Bad guest

[Jennifer4049]

My first bad guest!!  However, he has local ties.  If I give him a good review I am lying.  If I give him a bad review he could retaliate.  

I changed the lock code, but....

He bent screens, left dirty dishes in the kitchen, smoked inside, and left drug detritus on the coffee table.  I don't mind pot...it's legal here...but a syringe with a dark substance inside.  

Then he asked me to refund him for two days.

My guest is this is his modus operandus.

We are all afraid to be honest in reviews, aren't we?  

[Helen3]

It doesn't matter whether the drug is legal - presumably you have a none smoking property.

please leave  an honest review . Wouldn't you have wanted your fellow hosts to leave an honest review so you could avoid hosting a guest like this 

he can't retaliate reviews as you know are left blind. 

why was he asking for a two day refund?

how did you vet the guest to ensure he's a good fit for your place? 

[Helen744]

@Jennifer4049 I am sorry that you had this guest Jennifer. The trouble with reviewing honestly is that you cannot spell out the 'drug use ' in the review or it will be removed . So two things are needful , firstly use the review to both reprimand the guest and offer lower stars than normal , mention 'did not follow house rules'' also house left in a poor state'. You can say in the review that you would not host this guest again or simply click the button to add this , without it appearing in the review and make a private note for yourself. In a private note to the guest you can mention ' drug paraphanelia , dangerous to others was left in the home.In your rules it is wise to put no smoking or drug use of any kind permitted in this home. the laws of the state and your personal Airbnb rules are different things . Many hosts do not host those who live nearby . Probably for these reasons . The second part of the review sends a message to future hosts . Lower stars as in a three or four should send this message .. Good Luck . Maybe review your guests a little more closely in future and communicate more before arrival . Take off Instant book also for a little while until your confidence is back to normal ... H

[Jennifer4049]

Thanks, Helen!

It is clearly in my guidebook...no smoking, etc.  I doubt if he read it or cared.  It feels like a scam.  It's expensive to find long term rentals in Taos so he can just skip from AirBnb to AirBnb and, because we are all afraid to be honest in our reviews--no one will ever know!  His reviews were good!  I usually Facebook stalk people if they appear sketchy.  But that is not bulletproof either.  Early on I asked people to send me an image of their DL.  One guy was offended and refused.  Probably didn't want him anyway lol.

It was just a matter of time till I had a bad one.  I made an AirBnb claim for the screens & called them just to have a trail.  

[Sandra856]

@Jennifer4049 You are aware that a guest cannot read your review before after they have written on themselves and if they don’t write one - then they can read it when it is published- 14 days after check out and by then it will be to late to write a revenge review. 
When I have left a less than stellar review I don’t see it as a ‘bad’ review - but an honest one. You don’t have to write a long one. Just that you unfortunately can’t recommend X as the place was left in a bad state. Something like that. Completely non-emotional and fair. That way you have made sure that future hosts are warned and will know that he wasn’t a great guest when he visited you. 

[Ana2038]

@Jennifer4049 , no I am not afraid to leave honest reviews. I rate my guest(s) accordingly. Most have been 5 star guests but some are 3 or 4 stars (failure to follow house rules and/or left room very messy) and, some I would not ever recommend or welcome back! 

[Fred13]

You added this below:

"I made an AirBnb claim for the screens & called them just to have a trail. "

That changes the dynamics; the timing of claims is important and directly calling a guest further complicates matters.