BAD GUEST ALERT - (UK / LONDON)

[Greg2155]

I moved abroad for 6 months work last August and rented my London flat on here to a guy called ***. He moved out in October and I got home in Jan the following year. Everything seemed fine when I got back.

Fast forward 4-5 months to June and I discover that my bed is broken. The thick solid wood spine running underneath the mattress has been more or less split in two and has been very crudely taped and glued back together. 

I call *** and he admits to the breakage saying he 'forgot' to report it to me. I find it hard to understand how you can forget you've broken the bed, something you need to sleep on every night and then go to the lengths to fix it. Weak excuse. After refusing to pay for the bed, I informed him I would be taking it up with the resolution centre and that they would be in touch with him. 

Several weeks later he's not returning my calls, emails or anything from ABNB so I'm left with replacing a £250 bed. Not the end of the world but you'd hope for a more mature approach to damaging someones property by a 60+ year old man!

To rub salt into the wound, given the time that's passed since the break and me finding it, ABNB won't follow up on this unless he replies. Understandable, so I asked if they can allow me to at least write a review on his stay to help warn others of this guests behaviour......nope they won't even let me do that. It's been more than 14 days since the stay. They won't let me try and protect the other hosts on their own site from this idiot.

Officially done with ABNB. Never again.

**[Name removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Helen744]

@Greg2155 Frankly Greg if the bed broke he should have moved out until you replaced it . What on earth were you doing between January and June , not to notice.Seriously Greg I bet you did not give any of his money back and you should have ...H 

[Greg2155]

I'm sorry Helen but please explain why you seem to think this is my fault?

-The bed was 2yrs old, I've been sleeping on it with no issues. 

-You don't just lay on a bed and snap a 5 inch thick piece of wood.

-He admitted to breaking it and then glueing it back together without informing me.

How would I notice? It was glued back together and I don't lift my mattress up and check the bed every day!

[Helen744]

@Greg2155 Maybe you could check with the manufacturer. This is not something that is the guests fault it is for the host to remediate. Unless the guy had an elephant living in the house then I do not think it can be considered his fault . We had a large guest stay with his partner and child one evening and he called in the morning to say the bed had collapsed. My co host and  Iarranged movie tickets for the guests and  immediately purchased and set up a new bed before they returned from the movies. As Mike remarked , some bed parts can be kept and replaced . Its as some remark always a good idea to remove those things that you are not willing to lose from any hosted space . Beds though have to be checked frequently. ... H

[Helen427]

@Helen744, one doesn't need to be the weight of an elephant to break a good quality piece of wood that is a part of the bed.

I had a Guest break part of my futon base who didn't bother to tell me.

Some people have no respect for others property.

It's respectful to advise another of property one damages and replace it with like.

@Greg2155 

[Helen744]

@Helen427 do you think its proper to check on your guests welfare as well Helen .? The owner did not notice the bed was broken for five months as far as I am concerned this is not an Airbnb issue in this case? If a guest stayed two nights with an attentive host then yes ,but this arrangement is so far away from  a regular Airbnb arrangement that it obviously does not have parameters of normal or not normal or anything else.This host rented long term and in many cases could have come back to a permanent tenant . Did he have an attentive co host,? or a cleaner,? or offer linen changes,? or a person always available to assist the guest with different issues. Who knows ?. I dont and neither do you ... H

[Kia272]

@Greg2155  You need to take some responsibility for your actions here. First of all, it can't be that bad if it took you 4-5 months to discover. Second, the responsible thing to do was to have someone check your apartment after he vacated, within the 14 day review window. 

You're now blaming AirBnB for something out of their control, as they were not notified about the damage within the appropriate time frame. It's also not their fault that you didn't leave a review within the review time frame. "They" are not keeping you from warning other hosts- your actions kept you from doing that. 

It's also NOT okay to call anyone out by name here. Hopefully the mods will remove that content shortly. 

[Greg2155]

Hi Kia, wow thank you for the lack of sympathy.

I'm afraid I don't agree with you and fail to see how this is my fault.

Firstly yes it is that bad. The central plank has snapped in two and been poorly glued back together. There was nothing wrong with the bed. It was 2 yrs old and solid. I'd never had any issues sleeping on it so for someone to tell me they simply laid down and it broke is just total rubbish. 

I don't run this as a business, it was a once off so I checked the flat myself. I didn't look underneath my bed, I had no reason to and it didn't enter my mind that he would have broken it. I've been sleeping on it and recently noticed some sagging which led me to look underneath the bed. now it needs replacing.

I'm 'blaming' ABNB because I see no reason why I can't 'review' this guy given the circumstances. I'm not exactly asking them for money. 

By the sounds of things you're saying that if you bought bed from a reputable London furniture store and someone broke it, glued it back together and left without saying a word you'd give them a pat on the back and be totally fine with that? Please.

As far as calling someone out by name.....you don't think this guy is at fault in any way shape or form or other hosts don't need to be made aware of this guys behaviour?

[Kia272]

@Greg2155  If the guest broke the bed, the guest should have told you and compensated you for that. 

However, the situation you're in now is entirely on you. As you've made clear, you're one of those people who won't take any responsibility for their actions, and love to blame others. 

AirBnB rules and terms of service are very clear. You failed with both actions- claim for compensation and review- to file within the prescribed time frame. That is not AirBnB's fault. 

As to calling out the guest by name, it's against community center policy, so it should be removed. I'm surprised that hasn't happened already, but I will now tag a mod: @Bhumika 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Greg2155 I would just buy a bit of wood and fix it. It'll probably cost you £30 or so. You would have been asked to review the guest repeatedly after he left and I don't think you can blame Airbnb for not doing so.

[Greg2155]

Thanks Mike, appreciate the suggestion.

Yes I would have done but as mentioned I was abroad for several months so wasn't frequently checking my emails. 

Tell me, if someone did this in your apartment and behaved this way would you simply roll over and admit it's all your fault much like Kia and Helen claim I should do???

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Greg2155 Probably yes. Short term rental is not a licence to print money. It requires hard work and attention to detail. We have had several bits of bed break and I think it is really hard to blame the guests (we don't even mention it et alone claim) as stuff just isn't as well made these days as it used to be. As such we actually keep spare bed parts to enable quick fixes to be made so that we don't let the next guest down.

[Greg2155]

Mike, I realise that however this is my own personal flat that I live in 99% of the time. This was a once off rental. I don't kit the place out with cheap furniture and try to 'print money' as it sounds like you're suggesting.

Amazed at how people on here just jump to conclusions and by the sounds of it are suggesting I'm the one being dishonest!

Anyway, adios....I've deleted my ABNB account and won't be on here again.