I had a scammer tonight!

Denise80
Level 9
Hamilton, New Zealand

I had a scammer tonight!

We Airbnb our holiday home which is 2 hours away from where we live (not that our guests know how far away we are) and we have a lovely lady who cleans for us.

Today's guests arrived and contacted us to say the house was not clean. I replied immediately to ask what was wrong with the house and that I would send our cleaner around. 

Our cleaner was mortified, and she went round immediately to see what she had not cleaned. It seems our guest did not expect our cleaner to turn up and started back-pedaling almost straight away. The best she could come up with is that the remote control was sticky....um, no it wasn't!

Oh well, said the guest (by email on the app) we will cancel but will stay tonight and leave tomorrow. Oh no you won't, I said, you can cancel as I would never want a guest to be uncomfortable in our house, but you will be leaving now. Like right now! By this time, our cleaner had arrived to find them still UNpacking. They had pulled all the duvets and sheets off the beds looking for faults, and all their food was in the fridge. 

I told them if they wanted a refund, that they would have to cancel which they have. But they were not moving out until I rang them and told them that they had to leave immediately. 

Anyway, I just wanted to thank the community. By reading other people's posts I know that these people would have stayed a night or even all 4 nights and then claimed a full refund. OK, it's upsetting that our house is empty for Christmas and Boxing Day, but I would rather be empty than give these people a free holiday!

Thank you!!

39 Replies 39
Kira32
Level 10
Canary Islands, Spain

I have a homestay guest and she was asking how many guests whe have and personal questions what I do in a day. She looked like she had a panic attack while she was asking all of these questions. 

 

She tried to teach me about my safety and asked me what kind of guests Ive gotten over the years blablabla. 

 

The next day a random guy she picked up from the street sitting  on our couch with a glas of 🍷. I asked him to leave as we do not allow uninvited guests. 

 

He took his picknink bag with food and left right away. 

 

Then I told her about her safety like she did with me on the first day. 

 

Guests with too many questions are trouble and need to be corrected immediately when not acting as a respectful guest. 

 

I don't care what people write as a review anymore. 

 

My house my rules!

 

 

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Denise80  THIS is how all hosts should respond to scammers! Sorry this happened but you handled it like a champ and are an inspiration to us all!

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

@Denise80 

“Better an empty house... than a bad tenant!”

Casita-By-The-Texas-Bay0
Level 10
Texas, United States

We also will be having an empty house this Christmas...the person trying to book for 6 people (the maximum number of people allowed in my home is 😎 wrote to say "even when you mention the maximum number of people in the house is 8, we are two families with kids...a total of 11 and 2 infants"...ohhh nope! Like @Cathie19 said "Better an empty house...than a bad tenant!"

Lori1934
Level 1
Sandpoint, ID

ugh...hosting is becoming a total bummer. I for one have developed review fatigue 😞 its endless and loaded with anxiety...everyone has the potential to be a little despot with expectations of grandeur...the (above) reported scams make sense. I think I’m going to quit.

Reading these reports is stunning...people get way more than they would at any hotel, often for less, and then make random complaints. I haven’t had a scammer yet claiming wrongdoing but knock on wood.

Peter-And-Irene0
Level 1
New Plymouth, NZ

Sorry to here of your bad guests

we have an Airbnb in New Plymouth it would be good to know who these people are so we can be aware of them

kine regards pete and irene

at the te henui hideaway

@Peter-And-Irene0 , I'm not sure if I can give her name on here, I hope the moderators will remove it if I'm not allowed!  Her name is Sarah Amira and they are from Israel. 

We have come to our holiday home in Taupo to find the first aid kit, the torch/lantern and the hose gone. I thought they were cheeky enough taking the chocolates and hamper we had left for our Christmas guests, but talk about helping themselves! 

Just a quick question to a kiwi host, do you wash your own linen, or do you hire it? And if you hire it, who do you use? Our cleaner says we have plenty, but most of our sheets have marks and so I'm not sure whether to replace or hire 🙂

Nancy458
Level 3
Reno, NV

I haven't had a scam yet this Holiday season. (knock on wood)--but this discussion reminded me that 98% of issues I have with guests are with first-timer airbnb guests. I keep my booking settings so that if you have either infants, or less than 3 reviews, then you must ask permission from me in order to book. On the whole, experienced airbnb guests know what to expect and are seasoned travelers. I think it is on us, as hosts, to qualify and vet our guests and make sure it is a good match. That way everyone is happy!

Bill260
Level 2
Homosassa, FL

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  I was just scammed for the first time on Christmas day and the day after.  I've had about 20 or so wonderful guests during the past year, and only one angry person who left, and one woman who left early due to not expecting me to be home and wanted the house to herself!   Christmas day at noon I got a request for a man to stay that night and the next.  He never showed up nor contacted me.  It interrupted my family phone and email contacts on Christmas day as we are a large family well scattered.  I had to stop and re-clean the kitchen, check the guest room, and a lot more.  I tried to get an ETA from him all day and the next.  How late should I wait up for him at night?  I contacted customer service the second afternoon, as this was the first time I had ever had a no-show and no-contact.  I was told I would get paid anyway, and they would watch to see if he stayed anywhere else.  I asked them to consider blocking guests who are so rude as to not ever contact the host.  I'm wondering what his excuse will be for not contacting me, and I guess he got a free room somewhere for lying about some complaint.

Do report all suspicious activity as well as non-activity.

We also had a scammer and had been fighting with airbnb since they left Dec 1. We finally were able to unblock our listing. Most now have their winter break homes rented. This block hurt us. Airbnb is still leaving the guests scam review up and mine isn't there to be read. We need to find a better way to stop scammers!