Bad Guest That Broke Listing Rules and Blamed us

[Hoang148]

Hello,

I want to share an update with the community about an issue we experienced with a recent guest, * (Anime profile picture). He currently lives in the same town as us and is staying in different places while his new home is being renovated.

Our listing clearly explains that the unit is part of a split-level home. Guests have their own private entrance, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom, and do not share any space with us unless assistance is needed. The listing also states a maximum of two guests per stay and allows one car parked in the designated driveway area.

Before accepting his booking, * and I went through all the house rules together. He confirmed that he understood and agreed to follow them for his 5-night stay, with two guests (him and his wife) and one car.

At check-in, however, he arrived with three guests, including his 10-year-old daughter, without any prior communication. We informed Airbnb support immediately, and they confirmed that due to this violation we had the option to cancel the entire reservation without penalty. Because he said he couldn’t find another place in town for the next 5 nights, we chose to be flexible and allowed him to stay for two nights to give him time to arrange alternative accommodation.

Shortly after arriving, both he and his wife parked their cars on our newly grown lawn, causing damage. We reminded him of the one-car policy and asked that the cars be moved to the correct spot, but both cars remained on the lawn until around midnight.

When he checked out, the unit was left with stains on the bathroom sink, kitchen sink, and significant mess and stool stains in the toilet and multiple dirt stains on bathroom towels and he left around the toilet. 

Following his stay, *left a negative review containing several claims:

• He blamed us for enforcing the two-guest policy he had already agreed to and claimed we did not allow his child to stay.

• He blamed us for enforcing the one-car rule and not allowing two cars on the property.

• He claimed we did not explain that the unit is part of a split-level house, even though this is clearly stated in the listing. He was under the impression that the unit would completely isolated from the host living area. 

• He complained about towels and toiletries, despite the fact that all linens are freshly washed and tooth brushes are replaced with brand new ones after every reservation. His detailed review actually gave us five stars on cleanliness.

We submitted a request to Airbnb to remove the review, supported by extensive documentation showing that he agreed to the rules and then violated several of them. This included Airbnb message history confirming the number of guests and the one-car policy. Airbnb’s “specialist team” reviewed everything and concluded that neither his actions nor his review violated any policies.

This has been disappointing, but we wanted the community to have an accurate account of what happened.

*[Sensitive information removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Emiel1]

@Hoang148 

I wanted to look at the review, but there is no listing attached to your profile and there are no reviews (only one , from being a guest)

[Hoang148]

My wife did post the review, the listing is under her account. 

[Huyen62]

 

**[Image blurred in line with the Community Center Guidelines - Please note that is not allowed to post an image that contains identifiable information due to privacy concerns]

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Hoang148 

Sorry to hear that your guest left a bad review. It seems the main trigger was the issue about their child not being allowed, which makes me wonder if this wasn’t clarified before their arrival. Sometimes guests forget to update or double-check the number of people in their booking.

This happened to me once the guest arrived with two children that were never mentioned in the reservation. I still allowed them to stay, but I took the opportunity to explain in person how booking works on Airbnb, especially since they were new to the platform. In the end, I let it slide because it felt like an honest mistake.

For me, situations like this are really case-to-case. A quick clarification before check-in and reconfirming the number of guests can help avoid misunderstandings and potential negative reviews in the future. It might also help to add a reminder in your house rules or automated messages so guests are prompted to update their booking details early on.

[Hoang148]

Hi there,

We always make sure every guest reviews and confirms all of our listing policies before we accept a booking. We also send messages with the check-in details and a reminder about our policies before each arrival. It looks like Airbnb filtered out the guest’s name in my original post.

For the guest who left the negative review, we clearly confirmed before accepting the reservation that our place allows a maximum of 2 guests and only 1 parking space. He agreed to all of this, but unfortunately didn’t follow most of the policies after checking in.

As mentioned above, once Airbnb Support was notified about the unauthorized 3rd guest, they confirmed that we were allowed to cancel the remainder of the stay without any penalties. However, the guest told us he was having trouble finding housing for the next five nights, so we chose to be understanding and allowed him and his family to stay for two additional nights to give them time to book another place.

This experience has been a tough lesson for us. Even when we confirm our rules before booking and again before check-in, it seems that making no exceptions when a guest violates the policies is the best approach going forward for us.