Need advice dealing with Airbnb and Destructive Guest

[Catherine1274]

Can anyone help me deal with this situation? 

1. Red flag:guest asked to pay me by check for the rent before moving in for an extended stay (I said no).

2. Yellow flag: guest asked me to move my bed out so she could move her bed in (I said yes). 3. Red flag: guest said she had a lot of boxes and a printer and her stuff to move in (I said no).

3 Red flag: guest told called at 6:30 am and left a message that she needed to cancel her reservation and then changed her mind at 7am. I called Airbnb and they said I'd be penalized if I processed the cancellation because guest had a mind change.

4 red flag: after she moved in,  she told me (didn't ask me) that her daughter would be staying with her in this tiny suite (I said no or she'd have to pay extra).

5 red flag: guest sent a photo of rust liquid all over the sink faucet. Plumber said it's obviously something she spilled on the faucet as there are no metals in it which rust.

6 red bright blinking light: guest refused to let the plumber in to look at the sink begging me not to let anyone in with her being there and wouldn't tell me a time I could go in (she was always there).

7 red flag: looking in the window it looked like a hoarder house with a ton of crap stacked in the small space.

8 red flag: she said the heater was broken and I said someone is coming the next day to fix it and look at the sink.

9 Red flashing light again: she said nobody can come in without her there and again she wouldn't give me a clear time as to when that would be good for her.

10 red flag: I called airbnb and they called her to get a solid time which they agreed to let her have till Wednesday (it was Saturday) and I'd have to wait to fix and assess my own property that she said is broken. And she told them she was going to be away for a few days, that's why.

11 red flag: she wasn't away she was there most of the time as usual and I texted her and messaged her that we were ready to go in and look and fix things and she ignored it.

12 red flag: Monday morning (remember she told Airbnb she's going to be away till Wednesday) and she called airbnb that she's freezing and heater is broken and all electricity is broken (again).

Obviously she's making up stories again as she'd have hypothermia in an unheated place at 19 degrees outside and I know my electrical works and I know there must be a reason she's refusing to let us go look at it and or fix it.

Airbnb agrees to give her a refund and a few hours later, she's out of there.  We went in that afternoon to discover that all the electrical worked perfectly and the heater was on. But in the week she was there, she managed to ruin a shelf with water damage, break my stone sink by putting nick in it, break the threads on the shower by torquing it too hard, splatter small bits of concrete on the glass doors which we're still trying to scrape off with a knife and her photo of rust on the sink was pure theatrics that make no sense in reality as there is no rusting metal anywhere near that system of a year old stainless steel sink with pvc piping and ss faucet. She poured rust around it obviously in an effort to make it look rusty. She also set my chairs and my broom and mop out on the dirt and in the elements.

And now airbnb is telling me they've escalated my claims and will get back to be but so far nothing, no word from them. Also, she called me a liar in the review and threatened "I will shut down your business" in her last  message responding to my request that she pay for her damages.  And in that same last message from her she mentioned that she fell and hurt her knee in my driveway. She's a scammer from red flag #1 but I'm pretty concerned by airbnb's lack of concern for any of this.

Any advice? 

[Sarah977]

@Catherine1274  None of us think the way CS generally deals with hosts is acceptable. What we are is realists. We have to learn to work around the obstacles the company puts in our paths and understand that they tell you one thing and then renege on what they told you. One CS rep can be great and help you out and be aware of all Airbnb policies and another can be dismissive and clueless. It's totally inconsistent. 

Hosts have been harping at Airbnb to make logical changes to the review policies, the ratings, , to stop refunding bad, lying guests, etc. etc. but it falls on deaf ears. They simply don't care about anything but their profits, so hosts have to be pro-active in protecting ourselves. 

As Colleen said, spend some time reading through posts on this forum and you'll realize that you aren't alone in being treated poorly and unfairly. 

[Colleen253]

@Catherine1274 Airbnb doesn't vet guests, and does very little to nothing in helping hosts vet guests. And you are the only one who can adjust your IB settings to require certain criteria for  IB guests.  Be wary of anything you're told by Airbnb, as it will always be motivated and colored by creating a positive guest experience, and securing bookings. The guest service fee is where this platform makes it's money. As @Robin4  said, hosts are a dime a dozen and where one drops away, there are 50 more coming in the door. Not getting into whether it's acceptable or not, just 'telling it like it is'.

[Catherine1274]

@Sarah977 @Colleen253 I hear that you two would like to turn having a manipulative con artist who destroys your property into a "normal" experience. As you point out I'm surely not the only one it's happened to but it's also not normal. I vetted her after her using her confusion, then charm, then creating a panic on me. These are all signals of a manipulative sociopath, ie their sneakiness doesn't come on the first email...they progressively reveal who they are. If they didn't, they'd never get away with anything. I assumed her first email was just confusion about how to pay. But it was the first in a series of manipulations. But it did only take 2-3 emails/conversations b4 she moved in and I put all the pieces together enough to ask airbnb to cancel her check in.  

If airbnb wants to keep their profits up,  It would be in their interest if they have a business plan of company logeveity to build in a system which allows for host cancellations, and to instruct the cs to ask hosts why they want to cancel and get an idea about why in cases of instant booking. 

Also Airbnb promises to pay for the damage done? Are you saying they reneg on that promise as well? How does that work? I have receipts and photos. I'm awaiting the resolution. they better not have a habit of making promises to hosts and then renegging?

[Catherine1274]

@Sarah977 @Colleen253 I've worked as college instructor, as a television producer and as a Realtor (each for about 3-10 years), so I have a good idea of all kinds of people with all kinds of intense agendas. If you think you have some magical formula for sniffing out a destructive manipulator at first pass, please let me know. My experience is that some people are genuinely confused and some pretend to be for their own advantage. Also if you have a way to not use instant booking "until you get good at vetting", please tell this formula in concrete detail. 

[Sarah977]

@Catherine1274  "I hear that you two would like to turn having a manipulative con artist who destroys your property into a "normal" experience."

I don't know why you seem to want to misconstrue what we have said. It's not normal, but it isn't completely uncommon. Personally, I haven't had any guests like this, but I have certainly dealt wth people like this in other situations and read daily about guests like this here on the forum.

"Also Airbnb promises to pay for the damage done? Are you saying they reneg on that promise as well?"

Yes, that's exactly what we are saying.

As far as not using Instant Book, all you have to do is go to your booking settings and change "Instant Book" to Request to Book.

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Catherine1274     

You have gotten good advise already from several people. You seem to be a nice, considerate and ethical person, therefore I will do something for You that goes way beyond advise only, I will give You a practical exercise tool to better Your life.

Every host in the short term rental business should know how to correctely pronounce the word „no“. You need that when dealing with Your guests and You also need it when You have the airbnb costomer service on the phone.

Here's what You can do:

Get in front of a mirror, stand upright, straighten Your back and watch Your face in the mirror. And now You pronounce the word „no“. Go ahead, do it.

Wait a minute, that was not ok. First of all it wasn't loud enough, and second, the way You just pronounced „no“ sounded like: „Oh, I'm so sorry that I have to tell You „no“. I profoundly apologise for what I just said and I am embarrassed myself for what I did“.

Catherine, that's wrong. You shouldn't be embarrassed for saying no, the person You are talking to should be embarrassed.

Let's try again. Louder and more determined. Go ahead:

That was much better but still not good enough. Picture this: Your son is with the army and he wants to get the following weekend off to drive back home and visit family. On thursday evening he asks his drill sergeant if he can have the weekend off.

Drill sergeant:

That's the kind of „no“ You need in the short term rental business.

Good luck to You and happy hosting.

@Colleen253, @Sarah977 , @Mike-And-Helen0 , @Robin4 , @Human6 

[Colleen253]

Ah! @Ute42,  you're a treasure.

[Catherine1274]

Oh you're all so smart and cute. But you're wrong. Ask my kids. I err on the side of drill sergeant. My no is loud and proud. And you all are know it alls, of course...you don't seem to recognize that hindsight is 2020. I'm running a business and you all think I should have known that Airbnb was a lame and deceptive business partner and you all want to highlight my responsibility. Well, I say NO!!! to that. I'm kinda shocked that you think Airbnb can lie to us "lull us in with false promises" and that that's ok. I sure as hell is not ok with that as a reality.  When corporations lie to small business owners it's not ok. And I will not lay down and let them lie to me and allow my property to get ruined. They told me they'd help vet guests. They forced me to take this guest by threatening to penalize me if I didn't. And they told me they'd provide compensation for guest damage. I say NO if those were all lies. 

[Robin4]

@Catherine1274 

I and every other host would agree with you 100%...If Airbnb make statements about how they will operate they should honour those statements, and in Gods ideal world, that is what would happen.

This is not Gods ideal world, and every day Airbnb (like other companies)  works on the principal of risk minimization.....they limit their exposure to problems. There is no such things as black and white and Airbnb sort out the 'wheat from the chaff' as best they can.

Catherine, consider......... a host puts in a claim for an outdoor setting a guest has carelessly damaged with stains and cigarette burns, the cushions/webbing can't be replaced so the guest gets a quote a new outdoor setting which he submits to Airbnb! That claim $2,720.00, a genuine amount for the replacement of that setting.

What the host did not disclose to Airbnb, he bought that outdoor setting from the local charity shop for $265....what does Airbnb do? If they don't give him $2,720 he is going to scream from the highest steeple what a bunch of crooks Airbnb are! But isn't he being a crook demanding $2,720 for something he paid $265 for? 

Catherine the system is an adjudicated one....it is not a new for old, it is not insurance, it may at times be the hand of help in some situations! But like I said, nothing is ever just black or white, you should never depend on or expect Airbnb's help as a 'fait acompli'....... it isn't. You are in business and it is up to you to protect yourself, not expect Airbnb to be your fairy godmother!

I am critical of Airbnb, wow at times I am very critical of them, but the reality is, I don't expect any more of them than to be a booking platform.....to put A, the guest in touch with B, the host! But because I don't make waves, I don't hassle them I get a wonderful run out of them. They pay me every time exactly when they should, and each time I have a problem they get it sorted out for me. I can't ask any more of them, but I do feel I am the architect of my level of support.

If you feel Catherine, the Airbnb safety net is not comprehensive enough maybe you should contemplate hosting on another platform!

Cheers......Rob

[Catherine1274]

Don't put words in my mouth. I never said they weren't comprehensive enough. I would never expect new for old. I have receipts and I have proof of what went on.  I said I thought I was in business with them, a partnership and all I expect is accountability and honesty from them. That's it. Others here are telling me I need to expect deception for them where they lull us in with a false promises. And that's not ok. Also your reading of my expectation of honesty as being an expectation of "fairy godmother" or "not comprehensive enough" is WAY OFF. 

[Robin4]

@Catherine1274 

I wasn't putting words in your mouth Catherine, I was just offering you words from mine. 

I have in the past worked in Airbnb support and I can tell you, support is the hardest job on earth. Everyone who comes to support has a problem and most of them are angry! They want validation for something that in some cases can't be validated. Nobody wants to go through day after day of getting their head ripped off by a succession of hosts or guests....but the reality is, that is what happens.

What I will say to you is, approach support with a pleasant manner and ask for help rather than demand it, and you will find that a few more of those rules you say are not working might actually turn out to work in your favour.  The quickest way to get a ticket closed is to bounce CX....you treat them pleasantly and nicely and you will be, like a breath of fresh air to them, and you will be amazed at how that fresh air will go!

Cheers......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Catherine1274  For goodness sakes, no one here has indicated in the slightest that we think it's okay for Airbnb to say one thing and do another. It's you who seem to want to put words in other's mouths. Hosts are outraged that Airbnb operates like this. But once we realize that they do operate like this, we try to find ways to make hosting work for us in spite of this. 

And no one has advised you not to pursue having your situation dealt with in a fair and responsible manner. By all means be persistent- refusing to take no for an answer and patiently, firmly and persistently keeping at Airbnb has paid off in the long run for many hosts. None of us roll over- we fight the injustice as much as we can.

What we have been trying to do here is enlighten you as to the reality of what you are up against. Most hosts go into this believing all the rhetoric that is put out about how there are all these guarantees of protection and reimbursment should anything go wrong, because why wouldn't you believe it? And all is well and good until you have a bad situation like you had- then the reality sets in. 

No one here is a know-it-all. We have all had situations and frustrations which we would have handled differently in hindsight. So we try to share what we've learned with other hosts seeking help, just as we have received help from others. It's too bad you refuse to appreciate that we are trying to help you. 

[Colleen253]

@Sarah977  Well said. And if @Catherine1274 still has her listing active on Airbnb in about a month from now, we shall know she has twigged to what we're on about.

[Colleen253]

@Catherine1274  Not smart, not cute, lol (speaking for myself). But, everyone here weighing in have all cottoned on to a few thing we want you to know too, to save you some headache and heartache. Believe me, I've made some mistakes. I've been there, and I'm here for my fellow hosts. If I can help prevent someone from going though the ringer, I'm happy. That's why I hang out here, to give back, (and continue learning) because I've learned a lot, both from 'boots on the ground', and from everyone who contributes in the Community Center. 

[Catherine1274]

Update: I just got an email that the support specialist got back to me and is looking for receipts which I shall send them. So far so good....