Do any of you do long term? Could you help me here with some questions?

[Orlando307]

Hello, we are new to this community and to AirBnb.  Due to city regulations we cannot do short term rentals - even though there are a couple of  hosts in our area, I do not know how they are doing it. So we now have this guest for 58 days who came from the Caribbean, and for what she said, she is going to deliver a baby here.  Yes, it raised a red flag.  Since the very beginning she offered to pay outside of the platform (I said NO), to communicate through WhatsApp - I understand that coming from another country that communication method is easier but still I did not do it-, and she has been a bit difficult, to say the least.

Because it was a long term and we do not have laundry facilities for the guests, we offered to wash her linens weekly, but nothing else was established.   So, when I sent her a message - by AriBnb of course- telling her we will give her the clean sheets on Sundays or Mondays and we would do all comforters every two weeks, she asked me to also do the cleaning of the place. This surprised me, and I said politely that we do not do that type of service, but then she insisted so we could clean and do her beds also... I sent a long message stating that we do not provide cleaning services while the guest has the private space reserved, we cannot be held responsible for their personal property, and that we were not a hotel, nor we provide any concierge services.  So then she asked to have her towels washed, and I unfortunately accepted. Then again she insisted on me doing her cleaning of the place because "you know it so well", etc... I only said:  I already responded to you about that. I told her there are cleaning companies and she needed to let us know if someone else was going to come to the place, and she would be the only responsible. Etc, it is a long story, but my question here is:  if she didn't receive the clean sheets the day I established to do the linens wash, can I just tell her we only do laundry on Mondays, and she has to wait until next Monday?  I do not mean to be rude,  but I feel that she cannot make my laundry schedule.  

Also, she has complained during the hot days that the AC turns on and off too often, and she wants the house warmer than 72; same for the cold days - yes Florida is like this one day cold and the other super hot - she is complaining because we keep the house at 72 and she wants it at 74. Again I made a mistake one day and put the thermostat in 74, but it went back to 72 because it is programmed like that – it runs a schedule-, and thank God because I got heat rush and palpitations when it was at 74.  So, the question, can the guest demand to have the heater or AC different from what we offered since the beginning in the listing? I understand they come from the Caribbean but they can wear a sweater don’t you think?  Or the sister that comes to pick them up - in a brand new 2024 pickup, and in a European new electric car - could told them that in December the weather is cold, or she could lend them a jacket? They are not poor let me tell you. My guest was upset because they had to use the thick winter  blankets.  I told her that everyone wears thick pajamas, fluffy socks and sweaters inside their homes during winter.  What else am I supposed to do or say?

 This is a 58 days stay, and it has been long 12 days of complaining for the weather... WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Thanks in ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maria -

[Rebecca]

Hello @Orlando307 👋

I'm sorry to read that you're having issues with your guest. If communicating with the guest directly isn't working, we would always suggest that you reach out to Airbnb Support. 

If you head to this link - Airbnb Support - you'll be able to reach the Support Team. 

Hope this helps, 
Rebecca 🌟

[Orlando307]

Appreciate it Rebecca. yes the situation has escalated to the point we are having to communicate through the AirBnb support .  The guest insisted in saying that the house was cold, and presented a picture of a phone APP that says "indoor" but shows the outside temperature.  The phones do not have thermometers, so they show the information they gather from the weather channel.  I responded with as many pictures i could, from the central thermostat, a thermometer inside and outside and pictures from different phone APPs including the one she used. The thermometer showed the thermostat is good and the temperature inside has been at 72 and over. So, after hundreds of messages she sent pictures of the temperature taken with a small  thermometer that indicates 64H.  So the case continues to be open, and we said that we could get a technician, but if the temperature was right, and there are no damages to the central AC/heating she would have to pay for the technician.  She simply said no. So the case would continue open and she can go requesting a refund. So we said we would pay the technician, but it was Saturday and the guy didn't come on the weekend, had us waiting for him all day. We might get someone tomorrow.  (note that we are under the same roof so we KNOW the house is an oven, plus this is Florida, not the north.  There is no snow nor freezing.  We are going to be fined by the electric company for sure).

But today we reviewed the outside videos taken with the lamp/camera, and we found out the trick they did.  First, yesterday when they came inside after going out at night, the mother of the guest said to the guest in Spanish, that the thermometer was reading 76 (F), so she needed to leave it outside for a while because they are slow. And indeed they kept the thermometer outside, and the niece would come to check it out and yelled it is a 68, then it is 56.  So then the guest came to pick it up and took it inside of the house, took a while inside, and then took it outside and took a picture.  Her pictures - listen to this- show that the inside and the outside were all at 64F, when the outside was in reality at 48 ... so she just took the pictures at the temperature she wanted to portray. and so AirBnb validated those pictures as if they are real.

Today we sent the videos to AirBnb and we will wait to get a technician soon.

What a nightmare to have an enemy, trying to deceive you and not pay,  inside of your own  your house...

Best

María and O.

[Joan2709]

@Orlando307 

Sounds like no matter what you do, this guest will be unhappy and most likely will give you a negative review despite all the extra efforts you have been through. I generally advise my New Host clients NOT to accept long term stays until they get at least 5 bookings. Since you must only accept long term stays, I think I would have only done one month and then advised she would have to book addl months after the first stay is completed if they were open on your calendar. Otherwise, she would have to book elsewhere. This would at least limit your exposure to a very difficult guest to only 1 month.

The red flags from the initial conversations with the guest probably should have indicated not to accept the booking.

Not sure where you go from here, but if your listing disclosed that the temperature limits, then technically she can't dispute that, but won't stop her from writing a negative review. Also, Airbnb probably wouldn't remove the review, even if her statements aren't true. Not sure what is up with the family dynamic and why isn't she staying with her relatives?

Here is a Guide about Monthly Stays - Cautions 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Guides/Monthly-Stays-on-Airbnb-Guide-Revised/td-p/2031...

Perhaps another Host can chime in here with ideas.

[Orlando307]

Deeply appreciate your message, very helpful and teaching. This was our 4th guest 😉 and it is sad that she has such energy especially when coming to deliver a baby.  We (stupidly) offered to wash her linens as a courtesy thinking she was pregnant and it was a long term, but oh boy, she got upset because we were not doing her cleaning and also making her beds. Today after 18 days not giving me the dirty bedsheet, she threw them outside over a plastic chair, and then sent us a message letting us know what she did. mean, and rude.

Your message is really uplifting and I really do not know how will this end more thinking that when she delivers the baby there is going to be much more drama... yikes!

GRACIAS with our hearts for your time and advice.

M.

[Orlando307]

I was reading your Guide Joan and I am grateful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question, how do I obtain the contract made with this Guest?  I need an out....

Noe our listing did not stated any limit when she made the reservation, we only offered Central AC system.  Now she is saying it is t fault presenting very fake photos.  i explained the long story responding to Rebecca, i don't know if you would want to read it.  But we are now waiting for a technician to check the function of the system and them we would be able to proof again that everything is working fine. So I guess this is my limit. I am worried how bad it is going to be once she delivers her baby.... she demands services at 11 pm as if this is a hotel.  Today she threw the bed-sheets outside of the house over a chair, for us to wash them for her, because I offered 18 days ago and she said no, now she just left them there... etc... a nightmare....

So, yes, i agree with you,  she is going to damage our image by making a bad review.  She has nothing to loose.  She said she is a host in Dominican republic, but here she does not care.  Now I only care for my health.  having the house this hot is killing me.  I am having heart palpitations etc, and we have a saying in my country : if this is the breakfast i do not want to see the dinner".  If this is before the baby, i cannot imagine the way she is going to overreact.  My husband thinks she is just getting a way of staying without paying, I mean asking a refund after it.  tricky!

What else do you think??

Please excuse my venting and thank you, thank youuu

Maria.(my hubby is O).

[Joan2709]

@Orlando307 

Yes...it seems this has gone from bad to worse. I was not aware you were sharing your home and the listing was a guest suite. I would never suggest Hosts offer long-term stays if you are also living in the home...too riskly. Limit your maximum stay to maybe 7-14days. This way the guest is gone after 7-14 days if they are problematic and you're not dealing with a situation like this in your own home. You can always suggest they book for 7days and if it works out, they can extend the stay (if you want to accept that). If they are problematic, then no need to accept the stay extension. You can always just decline and say your listing is not a good fit and they would be more comfortable somewhere else.

Remember, in most states a guest becomes a "tenant" usually after 30days (some states it's shorter) and you can't evict them without going to court to do so; even if they stop paying you. Airbnb only collects payment monthly from the guest, not for the entire stay. 

I would contact Airbnb and tell them what has been happening and that the guest is demanding services you don't provide (laundry service) and making it unbearable for you. Ask them to contact the guest and suggest this is not a stay suitable for her and it's best to try and get her to cancel the stay. 

It's never a good idea for the Host to cancel a stay, as there are penalties, but it might be worth it to just get her out. I fear if she refuses to cancel, you will have to in order to remedy the situation. My best advice is to contact Airbnb and see what your options are.

For the future, I wouldn't suggest offering long term stays if you are sharing your personal home with guests for this very reason. Some Hosts do allow one month, but then the guest will either have to make a new reservation for addl months, or the Host can accept an extension. This would mean you would need to turn off Instant Book if using and only use Request to Book. I suggest Hosts doing home share situations do request to book. This gives you a bit more control, but you still have the issue with the guest becoming a tenant and refusing to leave after the stay is up (squatter).

[Orlando307]

Hello @Joan2709,

Thank you sooo much for your advise.

The things got worse.  She stated the air coming out of the vents was "cold".  if it was we were cold too right?  So we end up bringing a technician to prove the HVAC was working fine.  The tech even asked us to raise it to 74F (we had it in 72F) and it was so hot in the Suite she even had to open the front door to cool it off.  Which meant we were at no fault - the measurement of the air coming out of the vent in the main bedroom where she sleeps showed a temp of 111F.  That was last Monday, yesterday a support guy called me with no idea about the case, asking for some pictures, so I asked him to read and understand the case. Today, after 15 days of claims, phone calls and messages they closed the case giving her a 30% discount from the 28th of December until today solely based on the inconvenience of what the Guest experienced during their stay in your property.”  ... hear that solely... when she had no inconvenience at all, the temperature has been the same since, only she wants to leave because we do not do her cleaning, or stay without pay, how great is that.  i want a place like this too.

explain tome, how come AirBnb can dismiss the concept of a technician? ... why would they make us pay for it if they were going to give her the case regardless?  and a 3)% discount over the almost 50% discount we already gave her... it is outrageous... AirBnb had miserably failed us... no words. 

[Helen3]

The guest sounds awful.

I would be trying to get this guest out as quickly as possible. @Orlando307 

If there are no washing facilities in the suite and you aren't factoring in regular cleans in your pricing  for longer stays I would say the listing isn't likely to be suitable for longer stays. 

I would argue with airbnb about the discount as you have shown in video evidence the guest had taken the thermostat outside to show a false temperature. 

I would suggest to the guest as she feels the accommodation isn't suitable for her requirements that you'd be prepared to offer a penalty free cancellation.

[Joan2709]

@Orlando307 

Is this guest gone then? I hope so.

As @Helen3 points out, you will need to rethink a few things to keep this from happening again. The normal discount for a monthly stay is 20%, not 50%. You'll need to decide if you even want to offer long term stays in your home and should clarify the temperature situation and that laundry service isn't provided. Your listing may not be suited for long-term stays. 

[Orlando307]

The temperature was never questioned because the HVAC system has never failed to work properly, so we are NOT at fault.  many many many places have long term and n laundry, not only in AirBnb but everywhere in the country, in case you did not know.

[Joan2709]

@Orlando307 

Yes...I am well aware that some long term stays don't offer laundry. However, it is still not an ideal situation for a guest staying long term. Many Hosts offer a shared laundry room for home share settings for this very reason, or the shared listing is an apartment and guests have access to a laundry room in the building. The problem with not having access to laundry is the linens and towels aren't going to be washed most likely by the guest.

You were given a red flag right away

Guest wanting to go off platform for payment, but still accepted the booking. This wanting to go off platform is usually an indication they want a steep discount and you gave them a 50% discount. Guests try to get steep discounts from Hosts for mutli month stays, only to cancel the stay and ask for a refund after one month.  That is mentioned in the Monthly Guide I sent you the link for under "Scams". As I mentioned, the average discount for a monthly stay is 20%.

"...over the almost 50% discount we already gave her..."

Offering to do laundry

I believe you said you offered  to do the guests laundry weekly (linens):

"We (stupidly) offered to wash her linens as a courtesy thinking she was pregnant and it was a long term, but oh boy, she got upset because we were not doing her cleaning and also making her beds."

Several Hosts have offered suggestions. It's up to you to decide what measures you will take (if any) to prevent this from happening again. Most of this could have been avoided by simply declining the reservation in the first place, once you got that first red flag. There are many things you can do to prevent a repeat of the situation, but it's up to you to decide what (if any steps) you wish to take. 

[Orlando307]

Ohh believe me Joan we would never do this same mistakes!

thank you for your time!