WWYD: Zero-feedback guest claims harassed and mugged due to race/nationality, etc etc

[Kenneth12]

What would you do:    ... ?

The following is a situation I really haven't experienced before-- thus apologies for the lack of brevity.   It is offered as a "if you had this happen,  What Would You Do" scenario.


I am pasting the Google translation of a second message from a guest demanding refund,  below.

New-to-ABB potential guest claimed to be an architect working for the government in Mexico City,  coming for the Chicago Marathon (ie highest demand weekend);   while I could verify that,  it's not quick to make the calls,  and responses to my standard questions were reasonable.

I have spent about an hour checking our video surveillance and the account below is simply implausible.   Guest arrival is clear;  guest is not in a hurry;   there is no one on the street;    guest enters calmly,   comes back to vestibule,  and then proceeds to the unit upstairs which he has been told is off-limits;    I was there 48 hours before and the refrigerators were full of drinks.  A review of our door lock log also shows it was locked the following morning;  no gaps.

Guest claimed earlier that they were robbed of $50-- now the claim is $200.     One incident I might be inclined to believe is possible;   but we've had many Spanish-only speakers stay with us,   the neighborhood is 8% hispanic,    and while the King Drive station is a bit dodgy (guest was explicitly instructed *not to use that station*),  I know most of the people who live nearby and can't believe that everyone on the street and in local businesses harassed them for being Mexican,  multiple times.  (Previous messages claimed an additional incident).

Heck,  a tenth of the neighborhood thinks I'm Mexican.  The area is heavily policed and there is almost always a police presence at the CTA transit stations-- I could imagine that someone would offer to help with a bag.

Guest also happened to mention that they took their brother,  who lives in the area,   to the airport shortly before arriving.

I offer this as a "What Would You Do:"  what would your next step be,   with a guest demanding a further refund under these circumstances?  Review deadline is 11 days away,

"Good night Kenneth I will summarize what happened, I arrived at King Drive station, when I got off the subway a group of people of color began to face me and offend me, I answered them in Spanish and with the little English I manage I understood all the kind of racist insults towards my nationality, mexican **bleep** die was the offense I received most, my way across the E XXrd St to S Streetname Ave was listening to their threats, when I reached the corner to your house 2 more aggressive people arrived and began to chasing me trying to steal my luggage, 2 houses before arriving at yours stopped and I took the opportunity to quickly enter, you told me that I opened drinks and there was nothing, not even water, take a shower and I locked myself in the room, spend a night nothing nice, do not rest anything for fear of what happened and that the house did not give me any peace of mind, the next day early I went to find a store to buy something for breakfast and found After I opened the main access door, I went back to hide my suitcase because nothing guaranteed me that when I returned I would find it since there was no way to secure the door of the room outside and for fear that if I found the main door open they could get in stealing my things, when walking towards the subway station again a group of people of color began to offend me so I returned for my things with the intention of leaving there, I loaded my suitcase towards the subway again chased by people from color and when I started up the stairs 2 of them tried to snatch my suitcase, struggling with them I could take my backpack but one of them stole from my jacket a bundle with 200 dollars, when I went up the subway they were still behind me but for Luck at that moment the subway arrived and I was able to board it.
With the struggle I injured my shoulder, I have a tear in it, I was robbed of $ 200 and I was left with one of the worst experiences of my life, you offered me and promised a place in a safe neighborhood, to have at least drinks and none of this was true, it is this situation experienced the cause of my discomfort and therefore I ask for the refund of what I paid to stay in your house"

[Kath9]

@Kenneth12, even if this was all true, I don't understand how it's your responsibility to refund him for things that had nothing to do with you or your accommodation. So, I would sympathise with his awful experience but i dont think I'd offer a refund.

[Sarah977]

@Kenneth12  Sounds a bit far-fetched to me, and I assume you've not had other guests there who experienced anything like this? If this guy found he was being harrassed, and was scared, why did he not approach any of the police you say are quite visible in the area and ask for assistance? 

Of course, just because it's never happened before and you experience it to be a pretty safe neighborhood, doesn't mean an incident like this couldn't happen- if there were a specific group that was hassling him, they could easily have targeted him twice, but his continual reference to "people of color" leads me to think that he is fearful of blacks and that they all look the same to him, so he wouldn't have even recognized if it was the same group.

Sounds to me like this guy is scamming. Why would he not have at least phoned the police if he didn't actually think to approach one who is in the area? The fact that he brings up a trivial thing like "no drinks" in conjuction with a serious thing like a mugging is rather bizarre, almost seems like he's grasping at whatever straws he can find to claim a refund.

As I'm sure you're aware, some cultures almost take pride in getting something for nothing or always trying to wangle a better deal. You're almost thought of as foolish for not trying. While I've had many lovely Mexican guests who didn't do this, the only requests for discounts, on my already priced budget room, and the only requests to bring more people than the solo traveler designation of my listing have been from Mexican nationals.

Of course this doesn't mean that any complaint warranting a refund from that demographic is illegitimate. But this one seems rather suspect to me.

WWID? I guess first simply respond to his message, expressing concern, but neither accusing him of lying or accepting that it's true. Ask why he didn't approach one of the police in the area to say he was being harrassed, or call 911 or the police. Why did he not contact you or your co-host if he was so fearful after the first supposed harrassment? Why he ignored your advice as to which station to get off at? Why he went to the upstairs unit when it's clearly designated as off-limits. Point out that you were in the unit not 48 hours before his arrival and that the fridge was fully stocked and that your surveillance system shows that no one entered during that period of time. Then see how he responds and think about the next step if he's insisting that it happened. And as @Kath9  says, even if it's true, why would you be responsible for something that happened outside your unit??

That he kept referring to people of color, as if they were inately dangerous, wouldn't help his case much with Airbnb, I think, as it's discriminatory, although at the same time he's asserting that he was subject to discrimination. Hmmm.

[Mark116]

@Kenneth12  Even if everything he says about being harassed is true, you can't control what 'the public' does, it isn't as if these were your employees.  It is out of your control, and presuming you have been truthful in your listing about the type of neighborhood, the guy doesn't deserve a refund.  You could give him one as a gesture of kindness if you want.  You are also not responsible for him being robbed on the street.  If there was a burglary inside of the unit, that is something you might should be on the hook for, but not something that happens on the street.  I couldn't follow the drinks bit.  

Whether I did a good will refund or not would also depend on how many nights he stayed.  I might refund 1 night, no more.   He's going to complain to airbnb anyway, and leave a scathing review no doubt.

[J-Renato0]

@Kenneth12 

Based on what you have reported:

I would tell him that you do not have control on what happens outside of your property.

I would also say that the video cameras tapes of your property does not corroborate his story.

I would tell him that if he wants to proceed I will send the tapes to Airbnb.
Never waste to much words to argue with a cheater.

I would not wait one more minute to write a review on his profile. Come what may, I would say -"Cheater. I do not recommend him. He made up an story to get his money back".

[Inna22]

@Kenneth12 I would tell him that this is absolutely horrible and the first step is to file a police report as this is unacceptable. Tell him that you’ll be calling the police and will be providing his name address, phone number and if he could please give you all those details for the police report As well as descriptions of all suspects. He will obviously be contacted by the Chicago police and will need to sign a statement. I bet you that will silence him once and for all.

[Anonymous]

@Kenneth12   What is it about Chicago?? First Jussie Smollett, now this guy.

I would advise the guest to file a police report, and assure him that I will fully cooperate in their investigation, and supply his contact information and all surveillance footage in order to help solve the case.

I'd be careful to avoid expressing doubt about his story - of course it's made-up, but even if it were true that does not entitle him to a refund. If he persisted on about the money, I'd advise him to contact Airbnb for any further discussion on that. Of course I will have already reported the scam to Airbnb, so there will be a paper trail in the event of a dispute.

With 11 days to go before reviewing, I'd wait a few days to see how this shakes out. If the guest refuses to file a police report or chooses a new approach to getting money out of you, that is absolutely relevant to the review.

[Paul154]

@Kenneth12 

You are not responsible for criminal acts of others. You are not responsible for loss of his cash.

Be sympathetic and tell the guest to call the police.

What else can one do?

Tell guest to take his concerns to Airbnb - hopefully they'll support you.

Do not show your hand to the guest. Do not argue with him. Don't tell him about your camera.

Do not discuss race (I look latin...)

[Kenneth12]

Thanks for the multiple comments above (I won't ping people with notifications,  though many have been helpful).

I punted this over to Airbnb,  who say they will have the "appropriate team" deal with the guest.   I let him know I'd be doing that,  said I'd follow up,  and asked / urged him to file a police report.

Frankly I'll try to drag things out a bit,  follow up in two days saying ABB should / should have contacted him, and to let me know if they haven't in another two days...  etc.

At this point he has claimed he was mugged and chased on the way to the house,    harassed while going to a store,  and mugged while entering a CTA station.   And his phrasing in Spanish would be weird at best,   in Mexico City.

If he follows up I'll pepper with more questions that require him to contradict himself and follow the suggestions above.

Thanks again all.

[Sean433]

Actually something similar happened to me a few weeks ago except nothing was stolen however the guest messaged me saying he was considering calling the police and he wanted to report me to airbnb because some of our windows did not have locks as if a grown adult can fit through our small windows.

The below snapshot of my review for him explains a lot of what happened. It was extremely stres full and I had to kiss a lot of a** just to get him to leave without a bigger fuss then he was making.This is always one very good reason why exterior cameras are crucial in any listing.