Guest Checked Out Late, Now Lying and Has Refused to Pay Late Checkout Fee

[Sarah327]

I recently hosted a guest who I felt uncomfortable with from the outset, and even spoke to Airbnb to voice my concerns. Long story short, after an advisor convinced me all was well, I have now learned to always listen to my gut instints!

From struggling to get the guest to respond to communications, he eventually arrived last Thursday with his girlfriend (for her 'birthday' weekend getaway) and seemed nice enough.

They checked in, asked for logs after messaging me to say they couldn't find any (we provide them onsite only and upon request, so goodness know where the guest looked!) and they settled into the cottage.

On the second night of their stay, the guest asked me to light the woodburner for him because he was struggling to and paid me for the monies owed for the basket of logs. So far... fine. Then the cottage was plunged into darkness all curtains drawn (day and night), NO lights on, and barely any movement during the remainder of his stay. This made me feel even more uncomfortable as it's only happened once before, and recently. It is certainly not the typical behaviour of our usual guests.

Anyway, fastforward to the night before checkout and I sent the guest my usual reminder message and checkout instructions via the platform. No response, unsurprisingly.

The next morning, I had an uneasy feeling and noticed that all the curtains were still drawn and, by 10 am, there was no movement to the car, bags being packed or rubbish being put out (all usual signs of a guest checking out). So at 10.07 am, I knocked at the door to remind the guest again of the checkout time and to make sure everything was okay.

When the guest unbolted the door (locked from the inside) and answered, he and his girlfriend were still in their pyjamas and she was sat eating breakfast at the table.

During our brief conversation, I advised the guest he was now late checking out and a £25 fee applied (per my listing), and that he had 30 minutes grace to vacate. He made no mention of the checkout time or what he thought it was and agreed to pay the late checkout fee before shutting the door on me (I realise now this was just to get rid of me!).

I immediately sent the guest a request for the monies via the platform and also text him the following:

Hi XXX, Per our conversation this morning, and my reminder message last night, check out is 10 am. As you are now late, a £25 fee will be applied. I'm sure you can appreciate, with guests arriving promptly at 5 pm today, this negatively impacts on our ability to clean The Cottage and present it to the same high standard. I would, therefore, be grateful if you could ensure you are packed up and ready to depart within the next 30 minutes. Regards, Sarah

I then contacted Airbnb to advise them of the situation, as I was extremely concerned at this point that the guest might not leave. During my conversation with an advisor, the guest eventually departed at 10.46 am and sent me a text saying he "already left!"

The guest has today declined my request for monies and is claiming that I offered him a late checkout! Unfortunately, the Resolution Centre has clipped his response / I can no longer view it, but it started:

Hi Sarah, I'm sorry for being late to leave I honestly thought check out was at 12. When we spoke at the door you said you offer late check out which is till 12 and I said we will be out by 10:30 am...

Not only does my listing specifically state I do not offer early check-in or late checkout, I clearly did not offer the latter to the guest and my messages via the platform and text, and conversation with Airbnb, confirm this.

Rather than get into it with the guest, I have involved Airbnb and they have subsequently responded:

I am sorry about what happened. I understand that you ask the guest to pay £25.00 for the late check out pay. Let me contact your guest and inform him regarding this additional payment. Thank you for your patience.

Hopefully, this means I will be paid... BUT now I am really worried what review the guest might leave me and how I review him in return?! 

While I know it is likely to encounter a guest such as this, and it would happen at some point, I still feel extremely angry, upset and ill-prepared to deal with it : (

Any suggestions or advice is greatfully received!

[Laura2592]

@Sarah327 I am sorry you were uncomfortable with this guest. Some guests do like to hole up and participate in adult activities on a romantic weekend away, so the fact that he closed curtains and didn't come out much would not mean much to me. The late check out is more concerning, but your check out time is a bit earlier than the norm, so I can even understand that to a degree. He did leave, which is the result you wanted. And he left within an hour of your window. 

You are a seasoned host, and I am sure have run into people who were not ideal guests before now. I personally would not blast this individual in the review, but I would leave something as follows:

So and so was polite. We did have some concerns about understanding and following house rules regarding check out time, and communication. Left our cottage clean (if he did). Perhaps not the best fit for our space, but not a bad guest for a host with a later check out time. 

[Sarah327]

Thank you for your response, @Laura2592. It is always extremely helpful to get a different viewpoint on a situation and I like your approach to leaving him a review. 

However, I want to make it clear to other hosts this was not a case of the guest misunderstanding anything. He deliberately ignored my communications and was fully aware of my house rules, but decided to check out late because my checkout time clearly did not suit him.

Note, in my area of the country (Devon, UK) my checkout time of 10 am for my size of property is rather standard.

To lie and say I offered him a late checkout, when my listing clearly states I do/would not, leaves a rather nasty taste in my mouth. I felt rather unsafe with him on my property during his stay and when it came time to leave I was extremely worried he would not. Simply put, he is not an honest individual and I would hate for other hosts to experience similar.

Airbnb is clearly undermining me as a host and not supporting me (or other hosts). I messaged the guest to advise he was late checking out and a fee would be applied. He ignored this. If that is all the guest has to do to avoid paying or adhering to house rules etc. then what is the point?!

I already take over 150 photos of my property between every changeover due to ongoing damage, accidents etc. to avoid any disputes with guests.

I now feel I have to record conversations with guests to ensure there can be no question about what was said by either party!

[Laura2592]

@Sarah327 whether or not you caught a guest in a lie, trumpeting that on a review only reflects poorly on the host IMHO. I have had MANY guests lie and do outrageous things. Posting publicly that someone is a liar might make other guests (good guests) worry that if they have a legitimate misunderstanding you will call them out too. I understand that you are upset and annoyed by this person who was not a good fit for your space. I have definitely been there. But I would encourage you to tread unemotionally when it comes to a review.

"Misunderstanding" and "miscommunication" are good ways to convey that you did not see eye to eye with this person. "Guest failed to note our check out time and later stated his misunderstanding of late check out being offered" or "Guest checked out late and stated that he was believed he was permitted to do so, which is not the case."  will get the point across without reflecting poorly on you. 

In the grand scheme of hosting this guest might annoy me, but if he's the worst you have run across, consider yourself quite lucky. And Airbnb typically does not support hosts in any kind of he said/she said situation. The guests are the customers, and the hosts are treated like underperforming employees about to get the sack. I am sorry that you are learning this now, too. But again, if you have 150 odd stays under your belt and this is the first time running up against this, you are in a very lucky, tiny minority. 

[Sarah327]

Sadly, this was yet another poor guest and one in a rising number of them.

Since Covid, it appears things are only getting worse and if this was not my only source of income/way of earning money, I would not be doing it right now.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback as I am very much in my own hosting bubble, in rural Devon, with no one to talk through such situations. 

I largely rely on Airbnb, picking up the phone and chatting to them, even when they rarely offer much advice, helps me work through things. 

I always try to write honest and factual reviews, but it can be hard sometimes to come up with the most appropriate wording and tone. I think your approach to reviews is great and choice of wording is really helpful, so thank you.

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm being a pain or worse. I think I've simply come to end of a horrid year or so and I've had enough.

Even though I cannot afford to take a break from hosting, this year I will be enjoying 10 days of no guests and, hopefully, I can start the new year afresh.

Thank you,l again, Laura.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah327 Personally, I wouldn’t worry about potential future guests being put off by your review of this guy. They won’t see the review unless they want to spend time digging. And you don’t have to be harsh or even call the guy a liar (I certainly wouldn’t recommend that). But using the words miscommunication or misunderstanding to my mind doesn’t accurately portray the situation and in fact would leave the me the impression that you were at fault too. As a host I would want to get the impression that this guy is sketchy. Which he is. I would not want to host him. 

[John1599]

@Sarah327 . I would share your hurt at your guests disrespect towards you. As regards giving him a bad review…. I would hold that sanction back for more serious misdeeds and agree that it might reflect more on you than him to readers with no background knowledge of your story, but in the case of a seriously bad experience I would definitely call a spade a spade. You owe it to fellow AirBnb hosts, and yourself. 
After four years hosting I am currently hosting only my 2nd nightmare guests and realised this on their 3rd day into a 21 night stay. 11 days ago I tried to engage with AirBnb and after navigating my way through their irritating bots before talking to an actual human, I have been contacted by six different “ambassadors” each one assuring me they would fix it for me. Late yesterday evening they belatedly offered to end the contract as they now saw that my complaints were well founded… ha !… I withdrew the request as they will be leaving in a few days now anyway. I will definitely be giving them a bad review.

I believe that AirBnb are big on sympathy but not big on action ! I believe they regard hosts as expendable and guests as less so as they are their Golden Geese whom they don’t want to lose to another service provider.

[Marie6762]

@Sarah327 

You can be sure of an understanding “ear” here, as well as on other Host forum(s)- you are  in absolutely the right spot to vent, and you graciously accepted advice and critique.  I’m betting - if you wait until the 11th hour to leave your review as suggested, that he won’t bother to write one.  Too early, I agree, could put him back on the offensive.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sarah327 

I agree with @Laura2592 that this is a misunderstanding with an otherwise fine guest. 

[Mark116]

@Kitty-and-Creek0  It doesn't seem like a 'misunderstanding' to me when the host said the guest lied to Airbnb, claiming she had agreed to a late check-out.   It seems like a manipulative individual who is trying to evade responsibility for his actions.  Whether or not he legitimately did not realize the check-out time [seems unlikely considering a message was sent the night before, can't be known for certain, but it seems clear that he wasn't sorry and went on to lie and refuse to pay the extra fee.  I can't consider such a person a 'fine guest' by any measurement.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah327 He should have been fully aware of your checkout time, given your reiteration of it the night before, but maybe they weren’t checking Airbnb messages, which normally could be forgiven. But not so much, given he lied to your face, making up your offer of late checkout. And then the refusal  to pay the late checkout fee.

I think the only recourse you have is the review. We all know that if the guest doesn’t want to pay, Airbnb won’t make them. I wouldn’t be so kind in the review. 

I’m glad you’ve learned to trust your gut, and not an Airbnb rep. Never ignore the gut nor red flags. 

[Stephanie1933]

@Sarah327 we have a 10am checkout but have been asked many times to make it slightly later. If I can arrange it I will with no extra charge. I hope you get the $25 and the guest learns to check times before sleeping in! Sometimes guests don't think that someone might be coming in after them! 

I have been thinking of charging an extra $20 for a late checkout but haven't been brave enough to ask for it yet!

[Sarah327]

Given Airbnb's response to me this morning, you can stipulate a late checkout fee but if the guest refuses to pay it, Airbnb will not support you or other hosts in obtaining these monies.

[Olivia-and-Olivier0]

So sorry this has happened to you... yes, i agree, always follow your gut feeling. Airbnb is trying to stay as neutral as possible, of course, they want both your and guest’s money...

i d def mention in your review about their late checkout and guest being dishonest... and expect a bad/dishonest review, that has happened before, guests lie about the quality of the property to get full refund or in retaliation. :((

there should be a way you can show airbnb what actually happened and ask to have a dishonest bad review removed.

also, in responding to the guest’s review publicly, make sure your future (good) guests see your positive vibe.
good luck and so sorry.. when in doubt always cancel. 🙂 at the end of the day, your property and being respected has no $ price.

[Sarah327]

UPDATE

Airbnb have responded today with the following:

Sorry I was out of office when you called. I am very sorry to inform you that the guest does not want to pay the additional late fee you requested through RC. As per EU policy we can not enforce the charge with an overstaying guest. I have already taken note of the violation though and have educated the guest as well.

Again I am so sorry Sarah. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

When speaking to an advisor earlier, I was led to believe Airbnb would support me on this matter. How stupid am I...

I do not understand why Airbnb insist hosts include House Rules, say they will support them and then turn around and do exactly the opposite?!