Bed bugs scam

[Junni0]

I have a reservation of total 9 guests stayed in my place this weekend. Sent me pictures 2 days later after check out saying few of her guest have bed bugs bites on their body and asked to request one night refund back due to this issue. My house is a busy Airbnb, I have many guests staying in my house before and after their reservation without any issues. I am considering this might be a scam. My house rated as sparkling clean. 

May I ask have any hosts experience this before? And what actions should I take? What was the result at the end? Thank you very much!

[Nanxing0]

@Sarah977 I guess we are talking about the same thing. If a K9 inspection shows there's no bed bug in the house then that's the end of the story -- no exterminator will be needed at all. On the other hand if there's infestation then an extermination work will be needed and the extermination work report will work as well. 

[Sarah977]

@Junni0  I'm not suggesting that you might have bed bugs, but it's important to understand that "sparkling clean" has nothing to do with there being human parasites present. Children tend to get head lice from time to time and it spreads throughout their classroom or school quite quickly. The head lice don't care one way or the other whether a person's hair is clean or not and don't wash out simply by shampooing your hair. They can infest the heads of children who are kept quite clean just as easily as children who may be not well looked after.

A place which is really well cleaned is no insurance against bed bugs or other parasites, they can hide in the tiniest crack, although there will be less of a infestation when a place is vacuumed regularly because you'll probably suck some of them up. But you'd never get them all just by intensive cleaning.

[Junni0]

I totally understand. However if I have a group of 10ppl stayed before this reservation and another group of 10ppl stayed after this reservation, if they have no bites, I’m pretty sure my house has no bed bugs. Like you said, anything could happen. We have to do a pest control exam in order to know the fact. 

[Sarah977]

@Junni0  Yes, I agree that as you describe it, this is a case of the guest just trying to scam a refund. While not everyone might be affected by bedbugs (as someone else pointed out, they can bite one person and not another), the fact that you've had multiple guests since then with no complaints is a pretty good indication that this was just a false accusation.

[Christine1517]

@Junni0  I am in the midst of a bed bug scam. The guest (group of 7) contacted me at 6:30 on Sunday morning to tell me that her friend was bitten and sent me a picture of a smashed bed bug in a paper store receipt. She told me that they were going to leave early (checkout time is 11 am and they left around 9:00) and she said she wanted to let me know and not "just blast out a bad review". This was the second day of a two day stay. Apparently, the bed bug  hadn't bitten anyone on the first night. I panicked and over-reacted and told them that I would give them a full refund, and asked that they not leave any review.  Had I had my wits about me I would have told them I would look into it, and get back to them. I know that a "BED BUG INFESTATION" in a review is deadly to the business. On Monday, I had a very thorough inspection done by a licensed exterminator who found no signs of bedbugs, shell casings, fecal matter or nymphs. He gave me a Certificate stating this. I contacted the guest and told them that there was no sign of bed bugs whatsoever, and that I would give them a $100 refund for their inconvenience. She went on to say I was breaking my word, and that I must be calling her a liar, etc. etc. and then said that she had other complaints about the cleanliness of the house. I know she was reaching at this point. She said she is expecting a refund. What recourse do I have other than to pay her, hope she doesn't leave a bad review, and move on. How can you spot the potential scammers when there is such limited information on the prospective guests? 

[Sarah977]

"What recourse do I have other than to pay her, hope she doesn't leave a bad review, and move on."

Don't pay her a cent. She lied to scam a refund and extorted you using the threat of a bad review. You have had a exterminator in and have a documented free-of-bedbugs paper to back you up. Do not reward these liars and scammers with refunds or acting like you are terrified of her review threats. This just lets her know she can go on and do this to other hosts.

Let her leave her bad review, just respond to it with the facts- the licensed exterminator you paid found zero evidence of any bedbugs. This scammer cost you money, having to pay an exterminator for a useless inspection based on her lies. Why would you refund her anything?

@Christine1517

[Junni0]

Hello, I’m sorry this happened to you. It was a hassle to me when I encountered for the first time. DO NOT REFUND ANY MONEY TO YOUR GUEST UNTIL AIRBNB TOLD YOU TO DO SO. Tell your guest to contact airbnb if he/she has any issue with the reservation. During covid 19 pandemic, it will take forever for Airbnb customer service to get back to you, so it’s a beneficial on your side. As an Airbnb host, you have to understand the Airbnb rules in and out. If any guest who has travel issue, they have to report it with Airbnb in the 24hrs, otherwise there won’t be any refund. Even your house does have bed bugs, don’t scare, because you only have to refund the nights they didn’t stay, the nights they stay they still have to pay it! Yes that’s right! I did some research and also confirmed with the Airbnb customer service. Additionally, you have a no bed bug proof report from a professional inspection. Don’t panic, stay strong, don’t give any penny to these scammers! You can always reply to those bad reviews and alert other hosts. You can also report this guest on Airbnb about this bed bug scamming, Airbnb will block this user. 

[Eduardo337]

Well @Junni0 and @Sarah977 ... Just had it yesterday... Fake bed bug on the checkout of the 4th night... She threatened and did everything possible. I didn't give the refund, but now I have a crazy bad review and the guest put my listing real address and my name on their About page (!), warning to anyone that the house has bad bugs. Crazy.

BTW, bed bug tests came negative today... Never had anything. 

Airbnb did nothing to solve the situation.

[Jo631]

@Junni0 @Yes.  I had a similiar incident.  A guest said after second night there that she was bit by a bug that jumped out of her bed.  She sent photos of the bites and my bedroom was in the background. It looked like a mosquito bite.  She was refunded all her money by Airbnb.  So she basically got her weekend free.  I spray consistently and bug bugs don't jump.  I always check my beds and spray furniture and no one ever has complained so wondering if this is a scam?

[Junni0]

Unfortunately, your guests complained during their stay. Usually Airbnb will refund only one night, not all. You should contact Airbnb and ask. If you think is a scam, you should contact Airbnb to report this issue.