My first bad experience with guests

[Rachelle-And-Joseph0]

I am a new host and my first guests were an instant booking.  It was 4 adult men and a teenage boy.  They were all related.  The visit was fine, the apartment was left beautifully clean and they even ordered breakfast (extra charge).  I thought fantastic...first one under my belt.

Went and cleaned apartment for my next guests to arrive and that is when we noticed....my guests tampered with my locks...the side apartment door, the apartment's kitchen double doors and then on our side double doors.  They basically made it impossible for us to enter our own home.  We were advised to change all of our locks as it may be possible that they made a Master Key and could do a future home invasion.....

Of course they denied everything and I have now involved Airbnb for a decision.  

Am I to post a review about this?  Even if Airbnb has not sent me a final decision for the cost of damage to replace all my locks at home?

Please I want to let other people know about this guy....he even lied to us stating he was from Niagara Falls and has been with Airbnb for a few years yet his listing only stated he began in July of 2017.  He then stated his wife was a member and gave us a name which doesn't exist.  

I have one more day to post a review and truly need your advise on how to do this....

[Todd-and-Reese0]

A lot of hosts that want to post a bad review wait until the last moment, day 13 or 14, to do so which gives the guest less than 24 hours to post theirs and they usually don't know of the time limit or don't get the notification in time. I've done this with much success. I like to warn other hosts about certain types of guests.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Rachelle-And-Joseph0 uh.. tough one 😞 If you post very negative review they coud may be able to get it deleted so I don't know... I would give them thumb down so they can not instant book any other listing which have "recommedation from other hosts" ticked off.

I would give them 1* for house rules for sure. And would write "I would not host this guest again" ...or.... "I can not recommend this guest" as a review.

[Lina53]

@Rachelle-And-Joseph0  This seems like something that requires the police's attention... 

[Rachelle-And-Joseph0]

I wanted to however I was asked by airbnb to try and settle it with the guest.  Then I put in for a resolution for the cost of replacement and have ot heard anything from Airbnb...I can't find any contact phone number or email to get in touch with the resolution center...do you have any idea?  

[Farah1]

@Rachelle-And-Joseph0 Does he have a verified ID and any reviews on his profile?

[Rachelle-And-Joseph0]

He only had verification through airbnb as he only joined in July and it was an instant booking....I have now withdrawn from instant bookings and ask questions prior to accepting new guests...he said si many lies that I didn't pick up at first since I was so excited having my first booking....lesson learnt the very hard way

[Lyndsey2]

Definitely review and write only the facts as concisely as possible. If you're really not sure exactly what they did or how it all might turn out, I would write something like, "Although nice to meet, these guests left us in quite a pickle[/gave us some trouble] with changes made to the locks. At the time of this review, we are still working with Airbnb to resolve it."

As a host, that would be enough for me to be very wary of these guests. 

[Rachelle-And-Joseph0]

thank you for that reply..it helps a lot...

[Lyndsey2]

Just reading the Airbnb content policy and it says, "Content that refers to the details of an Airbnb investigation" is not allowed. So maybe you can't even mention the issue at this point? How frustrating! Maybe you can just say something like, "Although nice to meet, we were left with some unresolved repairs in the space." Does anyone think that would get taken down? You might be stuck only being able to say, "I cannot recommend this guest."

[Shawna0]

The same thing happened with a booking we had as the guest showed he lived in Sarasota FL on Airbnb and on his rental agreement, showed a TN drivers license, and then numerous phone numbers he kept changing. Was staying a month and we require mid stay cleans on month long bookings and he would not correspond with me so I involved Airbnb. Then we finally got in to do the clean when they changed a bedroom door lock to a keyed lock and then denied it. I involved the police so they decided to leave the home and Airbnb gives them their money back. Really?? For guest who broke an agreement? I am very dissatisfied as I am not sure what the purpose is for having a cancellation policy if they choose to do then accommodate the guests to another home to maybe do the same thing? 

[Tanya110]

I certainly don't know what you are charging for a month's stay but perhaps that is the first place to start.  I feel certain that the price for the space directly correlates to the kind of people that you attract.  Of course, I have had crazies at a premium price too. Recently in fact.  

We all do this for different reasons with money certainly being a good reason.  I really think that those of us who host truly enjoy what we do as well.  The shame of it is when guests are not respectful or reasonable and damage the experience for us as hosts.  Thus, I charge a premium and would rather attract good people and be empty more rather than put up with nasty, crazy, mean people.