Guest threatened to leave a bad review if I submitted a damages claim

[Katie---Sean0]

During his 66-day stay, a guest regularly threatened to leave me a bad review. He only ever threatened verbally, by saying things like "you guys are doing such a great job with your Airbnb I'd hate it if somebody left you a bad review, of course I wouldn't do that to you, but there's a problem you need to know about..." -- and then he would go on to describe his issue. And there a LOT of issues, it was constant. We were consistently friendly, polite, and met ALL his needs, going way over and beyond to try and keep him happy.

After he moved out, I found $1200 in damages. I won't bore you with the details, but I've been a landlord for 25 years and it was way beyond "fair wear and tear" it was excessive and negligent. I told Airbnb the guest had been threatening me with a bad review throughout his stay, so I was afraid to file a claim. A supervisor literally REASSURED me it was ok to go ahead and file a damages claim, that Airbnb would hide or remove a bad review from this guest.

So I filed the claim. The guest wrote threatening a bad review if I did not cancel the claim. So I called Airbnb and now they are back-tracking, saying the language he used the threat isn't quite enough to break their "extortion" policy rules.

He wrote:

I’m sorry to hear about any damage. Had I been aware of any damage I would have of course brought it to your attention. I will pay whatever airbnb deems necessary but unfortunately I will have to leave an honest review warning future guests that should they stay at your cottage for any length of time they risk not only being texted daily but also being charged for any damage during their stay. If you have long term guests you will need to expect this kind of wear and tear. As a landlord for so many years I assumed you would understand that. I was mistaken.

And if you take out all his clever language around the threat – the threat is clear (to me anyways):

I will pay whatever Airbnb deems necessary … but I will have to leave an honest review warning future guests… that should they stay at your cottage for any length of time they risk being charged for any damage during their stay.

However Airbnb is currently telling me... sorry, his message does not amount to a threat of extortion. If they had told me they might back out of supporting me BEFORE filing the claim, I would never have filed it. I'm devastated! I've been through a life-threatening illness, and we spent all our savings on two Airbnb units so I don't have to work so much while I recover. He is only our second guest. I knew he would be a tough one right from the start and I handled him very graciously. 

You can't see his negative review because he only just left it today. I have not yet responded, so his review is not visible. I'm 99% sure it's bad, because this is what he threatened to do if I didn't cancel the damages claim.

I just can't believe Airbnb did this to me... basically telling me... go ahead with your claim we've got your back... and then withdrawing their support afterwards. Gutted.

BTW -- I did not text him "daily". I only texted him when responding to his many issues and complaints, and to let him know if I was rebooting the wifi.

[Katherine444]

Wow what a manipulative guest! Sounds like you were beyond accommodating and professional despite all this. How did things turn out? How long did it take AirBnB to respond and pay on the claim? Did the review itself have to be contested? 

[Katie---Sean0]

@Katherine444 -- hi there, I'd totally forgotten about this post it was so long ago 🙂 -- the situation ended up being very stressful and difficult. Airbnb was not supportive on any front... at first. They only paid less than half of the claim for ruined brand new furniture. They refused to see that the guest was using extortionate language to get me to drop the claim.

However... shortly after posting here, I found the guests' drug stash and paraphernalia hidden under the bed. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to leave it behind lol. It did help make sense of a lot of very strange behaviour from him and his girlfriend. And once I reported it to Airbnb, they took me a lot more seriously. They paid the rest of the claim, and kicked him off the platform (so his review thankfully disappeared).

So in the end Airbnb came through for me, but it's a shame it took something so extreme to make that happen. I've heard that Airbnb has improved how they deal with damaged claims since them, but unfortunately they are still allowing guests to extort hosts by threatening bad reviews -- their recent review policy changes don't even come close to addressing this problem.

As somebody else commented below... the best strategy is to get the review exchange done quickly (you have 14-days) and THEN file a damages claim (you have 30-days). Sure it will mean "making nice" and pretending everything is great with the guest... until you can do the claim. It's the only way unfortunately.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Katie---Sean0 

Having a guest like that must have been hell. If you felt that he was being coercive in his communications, then surely he was.

You might want to bear in mind that damages need not be claimed within the 14 day review period. You actually have 30 days in which to make a claim, so in the review period, just do nothing. After that, make your claim and avoid the retaliatory review you (were) expecting.

[Katie---Sean0]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 – oh wow I’d forgotten that I ever left this post lol. It was a long time ago. The guest I wrote about was one of our first. I did indeed learn from the experience to get the reviews done as soon as possible and THEN file the damages claim. 

Also, there was an interesting turn of events after I posted. It turned out the guest had left his stash of drugs and paraphernalia under the bed. It certainly explains all the damage he had done and erratic/odd behavior. And once I reported this to Airbnb and sent photographic evidence, I believe they kicked him off the platform because his review disappeared and so did he.

[Helen350]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 Old post! - Almost 1 year old. Looks like they deleted their profile & started again... (he was their 2nd guest.)

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Helen350 

yes, @Katherine444  revived the post. still, the information would be useful to any host who chose to use the search facility.

[Katie---Sean0]

@Helen350 @ -- yep old post, I'd forgotten about it! Shortly after posting here, I found the guests' drug stash and paraphernalia hidden under the bed. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to leave it behind lol. It did help make sense of a lot of very strange behaviour from him and his girlfriend. And once I reported it to Airbnb, they took me a lot more seriously. They paid the rest of the claim, and kicked him off the platform -- so his review disappeared.