' considers something like that as a win, a victory for the struggling guest over that evil money hungry host....... and has no hesitation in pulling the same stunt again!

It was never what you would call rife,  but it did happen often enough to be a real concern. While I spent time in support a new strategy was formulated that, when a guest bedbug complaint came in, a certain procedure was followed. First the hosts reviews were studied to see if there had ever been a previous bedbug complaint in their hosting history. Second the guests history would be studied to see if they had lodged a similar complaint previously. Thirdly all bedbug complaints would be cross-matched to see if any other complaints could be linked to that hosts listing. The idea of that was to try and establish where the infestation started. If no previous history could be found that could be linked to the unfortunate hosts property the claim would be rejected and the guests account could be closed!

Airbnb did go to considerable lengths to try to establish if the complaint was genuine. If this procedure has broken down, I am deeply saddened and fearful for the hosting community. 

Maybe this is the sort of thing you should take to social media  and warn others publicly.

I am sorry I don't have any answers for you, I really did think Airbnb were on top of this trick, did you try escalating to a supervisor?

Cheers......Rob