Guest reporting with bad intentions to Airbnb

[Sarah3087]

My guest asked for check in at 9 am. I refused and offered to put his luggage in the hallway instead. But he was angry maybe, and on his date he checked in and then he reported Airbnb that my sponge in the bathroom had a bad smell. And then he left without no word to me, and next day he canceled the reservation and asked for a full refund because the sponge smelled bad.

Of course, this is not a full refund. But the serious thing is the Airbnb support team's response. They have informed me that they will post "odor complain" to my account not in public. If they get a similar report, they will take the money (or full refund)from my payout. My sponge was smelling fragrant soap. How long do hosts have to endure this pain?

[Sarah977]

@Sarah3087  With every passing day, the company seems to be working harder to offend, insult, penalize and alienate their hosts for their own errors in judgement and outrageously bad guest behavior. 

[Emily487]

@Sarah3087 

Ugh, I'm so sorry.  AirBnB  just encourages this kind of bad behavior. I'd dare anyone at CS to go to their favorite restaurant, smell the rag next to the sink, and try to ask for their money back. 

I can not imagine that they really have a secret file with "odor complaints" for any of our listings...I have not seen "sponge funk" anywhere in the T of Service and I certainly can't imagine how they would decide to take money from your account based on said funk. A funk rating system? I can think of a few guests who need "odor complaint" attached to their profile, though.

CS can barely answer emails using full sentences, AirBnB never actually rolls out magical updates that they advertise are "coming soon", and every CS agent gives different information for basic questions. Ignore them all and just keep being a great host. 

[Sarah977]

@Emily487  Your turn of phrase always makes me laugh. Love the"sponge funk".

[Kath9]

@Sarah3087, the first red flag was asking for a 9am check in when your check in is 4pm and your check out isn't until 10am! If someone had asked me that prior to booking, I would have declined their request. However, it's a bit trickier when someone books and then asks for special favours. It's completely ludicrous and over the top for them to complain to Airbnb about a bad sponge smell. I hope you review them honestly.

[Ale113]

Do you have material proves (messages, calls) at 9am from guest trying to check-in earlier than agreed?

I have a fee for early bookings. Since I worte that in the House Rules I don't have that many guests asking me to arrive at 10am. But it's true that I have revenge reviews because of many guests pretending to check-in at 10am without any comment, just by chance.

[Ann72]

@Ale113  A fee for early check-in is a good idea I haven't seen before!

[Sarah3087]

He made a sudden request with a message 10 days before check-in. My house has many guests, so early check-in is not possible. Anyway, my sponge is still smelling like soap not funk at all.
What I worry about is that he leaves bad reviews. I thought about this problem. I'm postponing my refusal for a full refund for 14 days. He'll never leave a bad review because he's at least expecting a full refund.

[Alan199]

Unfortunately, in my experience, when a bad guests isn't happy and is unable anymore to leave a review on Airbnb, they then just go onto TripAdvisor or Google and trash you there instead!  😞