Publicly accused of theft by a guest --- airbnb not taking any action

[Mivien0]

I had a guest with 3 other people who checked in early at like 12am on Dec 23 and I had to travel for an hour and a half because I was in my hometown and we had a Christmas party. At first she requested they check in at like 8am, then it became 1am and finally it became 12am. Since it was really early, I charged her around 500 PHP (around 10 USD) just to make up for the extra hour they'll stay in our place. And she's also accusing me of "intentionally" cutting their water supply.

The water supply in our apartment is delivered via delivery trucks and it was peak season so the delivery would take an hour or so and it's a mountainous area so water supply is really difficult even for the WHOLE city. So my caretaker had to find a way for them to take a shower and so they had to use the bathroom from our other apartment which is just next door. I felt bad about that inconvenience but that's all we could do during that time. She's now demanding a refund of 1,500 PHP (28 USD) because of her accusations and for the early check in that "i took" from her. The thing is that she agreed on my terms and I don't think it's fair of her to refund that. I don't mind partially refunding but the amount is quite unreasonable.

"I demand a refund on our early check in and the money that was taken from us. Also for the inconvenience you caused us for intentionally cutting our water supply." this is her message. she is accusing me of extortion and intentional cutting of water supply. 

But of course, this happened before I was able to see her review which enabled me to do so after writing back a review. And once i've seen it, I was welcomed with a wall of text full of accusation and complaints which 80% of it I had no idea about.

This woman, of course, did not even bother contacting me despite our communications through AirBnB and text messages. And most of all, if she had a theft incident, why did she not go to the police? She had my full name, the building address, and my caretaker was next door. I am too frustrated by the fact that she took these serious matters in a flimsy refund policy and libelous reviews instead of privately discussing it. I am filing a libel case soon while some of you may disagree that this is bad business, I won't stand down just letting my reputation ruined. I support the fact that reviews should be based on the guest's experience but it should be factual.

It's tempting to show here the private feedback and I'm still waiting for airbnb's response. All i've gotten is "please wait" and my patience is running out. I will be going back to the city where it all happened soon since I cannot file a police report here back home. 

[Sarah977]

@Mivien0  Sounds like another "entitled guest" story. Too bad.

You can write a public response to the guest's review if Airbnb will not agree to remove it. Just make sure to keep it brief, factual, and non-emotional and don't mention or respond to anything she sent you via private feedback, only what she said in the public review.

[Sarah977]

@Mivien0  I see that you did leave a response. And I'd say it's not the best one. It's much better to not attack the guest- it isn't about getting even with a bad guest, it's about other hosts and guest reading what you have written. "I dare you to...." and "I'll see you personally...." are threats. The guest can ask Airbnb to remove a response such as this.

I can totally understand your reason to be upset with this guest, but a better approach might have been "I'm very sorry that XXX was displeased with some aspects of her stay but her review does not reflect the facts- the allegations are unfounded. The water situation has to do with city-wide water distribution and is not something any homeowner here can do anything about, and the short time there was no water available I responded by giving her access to another apartment right next door where there was water for her to shower. I was not informed of any theft issue at any time until the guest demanded a refund, nor was a theft reported to the local police."

[Mivien0]

Hi,

thank you for your guidance. I admit my response was very emotional as my mind has been lingering about it. I love your words, the tone and how professional it sounds. I wish I could've posted this here sooner and done better but I'll treat this as a lesson.

[Sarah977]

@Mivien0  Yes, hosting is a learning curve for all of us, and most of what I've learned has come from wiser and more experienced hosts than I here on this forum. 

One thing we all advise each other is never to leave a review or a review response in the heat of the moment when you're really upset. Go ahead and write it on paper, be as nasty as you want to vent your frustration, then wait a week or so until you've calmed down and hopefully had nice, easygoing guests in the meantime, then go back and rewrite the review, leaving out the emotion. You'd be amazed at how just writing out your anger on paper makes you feel calmer afterwards and keeps the situation from going round and round in your head.

And since you're not an on-site host- sometimes hosts leave a good review right away for a guest who they didn't think caused any problems, then a couple days later the housecleaner or co-host tells you the guests left a big mess behind them, or damaged things that weren't evident at check-out. So there's a few reasons not to rush to leave a review.

Living in less than first world conditions, I totally understand your water issue- where I live, right now we have a propane crisis. There are no propane deliveries, because of a shortage, or the company didn't pay their drivers their xmas bonus, so the drivers are on strike. It's hard to get a straight story and the propane companies aren't answering their phones. I just ran out of propane for my hot water heater yesterday, had myself a cold shower, and I have a guest arriving in 2 days. I just messaged her to warn her of the situation. But she could face the same situation in any rental she booked here right now. Hopefully she'll be adaptable and understanding.

[Mivien0]

Thank you very much. I'll make sure to remember your tips. AirBnb has come into my favor and has deleted her defamatory remarks about me. Now I don't have to go all the way back to Baguio just to file a case. I'm just lucky I haven't had any listing views the moment the review went public (accdg to the stat) but I doubt that.

[Kath9]

@Mivien0, experienced hosts will tell you that giving in to guests' unrealistic demands (i.e. the ridiculously early check-in time) is usually going to be a recipe for disaster. Your check-in time is 1pm so you should stick to that. You went WAAAAY out of your way to check them at 12am, then had the issue with the water supply, giving them a reason to complain and then demand a refund. As @Sarah977 says, these are entitled guests that will dream up any reason to complain and get a refund. They are generally easy to spot early - they ask for special favours, want discounts, want to bring extra people, etc. Now, I just say no.

[Mivien0]

Thank you very much. I've been reading different host experiences and I guess that's one of the mistakes I had, not being prepared and just went on listing my property. I'll make sure my listing is more detailed from now on.

Speaking of AirBnB, they have removed her review and her response to my review, which wasn't deleted. I'm relieved they took an immediate action after contacting them through Facebook and through here. There's a lot of things to read here that discourages me to keep hosting but this gives me faith a little. 

[Lois44]

How did you file the liable case?  How was the review removed?  Are you still doing business with AirBnB?  I have a very similar situation and would appreciate your input.