How to deal with an impossible guest?

[Cat-Phuong0]

Dear Community,

We're now dealing with an impossible guest. She's a girl from Australia, who has booked her place for her 65y old parents.

So the booking is done and paid. But she's very unfriendly and negative.

She has kept flooding us with suspicious questions from the beginning, starting with "How do i know if you will still be in business at the time my parents come?".

We have replied politely to all her questions, we have explained her the booking process in detail.

Nothing could make her get rid of her cold tone.

We thought that she had decided to keep quiet, because we didn't hear from her for a few days.

But she came back to complain because she realized that the price she paid was in USD, not AUD, and she didn't expect the booking fees to add up ... No she found it too expensive and she wanted to cancel.

We told her that she was in Strict cancellation, so of course she didn't want to cancel any more.

We became pissed off by her, having never heard anything positive from her about our place or about us.

So we asked her to show more courtesy to us. On the contrary, that inflamed her even more.

We have figured out that whatever we tell her, she doesn't trust anything or anyone, she's hysteric.

She says that she has "the right to ask", so there are no limits for her.

She doesn't mind about all the offensive (for us) remarks or questions that she asks, because she has the right to.

Lately, she called our huge apartment in HCM City (a dense city with 7M people ...) small, because her place in Australia is larger ... What a stupid statement, besides the rudeness ...

We told her that we had hosted many Australian families without any problem, she doesn't care.

We have tons of great reviews (and not just a few words), she doesn't care, she doesn't trust.

She's absolutely horrible in her communication, but she has justification to all her statements, no matter if they hurt us.

She was also angry because of the damage deposit, so she told us that we'd better not rent our place if we fear it could be destroyed ...

That's the person we are dealing with, and we feel so sorry for her parents.

We don't know what to do. Their stay is only in 3 months.

We don't want to discuss with her any more, she's unmanageable.

So we'd like to hear from outsiders. Please ...

Thanks everyone.

Cat and Alex

[David126]

Could you explain what you want to do, ABB will cancel as it is a third party booking but that does not seem what you want.

[Cat-Phuong0]

No no it's not a third party booking, she did it under her mother's name.

She's just the person communicating with us.

It's a 6-day booking in December. We don't mind keeping it, as a secured transaction, as long as she's not part of the trip.

We know we're a good fit for aged guests, so we should be able to handle her parents, unless they're like her.

We've understood that besides not trusting us, it's all about money for her.

Now that she knows that cancelling wouldn't be free of charge, she said she won't.

In this case, we're nothing for her, our place as well; it's all about her, her and her. A fury.

I know you're asking us a practical question.

But since we've never faced such a person (some bad guests, yes, but such a character, never), we're rather wondering whether we did something wrong or if she's just impossible to deal with. And how she should take it, basically ...

We did explain her that hotels would charge 3-4 times more for a similar suite, that most of the hosts where we are are far from being serious like us, nothing touches her. Nothing.

We told her that she could cancel by herself, and complain if she wishes. We aren't afraid, our exchanges with her show clearly on which side the kindness is.

[David126]

Is she staying, if she is I would be thinking some business is not worth having.

If she is not then no need to reply to her.

[Cat-Phuong0]

Good idea!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Cat-Phuong0

If I were you I would cancel this reservation. Who knows what is she capable of doing during and after her parents stay.

Here is the link about host cancelations : https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/990/i-m-a-host--what-penalties-apply-if-i-need-to-cancel-a-reser...

....

For Instant Book hosts only

You can cancel instant bookings penalty-free an unlimited number of times if you’re uncomfortable with a reservation or if a guest breaks one of your House Rules. “Penalty-free” means you won’t pay a fee, lose Superhost status (or eligibility for it), or receive any of the other penalties mentioned above.

You may not cancel reservations penalty-free for any other reason, including reasons that violate our nondiscrimination policy.

To cancel an Instant Book reservation you’re uncomfortable with:

1. Go to Your Reservations and find the reservation you need to cancel
2. Click Change or Cancel
3. Select "I’m uncomfortable with the reservation or the guest has broken my House Rules"
4. Click Next and provide a reason for your concerns
5. Click Next and write a message to your guest
6. Click Cancel reservation

Once you complete these steps, the host cancellation penalties for this reservation will be waived, and we’ll help your guest find another place to stay.

If it's within 24 hours of check-in, contact us instead.

[Linda108]

Similar to the host response you received to your previous post about rude guests from Korea, @Cat-Phuong0, I think you can cancel this reservation if it was booked via Instant Book.  Was IB used?  If not, then perhaps you can contact Air BNB with help cancelling.

[Monica4]

It's possible that now this girl is being extra rude because she wants you to cancel. This way she has no penalties, but you do. Since it is not her that is staying, write to her on the Airbnb message thread and tell her than from now on you will only communicate with the person that the booking is made by (in this case it is her mother). That should be the end of it. Do not cancel. Her parents might be very sweet, in contrast to their daughter.

[Cat-Phuong0]

Hi Monica,

She's indeed quite ignorant about the VR websites and the cancellation processes.

We told her that she had booked under Strict, and she was angry to learn it ...

I think it's more from her inner character, she can't accept that somebody holds her up.

We also think that she may look down at our country, but unfortunately for her, she didn't pick the right people to bully ...

Although we could cancel without penalties, because we don't feel comfortable with her, we don't want.

We want her to assume her behavior. If she wants to cancel, it won't be free of charge.

Since we won't host her but her parents, who can't possibly be like her, we aren't worried.

Yes, indeed, we intend to request to talk to her mother directly, from now on, if we need to.

[Valerie192]

I personally would cancel them hopefully in a way that doesn't ding you. It wouldn't be worth the hassle and you still have enough time to fill those dates.

[Farah1]

@Cat-Phuong0 you can also offer a full refund or a bit extra on top of the 50% if she is willing to cancel on her end. I think it might be worth it than having to put up with her and the possibility of getting a negative review. It is in December, I do not know what is the booking pattern look like in your area, but I do not even have my calendar open yet for December.

[Cat-Phuong0]

Hi Farah,

With the disdain that she has shown all over, we won't give her a gift. We don't fear negative reviews. We've only got one terrible until now, and we got it removed because it was dishonest and hateful. We usually attract nice and positive guests who can't thank us enough.

There is more and more competition in our area, and not the healthiest, so when we can secure almost a week stay, it's hard to give it up ... The more visibility we have, the more comfortable we feel. That's how it is now ...