I hate the guests I have this weekend!!! (rant)

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Michael956
Level 10
Salvador, Brazil

I hate the guests I have this weekend!!! (rant)

I have two guys sharing a queen size bed in one of my guest rooms.  I'm gay, by the way, so I have no problem with guys sharing a bed, but these are two straight guys.  Guess they're cheap. 

Anyway,  all my guests have been lovely...until now.  They didn't respond to my request via the Airbnb platform about their arrival time, so I ended up messaging them using their cell phone number.  Now I can't get them back on the Airbnb messaging system, and I've missed a couple of their "requests" as I always respond instantly to anything coming from Airbnb but don't always check my personal messages. 

 

So the first strike against them is "bad communicators".  Soon after check-in one of them asked if he could do laundry "at night".  He said it was raining so he'd need to wash and dry his clothes after being out all day.  OK, no problem.  I offer my guests full access to my washer and dryer, but when he said, "at night" I assumed he meant 9 or 10 p.m.  At 1 a.m. I am awakened by the sound of a zipper crashing back and forth in the dryer, and a loud cell phone video being played at the table near the laundry area.  (My house rules ask for "quiet time" after 10 p.m.) Thinking of my other guests in the room nearest the kitchen, I get out of bed and go, "shhh", there are people sleeping".   

 

Now he is on the fourth (and last) day of his stay, and he has done laundry all four days.  My house is not a laundramat!  One day he took all  my still damp towels and sheets out of the dryer, piled them in a heap, and put his own clothes in.  When I went to use the dryer, I carefully folded his laundry, which consisted of 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear and 2 t-shirts.  We have a water crisis in California!  Then one afternoon I hear someone open and closing all the cupboards in my kitchen.  Fine, I thought, I tell my guests to feel free to look for cups, dishes, silverware, sugar, etc. in my many cupboards. 

 

However, later that evening I walk into the kitchen and find him munching away at my food, which i keep in the highest, most inaccessible cupboard.  The nerve!  Not only is my house a laundramat, now it's a restaurant!  I didnt' say anything because I was so embarrassed for him.  And this is after I went out and bought  a large fan for his room after he messaged me that he needed one because he "sleeps hot", even though it's a chilly and wet January outside.  They are both working my last nerve.  I've never left a guest a bad review, but I so want to punish them and warn other hosts. 

 

Sorry, I just needed to rant here.

 

I can't wait for them to leave tomorrow morning.  

1 Best Answer
Leana5
Level 2
Croatia

That's a nightmare! 

 

Before I accept my guests, I normally check feedbacks. If they don't have them or if they just joined airbnb, then first what I ask is if they've read my house rules. In this way I see how long does it take to answer my questions and if the communication is prompt. The only guests I avoid are young people from the Netherlands who remined me to beasts left from leashes. If the communication is not as I want, then my gut says "Reject" and I do it.

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91 Replies 91
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

So sorry about your guests from hell, @Michael956. I always wonder, who raised these people? How do they manage to make enough $ to travel when they're such losers? How do they hold a job?

Your post was so descriptive- I can't wait for them to leave either!

Same here..lol

Susie5
Level 10
Boston, MA

Hi @Michael956, @Sarah977, I had a similar pair of young men a few weeks ago, they were a real pain on so many aspects, but not only that, were dangerous e.g. left the 1500W space heater on, and left a pot simmering on the stove for the day!

I couldn't wait to get them out... and guess what, they finally did leave! And I left them a bad review so no one else will be stuck with them if they bother to read the reviews.  So take heart - they'll be gone soon and you can give them the old "better suited to a fully serviced first class hotel" treatment, and future hosts will know to steer well clear of them!

 

Thanks for your isight. I like the "better suited to a fully serviced hotel." I am new to Airbnb but have experience as B&B host and always loved having guests. 

I found it difficult to know what to write when review my first Airbnb guest.

Guests have access to laundry room and kitchen, but this guest (working in the area on a temporary basis) booked with me to get out of the hotel that his company had him in. He was considerated, but wanted to eat dinner with me. He purchased food, but didn't know how to cook and so asked for help. One lesson turned into several evenings of me cooking and sharing meals with him. 

 

Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

@Michael956 @Susie5 "me" generation... more and more of them round the corner.

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"

That is why my husband and I don't allow access to the kitchen. It takes one time for them to leave the gas on. This is our home and we have our family pets in it. 

@Michael956

Oh my....... I know EXACTLY how you are feeling..... my most recent guest was just like that (they might be distantly related!)...... imagine putting up with that kind of behavior and attitude for 4 MONTHS!!!!!! I'm glad for your sake and sanity that they will be gone soon. My recent guest would do teeny tiny loads of laundry something like of 2 pairs of socks 3 pairs of undies and 2 tees every 3 days for 4 months. The largest load he ever did was probably about 10 items after he came back from a 6 day trip. No matter what I said or did..... he'd smile, apologize saying he was out of socks/underwear and just keep at it. He took our nice fluffy guest towel on that said trip and it came back all ragged and smelling like rotten fish. He also left all the lights on all the time and don't get me started about the amount of kleenex and TP he went through. He drove Henry crazy..... we try hard to be energy efficient and not be wasteful. We couldn't help but wonder if this is how he acted in his own home and if he'd treat his mother's guest towels the way he used ours. He also kept taking them to the gym even though specifically told him not to - that everything we provide is for use at home only. 

 

@Jessica-and-Henry0 Four months!  That must have been awful.  You do wonder who raised these people.  It's so awkward, because nobody wants to play "boy scout leader", constantly reminding guests about rules.  It puts us in a bad position, and I also wonder what kind of review he'll leave me.  I was very kind and "smiley" when I asked him to be quiet late at night, but one never knows how people will react later.  As for laundry, this guy is here for four days from Los Angeles (one hour flight away).   Why couldn't he travel with enough socks and underwear to last 4 days without using the washing machine four times?!?!  I just have to remember that all my guests prior to them have been wonderful, and that they will be gone tomorrow and I will get new guests who are as nice as the others I've had.  Also, I've added a new rule:  Please don't use the washer and dryer after 10 p.m. because the noise from the machines travels down the halls.  

Remove the word "Please" from your new rule. Make it an absolute.

I've also seen hosts phrase it as "no laundry started after 8pm" because they've had issues with guests starting a load at 9:45 when you say no use after 10pm.

 

"Gee, who would have thought it takes more than 15 minutes to wash and dry? My washer back home is so much faster!"

@Michael956 - You might also consider charging for the laundry.  A nominal fee.  You'd be surprised how much people shove into one load when they have to give you a couple of bucks.  We offer the washer and dryer and when people ask if they can do laundry, we tell them, you can - we charge $2/load and you get 1 Tide Pod per load.  Never had a guest do more than 1 load!

 

That doesn't always stop them from being rude about "when" they do it. We had a guest put in a load at 8:30 pm then go out for the night (he was having a crappy day and normally if someone stays 1 night, we say no, I mean, come on!)  He had an interview the next day.  Knowing he would be running the dryer after we went to sleep, I moved the wet clothes and started it for him.  When we were going to bed at 10:30 he still wasn't back, so I took everything out, folded it, and put it in his room.  He came sauntering in at 1:30am.  Good thing I ran that **bleep** dryer (our bedroom shares the wall with the laundry).  The next day, he didn't even say "thank you" before checking out.  

 

This type of guest is socially unaware, oblivious and self-absorbed. It could be the "me" generation as @Marzena says but we've met people of all ages like this.  I'd like to think it's a form of undiagnosed Aspergers.  They are completely unconscious to anyone else, social clues, and being respectful of others. They are not the type who should use Airbnb and, if they could even see this about themselves, they wouldn't.  

@Alice-and-Jeff0 So true!  I also overheard these two guests talking in the hall about the laundry.  One said, "why don't you just do the (fast) 15 minute cycle?".  The other said, "No, I want my clothes clean".   I was furious as this was their 4th load in 4 days.  The 15 minute cycle does a good job and saves so much water.  We have a water crisis in California, and as that guest lives in L.A. he should know better.  Anyway, since I'd "shhh'd" him on the first night at 1 a.n., and since they were so clueless about everything else I was wondering what kind of review they'd leave, but they left me a 5-star review and mentioned "laundry" as one of the perks as if  my place were a laundromat!  

Clueless guests is so true even here in Ireland, Michael. I have had guests who washed only about 8 items (a bath towel, 2 jeans, 2 tops/t-shirts& underwear & socks) but not think of the enviorment & how much washer is to be used for washing so little amount of water, even without a water crisis in California. I even had one guest wash her yoga bath towel & 3 other items in the bath tub & waste so much water that as the second time I told her to use the machine so to be kind to the enviorment. 

I did leave a bad review of her, I did not mind to do so as she needed to know even after being told, nicely, to her face.

I also love the guests that complain it's cold, have the heater running, but are walking around the house in a tank top and shorts.