Emergency help nedded - a guest tells me 12 hours before arrival that she does not agree with my ho

[Lilly28]

Please, I need HELP!

A guest made reservation for 1 person. She arrivies today t about 2-3 p.m.

I send her information how to reach the flat and asking for the arrival of the plane. She ansered WE - arrive at 1 p.m.

I asked what WE means - as the reservation is for 1 person only.

I big discussion followed - I copied it - I asked through the Resolution center as well as personally to make the pay for the additional 2 persons. That is the final part of the conversation.

Lilly Please, let me know how many persons are coming with you, because you send me a message WE, so you are not alone?  

Yesterday at 9:18 PM

hy Luly.
thank you for your information. we are me, my hasbend and my tow dother age of 13 and 16.
Ora

Yesterday at 10:41 PM · Ora

Ora,
I went to bed, waiting almost one hour for your reply!

Lilly Ora, I AM GIVING MY GUESTS FREE CLEANING _ BUT NOT A FREE STAY!!! Please, note you made a reservation for just one person - and I had to ask you WHY you a sending me a message writing WE - I thought you might be arriving with your husband or a friend. I waited and waited for the answer of that question - and went to bed.

Today at 12:40 AM

THROUGH THE RESOLUTION CENTER

Please, note - you are arriving 4 people - but I received an offer for ONE person only!!! I waited more than 30 minutes after asking you WHY you are giving me a message that WE arrive - when I have a reservation for just ONE person - and went to bed= NO, I cannot clean and allow use of water, electricity, then using the flat for FREE WITHOUT any pay whatsoever for FOUR persons!!! My monthly pension is 110 euro! I am giving a present to my guests free cleaning, but NOT FREE STAY!!!

dear Lilly.
when i look into the website I look for home that fit to 4 peopele and your home was there. i payed for the home that spose to be for 4 peopele and not for each one apart! if i would know that is the price i would never take that ofer becaose its not in my buget. so we can cancle the dill or leave it the way we agry befor

Today at 1:08 AM · Ora

Dear Ora,
You have to cancel your reservation as you do not want to agree with my house rules - send that information to AirBnb, I am sure they can help you to find for you a better stay. KR Lilly

Today at 1:18 AM

Yesterday at 10:41 PM · Ora

[Lilly28]

The end of the story!!!

In my listing the deadline for payment is 12.00 the same day. As she did not reply since sending me that information below

when i look into the website I look for home that fit to 4 peopele and your home was there. i payed for the home that spose to be for 4 peopele and not for each one apart! if i would know that is the price i would never take that ofer becaose its not in my buget. so we can cancle the dill or leave it the way we agry befor

Today at 1:08 AM · Ora

I have send her notice at 1.45 p.m. that their time to pay the difference and have a stay at my home has ended as the dead time is 12.00 - so they must look elsewhere, asking the money back. No reply!

At 2.30 they all dropped before the bloc. In that time the support center twice has send me a message that I have to wait - but still I had the message - payment is delayed.

I told them that I cannot invite them inside as the payment was not done.  They insisted they have already paid yesterday- showing me on app a sum around 10 euro less than I had pending for payment difference. 

 I have send the support team information about the situation - and also telling them I was not feeling secure with this kind of guests. No answer. Why was that feeling? Because the white  woman was a bit arrogant - I cannot find the right adjective - it is for someone who is always right for himself and wanting all others to serve her all her needs for free. She again told me how expensive is my flat for them and if she knew the price she would have looked eleswhere, and that she did not reply to all my messages because at that time she was packing her luggage. They were with the most expensive small suitcases I have seen until now from my guests!

They were sitting on the ground just before the door of the bloc and the neighbors were shocked and I felt ashamed - and that lasted almost an hour - me going upstairs to see if I have answer from the Support team or if payment is already done - coming down telling them that there is  no answer - they showing me again their app...

Lastly I went to the nearest hotel - 50 meters from my home, paid them for 2 rooms and left them, the receit is with me as I paid their stay - twice the amount they shoud have paid me with the difference.    

[Cathie19]

So sorry @Lilly28, that you felt ashamed for doing the right thing. Please do not ever feel emotionally obliged to pay for a guest accommodation, as you will not receive the money

😞

Take care, for you are a kind lady.

regards

Cathie

[Noel63]

It is ridiculous that you were put in this situation.

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Lilly28 ,

You are a brave woman. Thank You for being firm with Your position.

The behaviour of these people is unacceptable. Next time they rent

a place through airbnb their communication will be better as they

now understand they can end up on the street.

Bravo.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Lilly28

You were right no to let them come in.
what about calling the Airbnb CS (it takes a few days to take in charge the messages)?
Messages are fine for non urgent situations.

"Lastly I went to the nearest hotel - 50 meters from my home, paid them for 2 rooms and left them, the receit is with me as I paid their stay - twice the amount they shoud have paid me with the difference.    "

Did you?

Who will repay you?

You have a flexible cancellation policy.
If the reservation is cancelled, they will be fully repaid.

Never pay for the guests.
Airbnb is enough (too much) on their side (even the cheating guests) and they will be repaid.

In this post, the traveller wrote 1 people instead of 3 and Airbnb fully repaid him and gave him a voucher.
as a thank you for cheating?

 https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/To-Clara-Liang-Product-Director-Last-min-cancellation-be...

And obviously he did it again with the next host.

https://www.airbnb.fr/users/show/93960657

[Lizzie]

Hello @Lilly28,

I am really sorry to hear about this and the worry it has put on you. 

I wanted to check if you have managed to speak with our Support Team yet. If not, I would always recommend calling them directly as this is usually the quickest way to reach them. Here is a useful Community Guide on the different ways to contact our team. 

I hope you manage to get this sorted out nice and quickly. 

Thanks,
Lizzie

[Rebecca160]

@Lilly28Oh, I am so sorry. This truly sounds like a miserable experience. 

If it happens in the future, you might consider calling Airbnb support and requesting that they be rebooked elsewhere.  You should never feel compelled to pay for a hotel room, especially for such guests. Aribnb will rebook them in a place better sutited to them.

[Lilly28]

After the final - I went today at the hotel, asking if there was a problem and if they took special care of the man. They said - yes, he was a nice person as you said, but the lady was all the time fussy...

Before paying for them I particulary stressed that the man needs special attention, I pleaded the staff to be very careful with him. As I already mentioned the lady and the children were sitting on the ground just at the entrance of the bloc! With their luggage blocking the passage of owners - so I was in a very big stress, neighbors are more important than guests, aren,t they not? I was talking with the Support team - their answer was - wait - then I looked for a cheaper accomodation for them and... I found ONLY one - I even spoke to the owner telling him I am going to pay for them but I feel unsafe as they did not pay me. He was a nice man, accepted the offer - but told me that I have to wait about 2 hours, besides, the flat was very far away - paying for the transport... and staying there to scare all my neighbors...

But all that time this guests were ignoring the man who was handicapped and they left him stay upright  although there was a bench at 10 meters! First thing he has done coming into the hotel - he sat at a soft bench - I pressed his hand and he did so - it was so touchy! Can you imagine that I could act in other way - having in mind his situation and also my neighbors? For this lady money was everything, but you are ending not to be a human being following her behavior.

@Rebecca160

@Ute

And all who gave me a hand - THANKS! Tomorrow I will have a couple just married! I have to look ahead! 

[Sarah977]

@Lilly28  The word I think you were looking for in English- someone who demands things that were not promised, feels that everything should always go their way and that they should have everything they want no matter how it affects other people is "Entitled".  As in "This woman had a huge sense of entitlement".

So sorry you had to deal with such a situation.

[Christine615]

@Lilly28You sound like an awesome person. You should not have had to put the person in a hotel at your expense. If they booked the wrong number of people then they are at fault. Next time if you don't hear from Airbnb on time post to them on Twitter and Facebook. I've done that with other companies and it's always gotten a pretty fast response.

@LizzieAirbnb needs an emergency number for things like this. And a special team of dedicated specialists who handle this instead of general inquiries.

[Lilly28]

@Sarah977@Ute42

@Sandra in Copenhagen

As now I am waiting the just married couple - I have a question. For more than a year I was providing Breakfast. Perhaps I should start a new topic, but I hope someone at least will give me good suggestions about my problem.

I was throwing and throwing food, provided for breakfast. I really do not know what that or other of my guests would prefer to have as breakfast. I am considering now to delist the breakfast provided, and instead to write that anyone can order in advance and pay for swedish breakfast at the nearest hotel for 5 dollars per person. It is situated about 30 meters from my flat and their breakfast is more lavish from the one I can afford for my guests.

I could still leave them some fruit, nuts, biscuits, coffee, tea and even eggs and butter. As I live on a tight budget I hate food to be waisted, and even if I had plenty of money - I had once upon a time - still the idea food to be thrown in the bin would have irritate me.

I have read how many hosts are treating their guests with plenty of food, but their nightly price is very high and nowdays food has the same price almost everywhere. As most experineced then myself - how do you think guests would react to such a change in my listing?

[Sarah977]

@Lilly28  I completely can relate to an aversion to wasting food.

I host a bedroom with a private bathroom in my home, only for one guest. Guests have full use of the kitchen. I have never provided breakfast, or breakfast food for guests. I will offer them coffee in the morning, but I don't say in my listing that I do this, so no one expects it, and often my guests will  come back from town with a bag of coffee. When my guests first arrive, since almost all have arrived by plane and then taken a one hour bus ride to my town, they may often be hungry- as well, they have been traveling for hours- I don't feel like they should have to go into town (a 20 minute walk) right away, rather than just settling in, having a shower and relaxing. So I say "You must be hungry, I know they don't feed you on the plane", and if they say "a little" I know they probably mean they are actually really hungry, and though most say they'll just go into town in awhile to eat, I tell them to just relax and settle in and I make them a snack. But I don't mention anything about food in my listing. So in fact, the guests end up feeling like they got more than they expected.

Unless all the other hosts in your area and in the price range you charge provide breakfast, I don't think it's necessary at all- if you still feel you want to provide something without the possibility of waste, having a container of granola, some milk and yoghurt and some fruit there for them seems adequate. If you only buy stuff that you'll eat if they don't (if you don't eat yoghurt, for instance, don't buy it in case they don't eat it either so it doesn't just go bad) there won't be any waste. And since there is a place so close to you which does a nice breakfast, it's not difficult for your guests to get themselves fed in the morning.

I just stayed with a friend who created a really nice airbnb suite in her home- the guests have their own living room, a bedroom and bathroom. She put a little fridge, a coffee machine and a cupboard with a few cups and dishes in their living room, and leaves a few cold drinks, a bag of chips, and some other snacks for her guests in case they're hungry when they roll in. After that, they're on their own as far as food goes. She's well-booked, gets great reviews and lots of repeat guests.

For those of us with budget-priced listings, I don't see any need to be providing meals.

[Ute42]

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Hi @Lilly28 , Your nightly price starts somewhere arount $25 and for this the maximum You can provide is a real basic continental breakfast like coffee,, 2 pcs of bread, butter and marmalade, 1 egg, that's it. But You know how people are today. They may want maraquia juce, fresh strawberries with cream and the like for that price.

I like @Sarah977 's approach. Shes advertises that she provides nothing but sometimes gives her guests something for free. I do the same. No mention of breakfast or the like at all. But before people arrive I fill up the fridge with beverage like beer, coke, mineral water worth 50 USD. People really love it when they arrive on a hot summer day and have cold beverage. Also I turn on my icecubemachine ahead of time. They don't have to pay for all that, it's a gift.

If You don't advertise anything then people can claim nothing. Then if they get something, the normally say thank You. If not, this was the last thing I will ever do for them for the rest of their stay.

Don't forget the airbnb rating system. 5* = exceeds my expactations. This could be a basic but free breakfast.

[Sarah977]

Actually, @Ute42  I've had such lovely guests, many end up leaving behind more food and coffee that they've purchased, than what they've consumed of mine, so being generous usually ends up costing me nothing!

One of my guests, who only had a 3 day day booking, insisted on taking me out for dinner the first night, and on his last day came back from town with a kilo of shrimp which we peeled together. I provided the butter and garlic, he cooked them up and we had a huge shrimp feast just before he had to leave for the airport. That's what I call a Superguest.

[Ute42]

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@Sarah977same here. Recently guests left 12 shrink wrapped barbeque sausages behind and I had to put them into the freezer as we can't eat that all. Generally people leave everything behind that will not survive a 6 hr trip in their car uncooled.