Good Evening! I have been in the vacation rental industry for over 7 years. However....I officially have my own property as of July 2017. I also have my property listed on other booking sites. Of the approxiamtely 15 guests I have experienced over these 2 booking sites in particular, one being airbnb, I have ran into many good and bad situations.
Four of these 15 or so bookings have been complete nightmares. One damaging mulitple items throughout the property and argued it simply wasnt true. But photo's provided otherwise.( A tip that I found out as a housekeeper for other property owners early on). That worked itself out as the security deposit was enforced with the pictures I provided on the other site. THe last 3 have all been airbnb guests. One of which during Christmas was the worst of them all. Completely making my home a pig stye. As well as adding her service dog to my no pet policy. But of course even though I have a no pet policy I NEVER want my guests to feel uncomfortable and absolutely allowed this dog. But day 1 into her stay she was asking where to put the trash. Clearly marked on the refrigerator and near the driveway there were posted signs. Yet...she still asked. Day 2, now Christmas morning. She complains about the well water and asking if it's safe to drink. Not sure if my many water quality contraptions could have failed I had someone there in 15 minutes to check it out. She was floored by the early response but would not allow them any further then the kitchen. They noted that the service dog was friendly and running through the house like a kid on a sugar rush, and laying for belly rubs. Warning 2. Day 3, a neighbor notifys me that they are using the yard and trespassing onto other property. In the same day she says she did not know. Yet it's posted on the listing. But it's obvious she never read anything. She also texts me about the horse and it's water trough being frozen in our extreme winter conditions. I knew personally that there was no way she witnessed this being frozen unless she was trespassing onto t he other property. I KNOW this because my kids have tried to avoid checking this while I'm there and have tried not walking up there. Now she has trespassed yet again. Day 4, she is quiet. Day 5 is check out. THANK GOD! She was 15 minutes late leaving and ran into my housekeeper who was there to clean. They ended up having words for the dog urine that was already on the front porch in puddles (concrete). Disgusting indeed it was. I ended up having to work as a counselor to ease both sides tempers. In which my housekeeper was called crazy b(*&&. The slammed luggage into the doors while leaving and even after I asked her to leave and forget about what she didnt do that she was suppose to do it was now too late. She lingered for 45 minutes total. I felt like I had to talk down someone who was loosing their mind. She insuated my housekeeper insulted her because of her disability. I don't want to sound discriminating as I am not, and would NEVER want someone to be insulted due to any disabilities but I honestly felt like it was all for show. I feel horrible for feelign this way. After she left I went in and checked the property out and omg at the mess left behind. My communication was rated a 1. Really. I answered everything she ever needed within 15 minutes! Frustrating.
The next guest comes in the following day. I felt confident as all his airbnb reviews were top notch. WRONG. THey were clearly someone sucking up. This guest too was the worst I had NOW encountered. Messy. Messy. Messy. Nasty. Disgusting. A used baby diaper left on the couch. Baby food left in containers in the microwave, smelled like a bag of death. I even followed up and asked if he found everything to go well. NO review. NOTHING. When mulitple times checking in he state all went well.
TELL ME...please tell me that not all airbnb guests are horrible and disrespectful!
Im always open to advice. I think this could be a wonderful experience, but so far, airbnb is letting me down guest after guest. Tell me your worst stories...tell me what you learned...what you recommend. Have you experienced messes after service dogs? How did you recover from completely unfair reviews and ratings?
Help the newbie please!
