First 'filthy' guests

[Tracy0]

Hi all.  I am usually an at-home host, sharing the home, but this holiday season I planned to be away and I had a prospective guest whose dates matched well.  I'd be home the day before they arrived to prepare and leave a lockbox key, and might have popped in and out but certainly back the night before they left (which is exactly how it worked out).

They were a mum and two teenagers visiting London on a European trip to see several cities.  Communication was excellent and polite and of a high standard (attention to detail etc).  Also very friendly! I was looking forward to them as guests and I was sorry I'd mainly miss them.

I had an event to go to and popped back to the flat to grab some things I had forgotten to take with me when I left after getting the flat ready for them. (They were aware they were renting a room and not a flat, that usually I share with others and live and work here, and I let them know that unusually I'd be away a bit but that I'd specifically be coming back on that day to get a few things).

I found the flat a total pigsty.  I was horrified, really.  Nobody has ever treated the room - and certainly not the flat - in this way.

Some I can understand - they had suitcases spread out in the main room as I wasn't there much and the bedroom is quite full for those size suitcases and three sleeping spaces (I needed to give an airbed as it was three people and usually only a king bed is available).  Given that I wasn't home I can deal with this 'spreading' issue no problem!

It's the dishes and food all over the kitchen (clearly there for days, stinking), the toothpaste smeared on the sink, the counter, the bathtub (???). The used tampon on the floor.  The fact that shoes aren't to be worn in the flat and they walked with shoes over my  new sheepskin run to deposit the shoes under the kitchen table. The washed white towels that were now dark grey (using the washing machine was not in the listing, and wouldn't have minded though if they hadn't wrecked my white hand towels by washing with other things).  The hole in the airbed (large, not a 'oops' hole).  I had to move the sofa to prepare my room to work and found half a can of crunched pringles falling out of the tin that had just been shoved under it. I have a basket of toiletries -a lot of stuff- that I offer to guests to use if they forget something. They used ALL of it - in the case of nail polish remover pads they opened the bag at the wrong end, ruining any that were left.  They used nearly ALL of my expensive shampoo left in the shower as well.  They were three people here for six days for crying out loud!

I have no clue how to write a polite review. Help?

[Michael30]

Hi Robin

The deactivation of Instant book has not hidden my listing, I have now spelt it out in my listing that my Family Home is not a Back Pack or Hostel.

I love meeting Visitors from overseas , I am a tourist Ambassador for Hervey Bay , I try to make all my guest happy and welcome in my home.

I was devistated for a few days thinking that I was the only host that had their home damaged by guests, after reading overseas news papers it was revealed that Airbnb is getting a bad reputation since it introduced Instant book, the amount of complaints from Hosts have risen and a lot of host have removed their properties from the site.

I have worked in Transportation and Tourism for many years, I owned a Very Well Known Travel Agency which I sold in 1997.

[Paul1329]

We had a guest from China stayed at our place last week.  Her review were positive, and that she's a world traveler, so i was looking forward for a nice guest.  However, on the first day, she rang our bell around 1030pm (our quiet time during the weekday), and asked to show her how to operate the shower.    She also sent message via Airbnb apps saying that the shower was broken and if we could fix it! ugh!  I ran downstairs and showed her how to operate it (though i was half sleep and half pissed because this was during working week).  Then the next day, i went downstairs to check on her, rang the bell and discovered she was not there.  The place was like a sauna.  The thermostats turned up to 85 degree F while she was not even in the the apartment.  I confronted her via email.  The next day, i went downstairs around 7am and discovered she had left the premises, left the apartment door and front door unlocked! (security risk!), and the place was like a war zone! Large towels were left on the bathroom floor, used tissues every where in the bedroom, empty shopping bags in the bedroom, empty water bottles everywhere, folk with food (scallion?!) left in the sink, and worst of all, left over food, fish, left on the kitchen table, and half used coffee pot on kitchen table. The apartment smelled like rotten sewage/fish (because of two day old left over food/fish).  I had to run to the nearby home depot and bestbuy to get air purifier to fumigate the entire place.  Then 5 hours later, she texted me and thanked me for the nice stay and told me that she had to left early to catch a flight home to (China).  UGH! she could have told us.  We could have been robbed with doors unlocked!!!! I don't want to leave anyone a negative feedback but this one was over the top!!!!  I can still smell that rotten awful smell!!!! Yikes!!!!

[Victoria567]

Hi @Paul0

No need for a negative review.

The honest actual facts, will do just fine and much appreciated by fellow hosts to make up their own minds.

The wishy washy, vague review littered with “ double speak”, is as much use as a chocolate teapot and the air bnb platform is full of such reviews for rogue guests.

These useless reviews allow such guests to proliferate and bounce through the air bnb platform from unsuspecting host to host, and its really not on.

Facts please are always appreciated and not having to trawl through meaningless phrases such as.....best suited to a hotel....Er hello?

[Victoria567]

Hi@Paul

What would really help other hosts, is the halt of the vague review of poor guests, from fellow hosts.

Would you have even entertained the thought of accepting a booking from these guests if you had read anything other than the stellar reviews you must have read about them?

I mean someone somewhere must have given them reviews?

These poorly penned reviews are short on facts, full of “double speak” with just the bland ‘“best suited to a hotel”, phrase being prominent........

Er Hello?

Fellow host......I’ve just had the guest I would NOT want to host again and they got a 5* star, review so WHAT THE HECK, is going on?

Other host.......Oh it couldn’t be that bad, just chalk it down to experience as it WILL make YOU a much better host. I suggest that you DON’T cane this guest, you don’t want to hurt their feelings or self esteem!

Just write “best suited to a hotel” as EVERYONE surely knows, what this guest DID in your family home.

Fellow host.......but that’s so vague, how’s that going to STOP this guest bouncing around air bnb from unsuspecting host to unsuspecting host?

Other host.........it’s ONLY a review, for goodness sake! It soon gets buried anyway, nobody bothers except hosts like you........but most  important of all, I DONT want to risk my STATS!

Er....Hello?

[Helen56]

Just describe the filth as you have in your first post.  I don't want those people in my home!!!  There is no need to be rude or nice; just state the facts of how they left your flat.

[Hank11]

It seems to me, with Airbnb that honesty is not the best policy. Almost always, when a host writes a negetive review of a guest you can count on a retalitorial review from the guest.  Watch your supper host go away! 

We have had great success with almost all of out bookings, people were great, but every once in a awhile you get that irrisponsible and inconsiderate guest that leaves one wondering how must these people live at home?