Rude & abusive guest

[Sam3811]

Hi Everyone,

We have just had a very rude & abusive guest who turned up, didn't like the look of the property, and went away again without staying. We cannot confirm they actually arrived as we have a key code entry system allowing them to check in themselves. He has literally been screaming and shouting abuse at us down the phone demanding a full refund and additional money to cover his travels (£200) or he will leave us a really bad review. We have done what he requested but he is still not happy.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Is there anything AirBnb can do?

Thanks,

Sam

[Russell49]

Absorb the bad review and leave him a very detailed one in return. I no longer get held hostage to threats of bad reviews. My home is far more important than some entitled jerk.

[Sam3811]

Thanks for replying @Russell49. We would in a normal case but have only recently listed this property on AirBnb (we have hosted another on here for years) so we only have one review, which is 5 stars, his review would have taken the average down a considerable amount.

[Russell49]

As long as your property is as described, you don't owe him a penny. I would have kept his money and then called AirBnB to warn them of this guest. Make a full scathing review to warn other hosts about this jerk.

[Alexandra316]

@Sam3811When you say you did what he wanted, did you just refund or did you actually give him an additional 200 GBP? I would definitely report this extortion to Airbnb. If a place isn't suitable, the guest is supposed to get in touch with Airbnb and ask for help with finding a replacement, not storm out in a huff then demand travelling expenses (?). 

Guests extorting hosts for refunds under threat of a bad review is very much against Airbnb's rules. Were any of these threats made in writing? If they write you a bad review, I would contact Airbnb and ask them to remove it. If you can't get it removed, make sure that you  write a response to their review, telling your side of the story in a calm and professional way. Please also review this guest to prevent this happening to other hosts. 

[Sam3811]

@Alexandra316 We sent a full refund through AirBnb, plus the £200, plus the fees which we could not refund through AirBnb (AirBnb service charge etc. around £80). We have only recently listed this property on AirBnb (we have hosted another on here for years) so we only have one review, which is 5 stars, his review would have a big impact.

I will check with my co-host if there have been any threatening messages but as far as I am aware it was just over the phone.

[Helen350]

That was SO unwise @Sam3811 imo. You have just reinforced this entitled brat's sense of entitlement, & now he will do this again to some other poor host.....

And he will probably STILL give you a 1* review & a detailed rant about why your place was SO awful!

I do feel sorry for your situation, we in the UK don't normally get that sort of guest (going on reviews in my area) - PLEASE write a review that will warn other hosts to be very cautious.

[Sam3811]

@Helen350 We will be sure to leave a review and contact AirBnb to make them aware of the them, hopefully no one else will have to go through this with them!

[Hilary79]

@Sam3811 

#1 If your lock system doesn't notify you when someone arrives, be sure to get exterior cameras (and disclose them in your listing).

#2 If you are ever to reimburse someone their full stay in the future, I would recommend telling them the refund will occur after the 14 day review timeline has passed.

#3 - As they were "holding you hostage" with a bad review if you didn't refund their stay, it is against Airbnb rules and you could have gotten the review removed.  This is why many hosts require that all communications must go through the app.

[Jenny1110]

You shouldn’t have pandered to this rude person

and certainly not given him anything extra

[Sarah977]

@Sam3811  You can't ward off a bad review from guests like this by refunding them in full or kowtowing to any of their demands. These kinds of guests will always leave bad reviews, even if you bend over backwards to accommodate their entitlement.

If a guest like this tries to phone you, do not engage in a phone or texting conversation with them. Tell them you only communicate through the Airbnb platform. An extortion threat by phone can't be proven- an Airbnb message can.

And with an abusive guest like this, get ahead of the game by reporting them immediately to Airbnb, and sending them a message like "XX- We were shocked by your rude and abusive phone call today extorting us for a refund in exchange for not leaving a bad review. There are Airbnb protocols to follow if you wish to cancel a booking and screaming at a host over the phone isn't one of them."

[Yadira22]

@Sam3811 I am sorry you had to experience this. 

On top of what has already been mentioned, please block their number on your phone and block them on Airbnb from ever communicating with you again. 

[Mark116]

@Sam3811  I'll be interested to know whether he still leaves a bad review or not.  I would never have forked over money out of my own pocket to 'compensate' some jerk who threatened me.  It's fine to give a refund, but additional $200?  No way. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Sam3811 

If you have clear evidence of extortion and abuse, you can usually get Airbnb to delete any sort of review the guest leaves - which is why it is important to keep all communication between hosts and guests on the Airbnb messenger. 

Refunding and handing over money doesn't guarantee the guest will NOT leave a bad review. 

[Elena87]

@Sam3811 

Sorry Sam but it sounds like you have given a masterclass in how not to handle this situation.

You say the guest didn't like the look of the property but there must be more to it than that ?