House rules ignored, dangerous behaviour, attempt to get a freebie (free night stay)!

House rules ignored, dangerous behaviour, attempt to get a freebie (free night stay)!

Hi Guys, My new guests arrived on Tuesday night,They were supposed to be workers for the Local university....because it was 10 pm, I went to pick them up at the train station.  During the short drive to our place, they told me they don't work for the universities but go there to find new volunteer to help in Africa and a couple of other places . I explained to them all they have to do, such as turning off all lights , extinguish the anti-mozzies candle, when going to bed etc including a very specific instruction to turn off the hot water valve that was installed (to cut hot water after use) as otherwise the water pressure build up create a major leak and empty the hot water system ....we have to do so for another two weeks till a plumber can fix the issue (If we didn't install the temporarily valve then we would have had to cancel the bookings ...it is a small thing to do I though anyone could do!)...They also requested some towels from us as they didn’t have any…I didn’t charge them for that either. ..next thing is that at 2 am, I am woke up (dus to spinal injury I don't sleep much) and could see my whole backyard lighted...they had left all my lights on (verandas light, 3 sets of led lights in the trees, kitchen lights, lights in shower cubicle, hot water valve on, and a large anti-mozzies candle still lighted and burning at the foot of our wooden table in the backyard under the veranda.
In the morning they left early but not before leaving crumbs all over the bench, dirty cups in the sink, dirty clothes + personal stuff in shower cubicle and rubbish on the shelf in the toilet ...with the bin just underneath handy and waiting to be used ..all those things covered in the house rules and common sense when you share a space with others.
I took the liberty to take photos. They said they worked for the local University in fact they are backpackers trying to sign on students for volunteer job in Africa etc...although they don't seem to both agree on the locations, which is strange too...anyway they are the kind of guests I do not want and only deception got them there! after chatting with my wife and airbnb support staff we are NOT going to confront them as they may well damage the room and they are supposed to leave tomorrow morning (Thursday) we are going to let it go but .... then last night (Wednesday night) when I asked them what time they want to leave tomorrow, they told me they were leaving on Friday only as they booked for 3 nights ... when I told her she only booked for 2 nights she said I made a mistake and I have to fix that as they want another night, and I must give them that night (not totally sure if she meant for free!). While I remain friendly , They kept insisting I made a mistake with the booking and it was all my fault! I went to check the booking and called airbnb support team about the situation....then the guests said they have to leave at 06:00 tomorrow (Thursday) and would have to leave their stuff here as they cannot take them to work. For liability reasons (too easy for them to claim we took something out of their backpacks) I do not want to accept their stuff around my place and told them it won’t be possible,  they ll have to take their stuff with them, ...after few insult such as me being stupid etc... they finally, just before midnight agree they will have to leave with their stuff. They tried to argue I didn’t have any other booking showing for that room for tomorrow (Thursday) but I used a pretext that I m listing on 18 sites and don’t have time to update all calendars for all bookings ...anyway it's 06:25 on Thursday morning now  they just woke up, I didn't sleep last night as this stress increase the pain of my spinal injury and I didn't want to take extra meds and miss them when they are leaving. When I went for a walk in my backyard at 4:30 , I found the hot water  valve not shut….and of course the hot water had leaked and no hot water left in the tank so no hot  shower for  them this morning but also for the two other persons in the house, leaving to work at 5 am!....While waiting for the guest to be ready this morning I overheard one of them complaining it was not acceptable to pay that much per night and have a cold shower in the morning!...but they didn't complaint to me about the cold shower! They appear to be taking photos of the place because they found some outdoors cockroaches under our veranda  where the open kitchen wc, shower are located ! anyway I expect some kind of online reprisal for me refusing to keep their bags (after all, as she said last night, I am STUPID!). After they left I briefly inspected the room only to find some dirty cup left on the bedside table. This two guests had a total “free” spirit, not caring a second for the house rules  or instructions given to them to ensure the place is safe (they left a large anti-mozzies candle alight, burning without supervision  few centimeters from the wooden table and the wooden chair on Tuesday night, I specifically told them to ensure this was extinguished when they go to bed! It was the most stupid inconsiderate & dangerous things that could have had disastrous results.
From now on I will not accept Airbnb guests that easily, if they have no reviews, no chance coming over!. Those two are backpackers pretending to work at the local University to gain trust, while in fact they using their “recruitment” process for volunteer to also apparently sell other stuff (ipads) it seems as I overheard when they were leaving this morning.
I am so glad they left and I am bracing for their online attack on me, via review or their facebook, as I am sure they will do something.

Do you think I make things bigger than they were? would you host someone like them? Please do not hesitate to comments

4 Replies 4

Hello @Vincent14,

 

I empathise with you, it's sad when hosts have to live in stress sometimes due to annoying guests like these, who did not respect you nor your home.

I feel you did everything right regarding how your dealt with them and how you kept Airbnb informed.

Don't worry much about the review, I hope they forget or ignore to write one. If they write something false and rate you low unreasonably, you can get in touch with Airbnb, explain them about the mess that these guys were and also remind them that you had to call twice during their stay to resolve issues. Airbnb will help you to erase that review.

 

Things to do/Tips:

1) Write an honest review for them, so that furture hosts don't have to go through this when they try to book.

2) Update your house rules and mention everything that you want to in detail.

3) Update your house manual with all the necessary details.

4) Print and keep a copy in each of the rooms and the living room.

 

Wish you all the best and keep up the hosting spirit. Don't let this bad experience take a toll on you. Majority guests are lovely beings 🙂

 

Hope that helps 🙂

Jeet

 

Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

If Airbnb refuses to alter or remove their review (I've heard this is usually the case), you can always leave a public response under it within 48 hrs. Just make sure you keep it very professional and emotionally undetached. Don't go into a rant, since that tends to reflect back on you in the end too.

 

Best of luck in this.

Hi @Andrea9,

 

I believe you have 14 days to leave a public response.  Just wanted to clarify.

 

"To see your review history, go to Edit Profile > Reviews. You'll see past Reviews About You and Reviews By You. Among the Reviews About You, you'll also see any Private Feedback that people have left you. This is also where you can also leave a public response to a review you've received within the past 2 weeks."

 

Dave

 

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

@Dave-and-Deb0

You're right, my mistake!  14 days is even better.