Guest broke every rule and lied about reason for booking... threw party

[Bret348]

Guest broke every rule and lied about reason for booking... threw party

Hello Fellow Hosts!

I am writing in hopes of gaining insight to prevent an event like this from happening again in the future. There is a lot of information so here is the brief summary:

*Guest booked for 2 adults and stated he was coming into town to bring the "kiddos" to the lake

*Our rental only allows for 2 vehicles to be parked at all times. There were SEVEN vehicles parked, two of which were BOATS and more cars parked around the corner

*Guest threw a party which last until the early hours of the morning at least until 2:30am. Our rules state no parties and quiet hours after 10pm. 

The following morning I asked the guest to leave as we are not able to host anyone that is not sheltering in place. Upon entry in the rental we discovered marijuana, beer cans, dirty dishes, dirty clothes, trash and smoking paraphernalia strewn about. The rental REEKED of marijuana smoke despite best efforts to rid it having all windows, 4 ceiling fans, hood exhaust, essential oil diffuser and burning incense for hours. There were fluids spilled all over the floor. One bed was soaked in urine and the other vomit, both of which penetrated through the mattress protectors and into the mattress. A pair of urine soaked boxer briefs were left on the floor of one closet. Outdoor curtains were spit upon. Two trash bags were filled with four cases of coors light and truuly as well as vodka labels, joints and cigarettes. It took 7 loads of laundry and 6 hours to clean and sanitize the 650 sf space. When I requested money to cover the additional laundry and cleaning costs he continued to claim he was only there with his family and just had four guests. He also accused me of trying to make money off him and stated I must have a tiny washer machine. I have a Ring camera (disclosed) pointing at the entrance/parking with evidence of all the people coming and going all hours of the night as well as them smoking on the property (another rule broken). 

When I called AirBnB the morning I asked them to leave the representative Barbara that I spoke with was quite rude and very unwilling to help. It has been over a week now and I have still not heard back from AirBnB! I am feeling so frustrated with the complete lack of support. As hosts we are assuming all the risks but when we need them they are never there for us! Luckily in the 3.5 years of hosting and 200 +/- bookings we have had very few incidences, however, each time that we have needed support they are always more willing to side with the guest even if they have ZERO reviews. Why oh why does AirBnB not do more to screen guests? Why do they not require everyone to simply upload their id? If you have ever tried to create a new account yourself and book a rental it literally only takes a few minutes. I did so by including nothing more than my email and a credit card, not even a photo or phone number!

I am disheartened by the experience to say the least. This is a family operation and we put our heart into hosting. I'd be grateful for any words of wisdom anyone would care to share or about your own less than favorable experiences you've encountered and how you handled them. Is it best to just the call the cops? I was not anticipating ever being in this situation. 

[Anonymous]

@Bret348  A tiny bit of homework for you:  use the Search feature in these forums, put in the word "party." You'll quickly see that at least once per day over the past year someone has had a story just like yours, many of them even worse.  You can do a search in any online news aggregator too, for "Airbnb party house," and one takeaway will be that these things happen so often that the police can't be bothered unless someone gets shot to death (which has now happened more times than I can count).

It surely must be a shock to the system the first time it happens to you. But if you're renting out an entire home property, you can't afford to be unaware of the fact that oodles of people are renting these out to throw parties. Nor of the fact that Airbnb is not going to swoop in and play Daddy;  it's entirely up to you to vet your guests and maintain control of your property.

Moving forward, what can you do? Disable Instant Book, accept only guests with verified ID, check in your guests in person and verify that their group size matches their description, set alerts on your Ring doorbell so that you can personally see how many people are entering, consider installing noise meters in the property to alert you when sound levels are high during your quiet hours, and most importantly be prepared to enforce your own rules and remove guests from the property the minute it's clear that they've misrepresented their intentions. Your security features are only worthwhile if you're actively using them - never again should you let the goings-on at your home escape your attention until it's too late to do anything about it.

Best of luck with your damage claim; at best, you might eventually be able to extract some compensation for items that were physically destroyed, but don't expect much for cleaning. Keep receipts for everything.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Bret348 You say you asked the guest to leave as you are only allowed to host people who are sheltering in place. I guess my question is why did you let them book in the first place?

also there were red flags - Booking for 2 adults but bringing the kiddos to the lake immediately tells you they are bringing more people than they have booked for.

Finally if you have a Ring camera you must actually monitor it and take action as soon as a party develops.

[Dave52]

@Bret348  Obviously you did nothing wrong.  Its a tough one. If a guest lies about the number of guests and why they are staying, what can you do?  How many airbnb guests book a place and say they are going to throw a big party.  Zero I'd guess??  They'll say they are coming to enjoy a quiet weekend "with the kiddos" like yours did.   Even limiting the number of parking spots didn't stop them.

If the guest is unwilling to pay for the damages, airbnb should cover them with their Host Guarantee.  I've used this feature a couple of times and it worked well.  Just be sure to have everything documented with photos, and estimates of the damage, etc.

Airbnb should ban the guest from booking a stay again.  Although they'll just get one of their friends to book next time.

[Catherine285]

When it is clear guest or lying about the reason for booking is it obvious they have bad intentions for your home???  for example ..You ask for them to add the older family they are booking for and their reservation and they cant produce even one!!! then airbnb accuses you of age discrimination.. And all your trying to do is save home from another party trashing your home!  Don't our future guest deserve the lovely home they booked and not a "crack shack"?

[Catherine285]

BTW.  This is my 3rd attempt to post about the disrespect of my home but the last 2 were blocked.  

MY "COMMON SENCE" IS BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST!!!